AI coding glossary
Deep Research
Also known as: agentic research, ai research mode
In one sentence
A long-running agentic research workflow, the AI plans, searches multiple sources, synthesizes findings, and produces a structured report, distinct from quick one-shot search.
Full definition
Deep research is the agentic research pattern: the AI plans a research strategy, executes 10-50+ web searches and document fetches, synthesizes across sources, and produces a structured report with citations. Distinct from quick search (one query, one answer) and from RAG (retrieve-and-generate over a fixed corpus). ChatGPT shipped Deep Research in 2024; Perplexity's Pro Search and Claude.ai's Research mode are competitors. In coding contexts, deep research is used for migration scoping ('what changed between version X and Y'), library evaluation ('which auth library should we pick'), and competitive intelligence ('what features does our competitor's API have'). Skills-hub's `web-research` skill is the open-source equivalent.