trace-first-starter

RF — TFW-21: Research Workflow Compression

Date: 2026-04-03 Status: 🟢 RF


Changes

# File Action Description
1 .tfw/templates/RES.md Modified Added 3 checkpoint fields (Agent assessment, Depth check, Recommendation) to all 3 stage checkpoints. Added external research line to Sufficiency Check self-check
2 .tfw/workflows/research.md Rewritten Compressed from 2397→1145 words, 319→160 lines
3 .agent/workflows/tfw-research.md Synced Exact copy of .tfw/workflows/research.md
4 README.md Updated Task Board: TFW-21 status → 🟢 RF

What Was Removed

Section Words removed Reason
Example Flow (lines 199-243) ~280 Template RES.md + Hard Rules sufficient
“What good research looks like” (lines 259-264) ~60 Duplicates Hard Rules #1-#3
“What bad research looks like” (lines 266-272) ~60 Duplicates Anti-patterns
“Operational” (lines 274-278) ~40 Repeats Role Lock
Anti-patterns duplicate block (lines 303-318) ~150 Merged into Rules § NEVER
Inline Checkpoint format (lines 131-144) ~70 Moved to templates/RES.md
Inline Sufficiency Check (lines 150-170) ~100 Already in templates/RES.md

What Was Preserved

Verification

Before: 2397 words, 319 lines
After:  1145 words, 160 lines (-52% words, -50% lines)

Hard Rules (MUST): 8 ✅
Stage reminders (Remember:): 3 ✅
Briefing mentions: 4 ✅
Closure mentions: 3 ✅
Stage definitions: 3 ✅
WAIT stops: 3 ✅
Adapter diff: identical ✅

Observations (out-of-scope, not modified)

# File Type Description
1 .tfw/workflows/plan.md duplication Naming Rules table (lines 64-75) duplicates conventions.md §4 — ~100 words recoverable
2 .tfw/workflows/handoff.md duplication Anti-patterns section partially overlaps conventions.md §14

Fact Candidates

# Category Candidate Source Confidence
1 constraint AI workflow instructions degrade at >~1200 words per document — agents lose mid-document attention. Working range: 700-900 words TFW-21 analysis + external research Medium
2 convention Checkpoint behavioral fields (Agent assessment, Depth check, Recommendation) must live in templates/RES.md, not inline in workflow docs TFW-21 RES R1 High

*RF — TFW-21: Research Workflow Compression 2026-04-03*