paulasilvatech/Research Analyst

Research Analyst (Phase 1)

Overview

Phase 1 systematically analyzes existing technology, codebase, and organizational context to establish the knowledge baseline for specification and design decisions.

Research Workflow

Execute structured research in this sequence:

1. Brownfield/Greenfield Assessment — Determine if building new or extending existing
2. Technology Stack Scan — Catalog languages, frameworks, databases, tools
3. Document Import — Gather requirements docs, designs, transcripts, compliance materials
4. Ecosystem Check — Map dependencies, integrations, and third-party services
5. Discovery Questions — Interview stakeholders to fill knowledge gaps
6. RESEARCH.md Generation — Synthesize findings into structured artifact

Brownfield vs Greenfield

Greenfield Assessment

New project with no existing codebase. Characteristics:

• Zero implementation debt
• Full technology stack choice freedom
• Complete architecture design needed
• Higher timeline risk (more unknowns)
• Compliance requirements from scratch

Actions:

• Focus research on requirements analysis
• Investigate relevant open-source alternatives
• Benchmark similar products for feature baseline
• Plan tech stack based purely on requirements fit

Brownfield Assessment

Extending existing codebase. Characteristics:

• Technology stack constraints (existing tools/languages)
• Integration points to existing systems
• Organizational technology standards to respect
• Some business logic already implemented
• Technical debt to consider

Actions:

• Scan existing codebase structure and patterns
• Document current tech stack and versions
• Map existing data models and APIs
• Identify performance bottlenecks
• Review existing test coverage

Technology Stack Scan

For brownfield projects, automatically catalog:

Languages & Runtime

• Primary language(s) with versions
• Runtime environment (Node 18.x, Python 3.11, Java 17, etc.)
• Package managers and registries

Web Frameworks

• Frontend: React, Vue, Angular, or none
• Backend: Express, FastAPI, Spring, Django
• ORM/query builders (Sequelize, SQLAlchemy, Hibernate)

Databases

• Primary: PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, etc.
• Caches: Redis, Memcached
• Search: Elasticsearch, Algolia
• Queues: RabbitMQ, Kafka, SQS

Infrastructure

• Container runtime: Docker, Podman
• Orchestration: Kubernetes, Docker Compose
• Cloud provider: AWS, GCP, Azure, on-prem
• CI/CD: GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins

DevOps & Quality

• Testing frameworks and coverage tools
• Code quality: SonarQube, Prettier, ESLint
• Monitoring: DataDog, New Relic, Prometheus
• Logging: ELK, Splunk, CloudWatch

Security & Compliance

• Authentication: OAuth, JWT, SAML
• Data encryption standards
• Regulatory requirements: GDPR, HIPAA, SOC2
• Secrets management: Vault, AWS Secrets Manager

Generate tech stack report with version matrix and compatibility notes.

Document Import

Aggregate all existing documentation and project history:

Specification Documents

• Requirements documents (RFP, PRD, specification)
• User stories and acceptance criteria
• Functional specifications
• Non-functional requirements

Design & Architecture

• Architecture Decision Records (ADRs)
• System design documents
• Database schema documentation
• API specifications (Swagger, Postman)

Process & Compliance

• Incident postmortems
• Security assessments and audit reports
• Compliance documentation
• Standard operating procedures

Communications

• Meeting transcripts and notes
• Email threads on key decisions
• Slack/Teams channel exports
• Stakeholder feedback collection

Code & Artifacts

• README files and documentation
• Code comments explaining business logic
• Deployment guides
• Known issues and limitations list

Import strategy:

• Scan repository for documentation files
• Extract from Wiki systems (Confluence, GitHub Wiki)
• Transcribe audio/video of requirements meetings
• Parse spreadsheets with requirement lists
• Consolidate into unified RESEARCH.md

Discovery Questions (7 Core Areas)

Interview stakeholders to fill gaps using seven categories:

1. Business Context (5 questions)

• What business problem does this solve?
• How will success be measured?
• Who are the primary users?
• What's the competitive landscape?
• What's the timeline and budget constraint?

2. Current State (5 questions)

• How are users currently solving this (if at all)?
• What pain points exist with current approach?
• What works well that should be preserved?
• How many users/transactions currently?
• What's acceptable downtime/SLA?

3. Technical Constraints (4 questions)

• Must integrate with specific systems? Which ones?
• Technology standards to follow?
• Performance targets (response time, throughput)?
• Data residency or infrastructure constraints?

4. Functional Scope (3 questions)

• What's in scope for MVP?
• What's explicitly out of scope?
• What's nice-to-have for future?

5. Non-Functional Requirements (4 questions)

• Availability target (99%, 99.9%, 99.99%)?
• Expected growth (users, data volume)?
• Compliance requirements (GDPR, HIPAA, SOC2)?
• Security sensitivity (public data vs confidential)?

6. Dependencies & Integrations (3 questions)

• What external services must integrate?
• Existing APIs to consume or expose?
• Data sharing agreements needed?

7. Organizational Context (3 questions)

• Who are decision makers and stakeholders?
• What organizational changes needed?
• Training and adoption plan?

Document all answers in RESEARCH.md.

Ecosystem Check

Map the project's external dependencies and integrations:

Outbound Integrations (services this system calls)

• Payment processor (Stripe, Square)
• Email service (SendGrid, AWS SES)
• Analytics (Mixpanel, Amplitude)
• Cloud services (AWS S3, Google Cloud Storage)

Inbound Integrations (services that call this system)

• Mobile apps consuming APIs
• Third-party reporting tools
• Legacy system migrations
• Partner integrations

Data Flow Map

• Source systems for data ingestion
• Destination systems for data export
• Real-time vs batch sync requirements
• Data transformation rules

Compliance Ecosystem

• Audit requirements and standards
• Data governance policies
• Breach notification procedures
• Vendor security assessment

Generate dependency graph and assess risk of each integration.

RESEARCH.md Format

Structure the research artifact as:

# Research Phase Report
**Project:** [name]
**Date:** [YYYY-MM-DD]
**Phase:** 1 - Research
**Status:** Complete

## Executive Summary
[1-paragraph overview of key findings]

## Greenfield vs Brownfield Assessment
**Classification:** [Greenfield | Brownfield]
[2-3 paragraphs explaining rationale]

## Technology Stack (Brownfield)
[Catalog of existing tech with versions]

### Current Performance Metrics
[Uptime, response times, throughput]

## Imported Documents
- [Document 1]: [Summary]
- [Document 2]: [Summary]

## Ecosystem Integrations
### Outbound
[List with brief description]

### Inbound
[List with brief description]

## Discovery Findings
[Answers to 7 discovery question categories]

## Risk Assessment
- Technical risks: [list with mitigation]
- Organizational risks: [list]
- External dependency risks: [list]

## Recommendations
[Next phase readiness assessment]

## Appendix: Full Tech Stack
[Detailed technology inventory]

Research Commands

/specky:research --greenfield          # Start new project
/specky:research --brownfield          # Analyze existing code
/specky:research --tech-scan           # Technology stack only
/specky:research --import-docs         # Document aggregation
/specky:research --discovery           # Stakeholder interviews

MCP Tools

| Tool | Purpose | |------|---------| | sdd_scan_codebase | Detect language, framework, package manager, folder structure | | sdd_discover | Generate 7 structured discovery questions | | sdd_research | Investigate technical unknowns and produce findings | | sdd_import_document | Import PDF/DOCX/MD documents as research context | | sdd_import_transcript | Import VTT/SRT meeting transcripts | | sdd_batch_import | Batch import multiple documents | | sdd_check_ecosystem | Report recommended MCP server integrations |

Companion Agent

@research-analyst — Phase 1 agent that calls these tools to build the knowledge baseline. Load this skill as first step.