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Matt Pocock

Research skill

Investigate a question against high-trust primary sources and capture the findings as a Markdown file in the repo. Use when the user wants a topic researched, docs or API facts gathered, or reading legwork delegated to a background agent.

$npx skills add mattpocock/skills --skill research
GitHub stars
320,842
Pack installs
33M
Alyn Score
89/99
Updated
34 h ago
License
MIT
Coding Research

Install Research

Pick your agent. Every command is ready to paste.

$npx skills add mattpocock/skills --skill research

The open skills CLI detects your agents (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and 70+ more) and installs to the right folder. Add -g to install globally.

01

Install it

Run the command above, or upload the folder in Claude.

02

Ask naturally

Describe the task. Your agent loads research when the request matches its description.

03

Name it if needed

If it does not trigger, say “use the research skill”. In Codex, type $research.

The skill itself

SKILL.md

GitHub

Spin up a background agent to do the research, so you keep working while it reads. Start it with a fresh context window.

Its job:

  1. Investigate the question against primary sources (official docs, source code, specs, first-party APIs), not a secondary write-up of them. Follow every claim back to the source that owns it.
  2. Write the findings to a single Markdown file, citing each claim's source.
  3. Save it where the repo already keeps such notes; match the existing convention, and if there is none, put it somewhere sensible and say where.

Tips for Research

  • • Start a fresh session after installing so your agent picks up the new skill.
  • • It is part of a pack with 39 skills. Install only the ones you need with --skill to keep triggers precise.
  • • If two skills overlap, mention the one you want by name.

Questions about Research

What does the Research skill do?

Investigate a question against high-trust primary sources and capture the findings as a Markdown file in the repo. Use when the user wants a topic researched, docs or API facts gathered, or reading legwork delegated to a background agent.

How do I install Research?

Run "npx skills add mattpocock/skills --skill research" in your project. The skills CLI installs it for Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and 70+ other agents. In Claude on the web, upload the skill folder as a ZIP under Customize > Skills.

Does Research work in Cursor and Codex?

Yes. Research uses the open SKILL.md format, so it works in Claude Code, Claude, Cursor, OpenAI Codex, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and other agents that support agent skills.

Is Research free?

Research is open source on GitHub under the MIT license. It is free to install; check the license before commercial use.

Who made Research?

Research is published by Matt Pocock in the mattpocock/skills repository, together with 38 other skills.

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