didericis
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Document what research notes are (opinionated investigations of a question/design space), their unnumbered kebab-case naming, and their loose verdict-first shape — explicitly freeform, not a template. Point the AGENTS.md research line at it. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
43 lines
1.8 KiB
Markdown
43 lines
1.8 KiB
Markdown
# Research notes
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Investigations into a question or a design space — landscape surveys,
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tradeoff analyses, "should we do X or Y," assessments of an approach
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before (or instead of) committing it to a PRD. A research note is where
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the *thinking* lives; a PRD is where a decided feature lives, and a
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decision record is where a settled choice lives (see
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[`../README.md`](../README.md) for picking between them).
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Notes are opinionated. They reach a conclusion rather than dumping a
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neutral survey — the point is to move a decision forward and leave a
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durable record of why it went the way it did.
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## Naming
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`kebab-case-topic.md`, named by subject and **not** numbered (unlike
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PRDs and decision records). Pick a name that says what was
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investigated: `bash-vs-python-vs-go.md`, `pipelock-assessment.md`,
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`issue-tracking-vs-in-repo-decision-history.md`.
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## Shape (freeform)
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There's no fixed template — use whatever structure fits the question.
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In practice most notes share a loose shape:
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- **Open with the question** — a sentence or two on what's being
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investigated and why it came up.
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- **Lead with the verdict** — a `## Summary` near the top stating the
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conclusion, so a reader gets the answer without reading the whole
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thing.
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- **Then the analysis** — whatever the argument needs: comparison
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tables, per-option sections, failure-mode walkthroughs, the axes that
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actually matter.
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- **End with a recommendation** when the note exists to drive a
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decision.
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Keep the reasoning self-contained and grounded: cite sources, link
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files and PRDs, and prefer concrete evidence from this repo over
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generic claims — a note should stand on its own without a chat log or a
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forge thread. When a note's recommendation gets acted on, capture the
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resulting decision in a PRD or a decision record; the note stays as the
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"why we looked into it," not the system of record for the choice.
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