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skill-lean-research-hard

Research
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Research Lean 4 and Mathlib for theorem proving tasks with hard-mode behavioral contracts. Invoke for Lean-language research using LeanSearch, Loogle, and lean-lsp tools when hard-mode is requested.

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Source SKILL.md: https://github.com/benbrastmckie/nvim/blob/HEAD/.claude/extensions/lean/skills/skill-lean-research-hard/SKILL.md

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Lean Research Hard Skill

Thin wrapper that delegates Lean hard-mode research to lean-research-hard-agent subagent.

IMPORTANT: This skill implements the skill-internal postflight pattern. After the subagent returns, this skill handles all postflight operations (status update, artifact linking, git commit) before returning.

Hard mode activates H2 (anti-analysis), H3 (lean4 reference grounding), H4 (adversarial self-verification), and H5 (divergence audit) behavioral contracts. Cost is approximately 3-5x standard lean4 research.

Trigger Conditions

This skill activates when:

  • Task type is "lean4" or "lean" (either accepted)
  • /research N --hard is invoked for a lean4 task
  • Routed by command-route-skill.sh via routing_hard.research.lean4

Execution Flow

Stage 1: Input Validation

Validate required inputs:

  • task_number - Must be provided and exist in state.json
  • focus_prompt - Optional focus for research direction
# Lookup task
task_data=$(jq -r --argjson num "$task_number" \
  '.active_projects[] | select(.project_number == $num)' \
  specs/state.json)

# Validate exists
if [ -z "$task_data" ]; then
  return error "Task $task_number not found"
fi

# Extract fields
task_type=$(echo "$task_data" | jq -r '.task_type // "general"')
status=$(echo "$task_data" | jq -r '.status')
project_name=$(echo "$task_data" | jq -r '.project_name')
description=$(echo "$task_data" | jq -r '.description // ""')

Stage 1.5: Hard-Mode Cost Note

Before proceeding, emit the cost note for session tracking:

[hard-mode] skill-lean-research-hard activated (session flag: hard)
Cost multiplier: ~3-5x standard lean4 research
Behavioral contracts: H2 (anti-analysis), H3 (lean4 reference grounding),
  H4 (adversarial self-verification), H5 (divergence audit on demand)

Stage 2: Preflight Status Update

Update task status to "researching" BEFORE invoking subagent.

bash .claude/scripts/update-task-status.sh preflight "$task_number" research "$session_id"

Stage 3: Prepare Delegation Context

Prepare delegation context for the subagent:

{
  "session_id": "sess_{timestamp}_{random}",
  "delegation_depth": 1,
  "delegation_path": ["orchestrator", "research", "skill-lean-research-hard"],
  "timeout": 3600,
  "effort_flag": "hard",
  "task_context": {
    "task_number": N,
    "task_name": "{project_name}",
    "description": "{description}",
    "task_type": "lean4"
  },
  "focus_prompt": "{optional focus — if contains 'divergence' or 'audit', agent activates H5}",
  "metadata_file_path": "specs/{N}_{SLUG}/.return-meta.json"
}

Stage 4: Invoke Subagent

CRITICAL: You MUST use the Agent tool to spawn the subagent.

Required Tool Invocation:

Tool: Agent (NOT Skill, NOT Plan)
Parameters:
  - subagent_type: "lean-research-hard-agent"
  - model: "opus"
  - prompt: [Include task_context, delegation_context, focus_prompt, metadata_file_path]
  - description: "Execute hard-mode Lean research for task {N}"

DO NOT use Skill(lean-research-hard-agent) - this will FAIL.

The subagent will:

  • Apply H2 anti-analysis contract (lean4 formal proof line bar)
  • Apply H3 reference grounding (5-column lemma mapping table for Tier 1)
  • Execute H4 adversarial self-verification pass before returning
  • Execute H5 divergence audit if focus_prompt contains "divergence" or "audit"
  • Search Mathlib using lean_leansearch, lean_loogle, lean_leanfinder
  • Create research report in specs/{N}_{SLUG}/reports/
  • Write metadata to specs/{N}_{SLUG}/.return-meta.json
  • Return a brief text summary (NOT JSON)

Stage 4b: Self-Execution Fallback

CRITICAL: If you performed the work above WITHOUT using the Agent tool, you MUST write a .return-meta.json file now before proceeding to postflight.

If you DID use the Agent tool, skip this stage.


Postflight (ALWAYS EXECUTE)

Stage 5: Parse Subagent Return

Read the metadata file:

metadata_file="specs/${padded_num}_${project_name}/.return-meta.json"

if [ -f "$metadata_file" ] && jq empty "$metadata_file" 2>/dev/null; then
    status=$(jq -r '.status' "$metadata_file")
    artifact_path=$(jq -r '.artifacts[0].path // ""' "$metadata_file")
    artifact_type=$(jq -r '.artifacts[0].type // ""' "$metadata_file")
    artifact_summary=$(jq -r '.artifacts[0].summary // ""' "$metadata_file")
    adversarial_triggered=$(jq -r '.metadata.adversarial_verification_triggered // false' "$metadata_file")
    findings_count=$(jq -r '.metadata.findings_count // 0' "$metadata_file")
else
    echo "Error: Invalid or missing metadata file"
    status="failed"
fi

Stage 6: Update Task Status (Postflight)

If status is "researched", update state.json:

bash .claude/scripts/update-task-status.sh postflight "$task_number" research "$session_id"

On partial/failed: Keep status as "researching" for resume.


Stage 7: Link Artifacts

Add artifact to state.json with summary. Update TODO.md per @.claude/context/patterns/artifact-linking-todo.md with field_name=**Research**, next_field=**Plan**.

if [ -n "$artifact_path" ]; then
    jq --arg path "$artifact_path" \
       --arg type "$artifact_type" \
       --arg summary "$artifact_summary" \
      '(.active_projects[] | select(.project_number == '$task_number')).artifacts += [{"path": $path, "type": $type, "summary": $summary}]' \
      specs/state.json > specs/tmp/state.json && mv specs/tmp/state.json specs/state.json
fi

Stage 8: Git Commit

git add \
  "specs/${padded_num}_${project_name}/reports/" \
  "specs/${padded_num}_${project_name}/.return-meta.json" \
  "specs/TODO.md" \
  "specs/state.json"
git commit -m "task ${task_number}: complete research

Session: ${session_id}"

Stage 9: Return Brief Summary

Return a brief text summary (NOT JSON). Example:

Hard-mode research completed for task {N}:
- Found {findings_count} verified Mathlib lemmas/theorems
- H4 adversarial verification: {triggered revisions / no revisions needed}
- H5 divergence audit: {activated / not activated}
- H3 reference grounding tier: {Tier 1 / Tier 2 / Tier 3 / none}
- Created report at specs/{N}_{SLUG}/reports/MM_{short-slug}.md
- Status updated to [RESEARCHED]
- Changes committed

Error Handling

Input Validation Errors

Return immediately with error message if task not found.

Metadata File Missing

If subagent didn't write metadata file:

  1. Keep status as "researching"
  2. Report error to user

Git Commit Failure

Non-blocking: Log failure but continue with success response.

Subagent Timeout

Return partial status if subagent times out (default 3600s). Keep status as "researching" for resume.


MUST NOT (Postflight Boundary)

After the agent returns, this skill MUST NOT:

  1. Re-run Lean searches - All MCP searches are done by agent
  2. Re-verify type signatures - Verification is done by agent
  3. Edit research reports - Artifact creation is agent work
  4. Run adversarial verification - H4 is done by agent

The postflight phase is LIMITED TO:

  • Reading agent metadata file
  • Updating state.json via jq
  • Updating TODO.md status marker via Edit
  • Linking artifacts in state.json
  • Git commit

Return Format

This skill returns a brief text summary (NOT JSON). The JSON metadata is written to the file and processed internally.