Discovery Workflow Skill

A workflow type for tasks whose deliverable is a document, not code. Explicitly exempt from the Iron Law (no failing test requirement) because there is nothing to test.

When to Use

• Competitive analyses and market research
• Architecture comparisons and ADR scaffolding
• Literature reviews and vendor evaluations
• Design research that does NOT feed into implementation planning

When NOT to Use

• If the deliverable includes code changes → use /exarchos:oneshot or /exarchos:ideate
• If you need TDD enforcement → use any other workflow type
• If the research feeds directly into implementation → use /exarchos:ideate (which includes a design phase)

Phases

Phase 1: Gathering (initial)

Collect sources, references, and raw material for the deliverable.

1. Define the research question or deliverable scope
2. Identify and collect sources (URLs, documents, code references)
3. Record sources in workflow state:

mcp__plugin_exarchos_exarchos__exarchos_workflow({
  action: "set", featureId: "<id>",
  updates: { "artifacts.sources": ["<source1>", "<source2>", "..."] }
})

4. Create an outline of the deliverable

Transition: When artifacts.sources is a non-empty array → synthesizing

Phase 2: Synthesizing

Draft the deliverable document from gathered sources.

1. Write the document based on gathered sources and outline
2. Commit the document to the repo (typically under docs/research/ or docs/designs/)
3. Record the report path:

mcp__plugin_exarchos_exarchos__exarchos_workflow({
  action: "set", featureId: "<id>",
  updates: { "artifacts.report": "<path-to-document>" }
})

Transition: When artifacts.report is set → completed

Optional: Escalation to Implementation

If discovery surfaces an implementation need:

1. Note the finding in the report
2. After completing the discovery workflow, start a new workflow:

   /exarchos:ideate <implementation-topic>
   

   Reference the discovery report as design input.

Event Emissions

Optionally emit events at key moments for observability:

mcp__plugin_exarchos_exarchos__exarchos_event({
  action: "append", stream: "<featureId>",
  event: { type: "discovery.sources_collected", data: { sourceCount: N } }
})

mcp__plugin_exarchos_exarchos__exarchos_event({
  action: "append", stream: "<featureId>",
  event: { type: "discovery.report_committed", data: { path: "<report-path>" } }
})