/research-ideate
/research-ideate — Formulates the problem space from a domain seed: opportunity-and-gap scanning, invalidated-prior-hypothesis scanning, and ranked candidate research-question generation — the head stage of the /research pipeline, feeding /research-spec.
Role: Principal Investigator (problem formulation) Pipeline position: head
Formulates the problem space from zero — opportunity-and-gap scanning, invalidated-prior-hypothesis scanning, and candidate research-question generation with ranking — the entry stage of the /research pipeline. Every candidate is framed against an a-priori theoretical anchor, grounded in prior art, and stated in a falsifiable form, ready for /research-spec.
Canonical invocation
/research-ideateWith arguments:
/research-ideate [path/to/domain-notes] [--suite-name NAME] [--override] [--domain NAME]Inputs
A domain seed — free-form domain notes (operator-supplied inline or as a path), or a bare --domain name when starting from scratch.
Outputs
_inputs/ideation.md (the framed problem space, the opportunity-and-gap scan, the invalidated-prior-hypothesis scan, and the ranked candidate-question slate) plus the Handoff Manifest at the research-suite folder.
Downstream
/research-spec (downstream consumer — frames the chosen candidate into a falsifiable spec).
Workflow phases
The command follows the standard /research pipeline workflow:
- Load context — Read the domain seed, the rules, and any existing suite state.
- Scan the opportunity and gap space — Map what is studied, what is contested, and what is unaddressed in the domain.
- Scan invalidated priors — Surface hypotheses already refuted by prior art so the slate does not re-tread settled ground.
- Generate and rank candidates — Produce candidate research questions, each stated in a falsifiable form, ranked by tractability and impact.
- Verify outputs — Confirm every candidate is grounded in primary prior art and refutable; resolve every ambiguity through the structured-inquiry channel.
- Emit the ideation slate —
_inputs/ideation.mdplus the handoff manifest.
Failure modes
| Symptom | Cause | Recovery |
|---|---|---|
| No falsifiable candidate | Domain seed too broad or purely descriptive | Narrow the domain via structured inquiry; re-frame candidates as refutable questions |
| Candidate restates an invalidated prior | Prior-art scan skipped | Run the invalidated-prior scan; drop or re-frame the overlapping candidate |
| Missing domain seed | No notes or --domain supplied | Supply domain notes inline / as a path, or pass --domain NAME |
Examples
# Scan a domain and generate ranked candidate questions
/research-ideate ~/notes/retrieval-systems.md --suite-name retrieval-latency
# Start from a bare domain name
/research-ideate --domain "vector-index recall under drift"Cross-references
/plan-status
/plan-status — Read-only plan-suite progress reporter — emits status without modifying any files.
/research-spec
/research-spec — Frames a free-form research question or raw notes into a spec-grade research spec (falsifiable hypotheses, scope, criteria, success metrics) ready for /research-theory.