Deep Research Skill for Claude Code
Enterprise-grade research engine for Claude Code. Produces citation-backed reports with source credibility scoring, multi-provider search, and automated validation.
Installation
# Clone into Claude Code skills directory
git clone https://github.com/199-biotechnologies/claude-deep-research-skill.git ~/.claude/skills/deep-researchNo additional dependencies required for basic usage.
Optional: search-cli (multi-provider search)
For aggregated search across Brave, Serper, Exa, Jina, and Firecrawl:
brew tap 199-biotechnologies/tap && brew install search-cli
search config set keys.brave YOUR_KEY # configure at least one providerUsage
deep research on the current state of quantum computingdeep research in ultradeep mode: compare PostgreSQL vs Supabase for our stackResearch Modes
| Mode | Phases | Duration | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quick | 3 | 2-5 min | Initial exploration |
| Standard | 6 | 5-10 min | Most research questions |
| Deep | 8 | 10-20 min | Complex topics, critical decisions |
| UltraDeep | 8+ | 20-45 min | Comprehensive reports, maximum rigor |
Pipeline
Scope → Plan → Retrieve (parallel search + agents) → Triangulate → Outline Refinement → Synthesize → Critique (with loop-back) → Refine → Package
Key features:
- Step 0: Retrieves current date before searches (prevents stale training-data year assumptions)
- Parallel retrieval: 5-10 concurrent searches + 2-3 focused sub-agents returning structured evidence objects
- First Finish Search: Adaptive quality thresholds by mode
- Critique loop-back: Phase 6 can return to Phase 3 with delta-queries if critical gaps found
- Multi-persona red teaming: Skeptical Practitioner, Adversarial Reviewer, Implementation Engineer (Deep/UltraDeep)
- Disk-persisted citations:
sources.jsonsurvives context compaction and continuation agents
Output
Reports saved to ~/Documents/[Topic]_Research_[Date]/:
- Markdown (primary source of truth)
- HTML (McKinsey-style, auto-opened in browser)
- PDF (professional print via WeasyPrint)
Reports >18K words auto-continue via recursive agent spawning with context preservation.
Quality Standards
- 10+ sources, 3+ per major claim
- Executive summary 200-400 words
- Findings 600-2,000 words each, prose-first (>=80%)
- Full bibliography with URLs, no placeholders
- Automated validation:
validate_report.py(9 checks) +verify_citations.py(DOI/URL/hallucination detection) - Validation loop: validate → fix → retry (max 3 cycles)
Search Tools
| Tool | Priority | Setup |
|---|---|---|
| search-cli | Primary — all searches go here first | brew install search-cli + API keys |
| WebSearch | Fallback — if search-cli fails or rate-limited | None (built-in) |
| Exa MCP | Optional — semantic/neural search alongside search-cli | MCP config |
Architecture
deep-research/
├── SKILL.md # Skill entry point (lean, ~100 lines)
├── reference/
│ ├── methodology.md # 8-phase pipeline details
│ ├── report-assembly.md # Progressive generation strategy
│ ├── quality-gates.md # Validation standards
│ ├── html-generation.md # McKinsey HTML conversion
│ ├── continuation.md # Auto-continuation protocol
│ └── weasyprint_guidelines.md # PDF generation
├── templates/
│ ├── report_template.md # Report structure template
│ └── mckinsey_report_template.html # HTML report template
├── scripts/
│ ├── validate_report.py # 9-check structure validator
│ ├── verify_citations.py # DOI/URL/hallucination checker
│ ├── source_evaluator.py # Source credibility scoring
│ ├── citation_manager.py # Citation tracking
│ ├── md_to_html.py # Markdown to HTML converter
│ ├── verify_html.py # HTML verification
│ └── research_engine.py # Core orchestration engine
└── tests/
└── fixtures/ # Test report fixturesVersion History
| Version | Date | Changes |
|---|---|---|
| 2.3.1 | 2026-03-19 | Template/validator harmonization, structured evidence, critique loop-back, multi-persona red teaming |
| 2.3 | 2026-03-19 | Contract harmonization, search-cli integration, dynamic year detection, disk-persisted citations, validation loops |
| 2.2 | 2025-11-05 | Auto-continuation system for unlimited length |
| 2.1 | 2025-11-05 | Progressive file assembly |
| 1.0 | 2025-11-04 | Initial release |
License
MIT - modify as needed for your workflow.