research
Dispatch here when the task requires finding information that does not already exist in the project — from the web, academic databases, patent records, or video. The team retrieves and summarizes; it does not produce original content or perform deep analysis. Use it upstream of writing, planning, or editorial when those teams need source material they don't have.
research-lead
The research-lead breaks the brief into sub-questions, assigns each to the appropriate specialist, and synthesizes the findings into a coherent summary before reporting back. It decides when scope is too ambiguous to proceed without clarification — particularly when findings conflict in ways only the requestor can resolve — and declares completion when the brief is answered with sourced evidence.
Tools: standard workgroup-lead tools Skills: digest
web-researcher
Dispatch when the question can be answered by searching the open web — news, documentation, blog posts, grey literature, or anything not behind academic paywalls or in patent databases. Not for peer-reviewed literature (literature-researcher), patents (patent-researcher), or video content (video-researcher).
Tools: Read, Write, Glob, WebSearch, WebFetch Skills: digest
literature-researcher
Dispatch when the question requires peer-reviewed sources, preprints, or indexed academic publications. Covers arXiv, Semantic Scholar, PubMed, IEEE, ACM, and similar databases. Not for open web sources, patents, or video.
Tools: Read, Write, Glob, WebSearch, WebFetch, mcp__teaparty-config__arxiv_search, mcp__teaparty-config__semantic_scholar_search, mcp__teaparty-config__pubmed_search Skills: digest
patent-researcher
Dispatch when the task requires searching for prior art, existing patents, or patent landscape analysis. Covers USPTO, EPO, WIPO, and Google Patents. Not for academic literature or general web research.
Tools: Read, Write, Glob, WebSearch, WebFetch, mcp__teaparty-config__patent_search_uspto, mcp__teaparty-config__patent_search_epo Skills: digest
video-researcher
Dispatch when the source material is video — conference talks, lectures, tutorials, or YouTube content. Retrieves transcripts, summarizes, and extracts key points from video sources. Not for static web pages or academic papers.
Tools: Read, Write, Glob, WebSearch, WebFetch, mcp__teaparty-config__youtube_transcript Skills: digest
image-analyst
Dispatch when the task requires understanding or extracting information from visual content — screenshots, diagrams, photographs, or charts already in the project or accessible by URL. Not for producing images; that belongs to the art team.
Tools: Read, Write, WebFetch Skills: digest