Context Engineering: Research Phase (Enhanced)

When invoked, perform systematic codebase exploration using parallel agents:

Key Innovation: Inter-Phase Awareness

This research phase KNOWS how RPI-Plan will consume its output:

• Output structured into research chunks (CHUNK-R1, CHUNK-R2, etc.)
• Each chunk is self-contained with files, dependencies, and status
• RPI-Plan will create a CHUNK-Pn todolist per CHUNK-Rn
• Chunk manifest enables sequential processing by RPI-Plan

Process

1. Initialize Research Document

   • Create .claude/research/active/[feature]_research.md
   • Use template from .claude/research/RESEARCH_TEMPLATE.md

2. Spawn Parallel Agents (3-5 agents)

   Agent 1: API/Route Entry Points       → CHUNK-R1
   Agent 2: Business Logic & Models      → CHUNK-R2
   Agent 3: Database/Storage Layer       → CHUNK-R3
   Agent 4: External Integrations        → CHUNK-R4
   Agent 5: Test Coverage Analysis       → CHUNK-R5
   

   Each agent receives:

   • Feature name and objective
   • Assigned domain
   • Required output format (chunk structure)
   • Line number requirement for all file references

3. Per-Agent Chunk Output Each agent produces a self-contained chunk:

   ## CHUNK-Rn: [Domain]
   **Status:** COMPLETE
   **Parallel Agent:** Agent N
   **Ready for Planning:** Yes
   
   ### Files Explored
   | File | Lines | Key Findings |
   
   ### Code Flow Analysis
   [call chain with file:line refs]
   
   ### Dependencies (This Chunk)
   - External: [APIs]
   - Internal: [services]
   

4. Aggregate Chunk Results

   • Create chunk manifest table
   • Combine all agent outputs
   • Verify all chunks are COMPLETE

5. Generate Inter-Phase Contract

   EXPECTED_CONSUMER: rpi-plan
   CHUNK_PROCESSING_ORDER: sequential (R1 → R2 → R3 → R4 → R5)
   MARK_AS_PLANNED_WHEN: chunk todolist created
   REQUIRED_OUTPUT: CHUNK-Pn per CHUNK-Rn
   

6. Generate Summary

   • 150-word summary for Plan phase
   • Reference key files from each chunk
   • Recommend approach

Chunk Manifest Format (Required)

| Chunk ID | Domain | Status | Files | Ready for Planning |
|----------|--------|--------|-------|-------------------|
| CHUNK-R1 | API/Routes | COMPLETE | 3 | ✅ |
| CHUNK-R2 | Business Logic | COMPLETE | 4 | ✅ |
| CHUNK-R3 | Database | COMPLETE | 2 | ✅ |
| CHUNK-R4 | External | COMPLETE | 1 | ✅ |
| CHUNK-R5 | Tests | COMPLETE | 3 | ✅ |

Context Budget

• Target: 25% of 200k tokens (50k)
• Per-agent budget: ~10k tokens each
• Compaction: After each agent returns
• Final output: ~20k tokens (research doc only)

Output

Research document saved to .claude/research/active/ with:

• Chunk manifest
• Per-chunk details
• Inter-phase contract for RPI-Plan

Next Step

After completion, run /context-eng:plan $ARGUMENTS

RPI-Plan will read chunk manifest and create CHUNK-Pn todolist per CHUNK-Rn