awb-researchlisted

# Research before building > **Announce on activation:** "Using awb-research — I'll read the code and compare options before recommending." The expensive mistake is committing to an approach you picked before you understood the terrain. This skill forces *understand → compare → decide*, on evidence, before any plan or code. ## Process 1. **Zoom out first.** Before diving into one file, go up one layer: what module owns this, who calls it, where does the data come from and go? A quick map of the neighbourhood stops you solving the wrong problem in the right file. Don't deep-read yet — orient. 2. **Scope.** State the question in one sentence and the constraints that actually bind (perf, compatibility, deadline, the existing stack). An approach that ignores a real constraint is noise. 3. **Explore — read the real code.** Read the relevant code and configuration *as it is now*, not as you remember or assume it. Note what exists already (a helper, a pattern, a prior decision) so you don't reinvent or contradict it. 4. **HARD GATE: at least two approaches, in a table.** Do not recommend until you have compared ≥ 2 concrete options across the dimensions that matter (effort, risk, fit with existing code, reversibility). One option is not a comparison — it's a foregone conclusion dressed up. | Approach | Effort | Risk | Fits existing code? | Reversible? | |---|---|---|---|---| | A — … | … | … | … | … | | B — … | … | … | … | … | 5. **Recommend one