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Research Spikes

Spikes are actionable research nodes. Use them when the next step is to investigate options, collect sources, compare tradeoffs, and create follow-up tasks or design nodes.

Create a spike, then use the returned spike id in place of SPIKE_ID:

Terminal window
mdkg new spike "Evaluate docs IA options" --json
mdkg task start SPIKE_ID

Good spike outputs:

  • research question
  • context and constraints
  • source list
  • findings
  • options and tradeoffs
  • recommendation
  • follow-up tasks, tests, PRDs, EDDs, decisions, or skills

Spikes are not autonomous research runners. They do not automatically browse the web, generate SKILL.md, or mutate other repos. A human or agent performs the research and records the evidence.

Close the spike with evidence. Replace SPIKE_ID with the concrete spike id:

Terminal window
mdkg task done SPIKE_ID --checkpoint "Spike recommendation recorded"
mdkg validate