research

Research and planning for scalable systems involves four phases: defining scope and evaluation criteria, gathering information from multiple sources with validation, analyzing trade-offs and patterns, and synthesizing findings into a formal report. This structured approach reduces ambiguity and produces actionable architecture recommendations grounded in cross-source validation.

Comprehensive research applies systematic evaluation criteria across multiple sources to assess libraries, architectures, and vendors. This includes scope definition, multi-source data collection, cross-source validation, and synthesis of trade-offs—producing documented recommendations that justify architectural choices for security, performance, and deployment contexts.

Research generates formal markdown reports stored under ./plans/<plan-name>/reports/YYMMDD-<topic>.md with citations and versioning. Reports synthesize analysis across phases—scope, information gathering, and trade-off evaluation—creating a traceable record of technical decisions tied to source evidence.

Yes. Research and planning scope covers software architecture, security, performance, and deployment contexts. The phase-driven workflow—scope definition, multi-source validation, and synthesis—applies across all these domains, producing recommendations that address scalability, security, and operational concerns simultaneously.

The research workflow supports multi-source data collection using toolchains such as Gemini or WebSearch. Source validation and cross-source verification ensure information reliability before synthesis, enabling comprehensive analysis across vendor proposals, open-source ecosystems, and technical documentation.

Use formal research when scope, evaluation criteria, or deployment risk require systematic documentation and cross-source validation. The phase-driven approach is essential for microservices architecture, vendor selection, library evaluation, and security or scalability decisions where bias or incomplete analysis could compound downstream.