Research Skill
Delegate reading legwork to a background agent that investigates against primary sources (official docs, source code, specs) and leaves a cited file.
--- name: research description: Investigate a question against high-trust primary sources and capture the findings as a Markdown file in the repo. Use when the user wants a topic researched, docs or API facts gathered, or reading legwork delegated to a background agent. --- Spin up a **background agent** to do the research, so you keep working while it reads. Its job: 1. Investigate the question against **primary sources**: official docs, source code, specs, first-party APIs, not a secondary write-up of them. Follow every claim back to the source that owns it. 2. Write the findings to a single Markdown file, citing each claim's source. 3. Save it where the repo already keeps such notes; match the existing convention, and if there is none, put it somewhere sensible and say where.
How to use
Three rules in three sentences: background agent so you keep working, primary sources so the findings survive scrutiny, and a cited Markdown file in the repo so the research becomes a durable artifact instead of chat history. The 'follow every claim back to the source that owns it' line is the one that stops secondhand blog-post knowledge from entering your decisions. Save as .claude/skills/research/SKILL.md, or install Matt's full MIT-licensed set (github.com/mattpocock/skills) with 'claude plugins install mattpocock-skills'.
More skill prompts
--- name: writing-documentation description: Write or update documentation from the code. Use when the user asks for a README, API reference, guide, docstrings, or says the docs are out of date. --- # Writing Documentation Documentation is a claim about behavior. Every claim must be checked against the code before it ships, because a wrSKILL.md
Documentation Skill
A skill that documents what the code does rather than what it should do: read first, examples from tests, unverifiable claims marked.
--- name: security-review description: Review code for security defects. Use before merging changes that touch authentication, authorization, user input, file handling, secrets, or external requests, or when the user asks for a security review. --- # Security Review Find defects an attacker could actually use. A finding without an attacSKILL.md
Security Review Skill
A skill that reviews changes for exploitable defects, follows untrusted input to where it lands, and reports only findings with an attack path.
--- name: accessibility-review description: Audit UI code for accessibility defects against WCAG. Use when building or changing components, forms, modals, or navigation, or when the user asks about accessibility, a11y, screen readers, or keyboard support. --- # Accessibility Review Judge the interface by whether a person can complete thSKILL.md
Accessibility Skill
A skill that audits UI against WCAG by keyboard, semantics, and state, reporting who is blocked rather than listing rule numbers.