dotfiles/.agents/skills/research-execution.md
Brydon DeWitt 83f456f25b fix(plugin): guard against undefined output.output for MCP tools
MCP tools don't populate output.output in the tool.execute.after hook —
the MCP content flows through OpenCode's internal parts pipeline instead.
This caused a crash: undefined is not an object (evaluating 'text.length')
in the truncate function.
2026-06-06 02:11:24 -04:00

35 lines
1.0 KiB
Markdown

---
description: Execution rules for debugging: hypothesis testing, instrumentation, and trace cleanup
---
# Research Execution
Keep context clean and evidence tracked during active investigation.
## Context Management
Methodology degrades after ~15 tool calls. Re-read investigation file and
dead-ends every ~10 tool calls. When drifting toward guess-and-check, pause and
re-read notes. Hold references; load on demand.
## Findings Format
Record each hypothesis test to `.session/findings.md`:
```
- [timestamp] Hypothesis: [one sentence]
Falsification: [what you'd expect if wrong]
Result: [ELIMINATED/CONFIRMED] — [why, in one sentence]
```
## Timing Awareness
Prefix unknown commands with `time`. Fast (<5s): low barrier. Slow (>30s):
reason first. Unknown: measure. Capture: `time cmd 2>&1 | tee /tmp/output.txt`
## Techniques
- **Five Whys**: trace causal chains; starting point, not sole method
- **Delta Debugging**: binary search between passing/failing cases
- **Rubber Duck**: explain the system step by step to expose gaps