Add agentic web research MVP: docs, templates, and researcher mode

README.md

@@ -122,6 +122,7 @@ Start with the public proof pack:
 - [Exported consumer proof pack](docs/proof/consumer-node-cli/README.md)
 - [Runtime support matrix](docs/RUNTIME-SUPPORT.md)
 - [Verification discipline](docs/VERIFICATION-DISCIPLINE.md)
+- [Agentic research MVP](docs/AGENTIC-RESEARCH-MVP.md)
 
 ### Quickstart (after init)
 

agents/researcher.md

@@ -82,3 +82,16 @@ Same algorithm, different scope. The scope is a context input, not a different r
 - **Tools required:** Web search, URL fetch, file read, file write; authoritative documentation API strongly recommended
 - **Parallelizable:** Yes -- 4 researchers (one per domain: stack, features, architecture, pitfalls) can run simultaneously
 - **Context budget:** High -- research is read-heavy with many external fetches. Keep output files focused to avoid downstream bloat.
+
+## Agentic Research Mode (MVP)
+
+When web research is enabled and question complexity is high, run a decomposition-first agentic loop:
+
+1. Decompose into sub-questions with completion criteria.
+2. Run parallel worker tracks for each sub-question.
+3. Maintain append-only scratchpad trace for long jobs.
+4. Synthesize into claim-level evidence + confidence.
+
+Use templates:
+- `distilled/templates/research/agentic-report.md`
+- `distilled/templates/research/agentic-scratchpad.md`

distilled/templates/research/agentic-report.md

@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+# Agentic Research Report
+
+**Date:** [YYYY-MM-DD]
+**Question:** [Primary research question]
+**Scope:** [project | phase]
+**Timebox:** [e.g., 45m]
+
+## 1) Executive answer
+
+- [Direct answer in 3-7 bullets]
+
+## 2) Decomposition map
+
+| Sub-question | Why it matters | Completion criteria | Status |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| [Q1] | [reason] | [done means] | [done/incomplete] |
+
+## 3) Recommendations
+
+1. [Recommendation]
+   - Confidence: [verified | likely | uncertain]
+   - Rationale: [short]
+   - Evidence: [URL1, URL2]
+   - Tradeoff: [cost/risk]
+
+## 4) Contradictions and ambiguity
+
+- [Conflicting evidence and how it was resolved]
+
+## 5) Non-goals / defer list
+
+- [What we explicitly do not recommend in MVP]
+
+## 6) Planner handoff
+
+- Suggested milestone/phase impact:
+- Required technical spikes:
+- Open questions that block implementation:
+
+## 7) Source index
+
+| Claim | Source URL | Accessed date |
+|---|---|---|
+| [claim] | [url] | [YYYY-MM-DD] |

distilled/templates/research/agentic-scratchpad.md

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+# Agentic Research Scratchpad
+
+**Job:** [identifier]
+**Started:** [timestamp]
+**Owner:** [agent/runtime]
+
+## Running log (append-only)
+
+| Time | Sub-question | Action | Observation | Next step |
+|---|---|---|---|---|
+| [hh:mm] | [Q1] | [search/query/read] | [finding] | [follow-up] |
+
+## Dead ends / discarded paths
+
+- [Path] -> [Why discarded]
+
+## Confidence shifts
+
+- [Claim] moved from [uncertain] to [likely] because [new evidence]
+
+## Pending validation
+
+- [Claim requiring verification]

docs/AGENTIC-RESEARCH-MVP.md

@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+# Agentic Research MVP (Hyperresearch Distillation)
+
+**Status:** MVP-ready in Workspine  
+**Date:** 2026-04-29
+
+## Objective
+
+Provide a practical, repo-native agentic web research harness that any developer can run end-to-end with evidence, scratchpad traceability, and handoff quality suitable for planning/execution workflows.
+
+## Scope
+
+This MVP adds:
+
+1. A dedicated **agent contract** for decomposition-first web research.
+2. A **scratchpad protocol** for long-running jobs.
+3. A canonical **report template** that is strict about claims/evidence/confidence.
+4. A suggested **execution lifecycle** that plugs into existing Workspine planning and verification workflows.
+
+This MVP intentionally does **not** add a new CLI command yet; it is a workflow/contract integration that can be invoked via existing agent surfaces.
+
+## Distilled Architecture
+
+### Components
+
+- **Orchestrator agent**: owns question framing, decomposition, synthesis, and final report quality.
+- **Research workers**: parallel sub-agents that run targeted web/document research.
+- **Scratchpad**: append-only task log for hypotheses, query paths, dead ends, and evidence links.
+- **Evidence registry**: report-level table mapping each claim to source URLs and confidence.
+
+### Data flow
+
+1. Define research question and constraints.
+2. Decompose into answerable sub-questions with explicit completion criteria.
+3. Run workers in parallel against web-enabled tools.
+4. Persist intermediate findings and uncertainty in scratchpad.
+5. Merge, dedupe, contradiction-check, and confidence-score.
+6. Emit final report in repository template.
+
+## Tradeoffs (explicit)
+
+- **Speed vs reliability:** parallel search is faster but increases duplicate/noisy evidence; mitigation is mandatory claim-level provenance.
+- **Breadth vs depth:** broad decomposition catches blindspots but can dilute deep technical validation; mitigation is tiered pass (breadth first, depth second for decisive claims).
+- **Autonomy vs determinism:** higher autonomy can improve discovery but harm reproducibility; mitigation is strict scratchpad + evidence contracts.
+- **Token cost vs auditability:** richer traces cost more, but make handoff and review much stronger; MVP prefers auditability.
+
+## Integration with existing Workspine lifecycle
+
+- During **new-project** or **plan** phases, invoke the new agent contract when web research is available.
+- Store outputs under `.planning/research/` (project) or phase directory (phase-specific).
+- Use verification workflow discipline to check that recommendations are source-backed and actionable.
+
+## MVP Operating Contract
+
+1. Never publish a recommendation without at least one linked source.
+2. Mark every major claim with confidence (`verified`, `likely`, `uncertain`).
+3. Record unresolved questions and contradictions explicitly.
+4. Keep scratchpad as durable artifact when total runtime exceeds 10 minutes or multi-agent fanout > 3 workers.
+5. Include concrete next-step recommendations for planner/roadmapper consumption.
+
+## Suggested rollout path
+
+1. **Now (this MVP):** markdown contracts + templates + agent role.
+2. **Next:** add `gsdd-research-agentic` workflow wrapper command.
+3. **Later:** evidence schema linting and freshness TTL checks for cited web sources.
+