Step 5 of the hyperresearch V8 pipeline. Spawns K depth-investigator subagents in parallel (one per scored locus), each producing one interim note with a Committed Position section. Investigators read full source bodies for their locus and may fetch additional sources within their source_budget. Invoked via Skill tool from the entry skill (full tier only).
Scanned 9/4/2026
Install to Claude Code
npx -y skills add NeverSight/skills_feed --skill hyperresearch-5-depth-investigation --agent claude-codeInstalls into .claude/skills of the current project.
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---
name: hyperresearch-5-depth-investigation
description: >
Step 5 of the hyperresearch V8 pipeline. Spawns K depth-investigator
subagents in parallel (one per scored locus), each producing one
interim note with a Committed Position section. Investigators read
full source bodies for their locus and may fetch additional sources
within their source_budget. Invoked via Skill tool from the entry
skill (full tier only).
---
# Step 5 — Depth investigation (parallel, K = len(loci))
## Run-scoped artifact contract
Use the active `RUN_MANIFEST` created by the entry skill. Substitute `$ARTIFACT_DIR`, `$TEMP_DIR`, `$CLAIMS_DIR`, `$QUERY_FILE_PATH`, and `$FINAL_REPORT_PATH` from that manifest before reading, writing, spawning subagents, or running Bash. Do not read or write legacy top-level run artifacts such as `research/scaffold.md`, `research/prompt-decomposition.json`, or `research/temp/*`.
**Tier gate:** SKIP entirely for `light` tier. Only `full` tier runs depth investigation.
**Goal:** produce ONE `interim-{locus}.md` note per locus with dense synthesis that the draft sub-orchestrators (step 10) will draft from.
---
## Recover state
Read these inputs:
- `$ARTIFACT_DIR/scaffold.md` — vault_tag
- `$ARTIFACT_DIR/loci.json` — scored loci with source_budget per locus
- `$TEMP_DIR/contradiction-graph.json` (if step 3 ran)
- `$QUERY_FILE_PATH` — canonical research query
---
## Procedure
1. **Spawn K `hyperresearch-depth-investigator` subagents in parallel** (ONE message, all Task calls). One per locus with `source_budget > 0`, capped at 6.
**Spawn template:**
```
subagent_type: hyperresearch-depth-investigator
prompt: |
RESEARCH QUERY (verbatim, gospel):
> {{paste $QUERY_FILE_PATH body}}
QUERY FILE: $QUERY_FILE_PATH
PIPELINE POSITION: You are step 5 (depth-investigator) of the
hyperresearch V8 pipeline. Step 4's loci analysts produced $ARTIFACT_DIR/loci.json;
after you return, step 6 will reconcile your committed position against
the other investigators' positions in $ARTIFACT_DIR/comparisons.md.
YOUR LOCUS (from $ARTIFACT_DIR/loci.json):
- name: "<locus name>"
- one_line: "<one-line locus description>"
- flavor: "dialectical" / "synthesis" / "technical"
- source_budget: <integer from loci.json>
- rationale: "<why this locus matters>"
YOUR INPUTS:
- run_id: <run_id>
- artifact_dir: $ARTIFACT_DIR
- temp_dir: $TEMP_DIR
- claims_dir: $CLAIMS_DIR
- corpus_tag: <vault_tag>
- locus_name: <locus name>
- source_budget: <hard cap on additional sources you can fetch>
CRITICAL: Read the full source text of relevant vault notes (via
`hyperresearch note show <id1> <id2> ... -j`) BEFORE writing your
interim note. Drafting from summaries alone produces paraphrase;
drafting from full text produces synthesis. Use your source_budget
to fetch additional sources beyond the width corpus if needed.
OUTPUT: Write a single interim note via the hyperresearch CLI with
type=interim, tags = <vault_tag> + locus-<locus-name>. The note MUST
end with a "## Committed position" section that takes a SIDE on the
dialectical question (or a synthesis verdict for non-dialectical
loci). Include calibration: confidence level, what evidence would
change your mind.
```
Each investigator's hard cap is `locus.source_budget`, not a flat number.
2. **Each investigator writes ONE interim note** into the vault with `type: interim` and tags `<vault_tag>` + `locus-<locus-name>`. Return value is the note id.
3. **Wait for all K to complete.** Investigators can fail independently. Proceed with whichever succeeded. If >50% failed, stop and reassess loci quality with the user.
4. **Read the interim notes.** After all return, list them:
```bash
$HPR search "" --tag <vault_tag> --type interim --json
```
Then batch-read them:
```bash
$HPR note show <id1> <id2> ... -j
```
Hold the Committed Position sections in your context — they are the load-bearing input to step 6 (cross-locus reconciliation).
**INVARIANT:** Every interim note ends with a `## Committed position` section. An interim note ending with descriptive summary only is defective — flag it and re-spawn that investigator with the committed-position requirement emphasized.
---
## Exit criterion
- One interim note per locus with `source_budget > 0`, each tagged `<vault_tag>` + `locus-<locus-name>`
- Every interim note ends with `## Committed position`
If >50% of investigators failed: stop and escalate.
---
## Next step
Return to the entry skill (`hyperresearch`). Invoke step 6:
```
Skill(skill: "hyperresearch-6-cross-locus-reconcile")
```
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