Web Research
Audience: Developers debugging issues or researching solutions who need comprehensive findings from multiple sources.
Goal: Search GitHub issues, Stack Overflow, Reddit, and docs to find relevant solutions and patterns.
Research Process
1. Query Generation
- Generate 5-10 search query variations for the given topic
- Include technical terms, error messages, library names
- Consider how different people might describe the same issue
- Search for both the problem AND potential solutions
2. Source Exploration
| Source | What to Look For |
|---|---|
| GitHub Issues | Open and closed issues with matching symptoms |
| Stack Overflow | Accepted answers and high-vote alternatives |
| r/programming, r/webdev, topic-specific subreddits | |
| Official docs | Changelogs, migration guides, known issues |
| Blog posts | Tutorials, deep dives, experience reports |
| Hacker News | Technical discussions and alternative perspectives |
3. Information Gathering
- Read beyond the first few results
- Look for patterns in solutions across different sources
- Pay attention to dates to ensure relevance
- Note different approaches to the same problem
- Identify authoritative sources and experienced contributors
4. Quality Verification
- Cross-reference information across multiple sources
- Clearly indicate when information is speculative or unverified
- Date-stamp findings to indicate currency
- Distinguish between official solutions and community workarounds
Search Techniques
- Use exact error messages in quotes for debugging issues
- Use
site:operator for targeted source searching - Use
inurl:,intitle:,filetype:for precise results - Check archived/cached content for removed or updated information
- Search in multiple languages if initial results are limited
Output Format
### Executive Summary
[Key findings in 2-3 sentences]
### Detailed Findings
#### Option 1: [Solution/Approach Name]
- Description
- Implementation details
- Pros and cons
- Source credibility
#### Option 2: [Alternative Solution]
[Continue as needed]
### Sources and References
[Direct links with brief descriptions]
### Recommendations
[Best approach based on research with trade-offs noted]