research-document

Research Execution Package Specification

Research Execution Package Specification

Version: 2.0
Status: Canonical

Purpose

The Research Execution Package (REP) is the canonical artifact produced at the completion of every research effort. It serves as a permanent scientific record, executable handoff, theory update, knowledge transfer artifact, and synchronization point between autonomous research agents.

Canonical artifact hierarchy

  1. Scientific Research Journal
  2. Research Execution Package
  3. Theory Registry
  4. Evidence Registry

Stable identifiers

Artifact Prefix
Research Package RP-
Journal Entry JR-
Evidence EV-
Hypothesis HY-
Theory TH-
Experiment EX-
Decision Framework DF-
Concept CN-
Glossary GL-

Required metadata

Identifier, title, research area, discipline, author agent, version, confidence, completion, priority, related projects, related documents, supersedes, superseded by, tags, and keywords.

Mandatory REP sections

  • Research State Snapshot
  • Executive Summary
  • Original Objective
  • Scope
  • Repository Context
  • Current Understanding
  • Key Discoveries
  • Evidence Registry
  • Hypothesis Registry
  • Failed Assumptions
  • Open Questions
  • Recommended Next Research
  • Research Backlog
  • Suggested Specialized Research Agents
  • Parallel Research Opportunities
  • Risks
  • Cross-Discipline Opportunities
  • Knowledge Relationships
  • Theory Impact Assessment
  • Research Quality Metrics
  • Research Debt
  • Repository Updates
  • Website Updates
  • AI Consumption Notes
  • Handoff Instructions
  • Research Journal
  • Appendix
  • Completion Checklist

Completion standard

A different autonomous research agent must be able to reconstruct the investigation, understand the current theory, continue immediately, and produce the next REP without additional context.