# Research Desk: five rules for research you will act on, and a five-check script (free sample)

> From the Research bundle: five rules for research that feeds a decision (an owner and an auditor who did not do the research, a decision named for every question, one of five verdicts per claim, a date on every source, a primary source behind every CONFIRMED), and a read-only script that checks one small file for them.

- URL: https://paperchasewebb.ai/bots/marketplace/items/research-desk-five-rules-for-research-you-will-act-on-free-sample/
- Type: Prompt pack
- Category: Solo business
- By: PaperChaseWebb
- Works with: Claude Code, Codex, Grok Bot, Hermes (named in the listing); Plain .md plus one Python 3 script, standard library only; one prompt for all four harnesses
- Price: Free USD
- Difficulty: Beginner
- Setup time: 5 min
- Time to result: About five minutes to a first result
- Format: Markdown (.md) file, research-desk-five-rules-for-research-you-will-act-on-free-sample.md
- Version: 1.0, updated 2026-10-29
- License: Personal and commercial use.

## What you end up with

In a few minutes you can see which of your agent's research answers are not ready to act on yet.

## What you get

- Five research rules
- research_mini.py: five read-only checks on one research-lite.json
- One prompt for all four harnesses
- Worked example: 5 findings, then 0

## Who it is for

Anyone who uses an agent to research before deciding something and wants a quick check of the basics first.

## Tools needed

- Grok Bot, Claude Code, Codex or Hermes: the agents that research; each reads the skill file, AGENTS.md snippet or rules block and moves a question only through desk.py handoff
- Python 3: runs desk.py (init, status, handoff, owner approval, verify), claim_cards.py and the fifteen-check checker; standard library only, no network
- You need: Python 3.9 or newer
- You need: Any of Grok Bot, Claude Code, Codex or Hermes

Cost to run: Free.

## Sample prompt: Check the basics (Grok Bot, Claude Code, Codex, Hermes)

```
Read research-lite.json for the question we are working on. Run research_mini.py on it and show me the output.
For each finding, tell me the smallest fix and what you need from me. Do not change verdicts or fill in dates you did not see yourself, and do not name yourself as the auditor.
```

The rules and the script are in the file.

## Free preview of research-desk-five-rules-for-research-you-will-act-on-free-sample.md

````markdown
# Research Desk: five rules for research you will act on, and a five-check script (free sample)

From the PaperChaseWebb Research bundle. Version 1.0, 2026-10-29. Plain markdown and one Python 3 script, standard library only. It reads one file, writes nothing and opens no network connection. Works with Grok Bot, Claude Code, Codex and Hermes through the prompt below.

## Install

Save this file as research-desk-sample.md, then pull the script out of it:

~~~sh
python3 -c "import re;t=open('research-desk-sample.md').read();open('research_mini.py','w').write(re.search(r'~~~python\n(.*?)~~~',t,re.S).group(1))"
~~~

Then write research-lite.json for your own question, or copy the worked example below, and run `python3 research_mini.py research-lite.json`. Exit 0 clean, 1 findings, 2 missing input.

## Five rules

1. Someone owns the decision, and someone who did not do the research reads the claims before anyone acts.
2. Every question says which decision it informs. A question that feeds no decision is not research yet.
3. Every claim gets one of five verdicts: CONFIRMED, CATEGORY ONLY, UNVERIFIED, CONTRADICTED or NOT CHECKABLE. "Probably true" is not one of them.
4. Every source has the date you opened it. A source with no date cannot be checked again later.
5. CONFIRMED needs a primary source: the maker's own docs, a filing, a dataset, a transcript. A roundup or a summary can lead you there but cannot confirm on its own.

## The five checks

| Check | What it looks for |
|---|
````

## Test record

- Date: Oct 29, 2026
- What was run: research_mini.py on the worked example, a fixed file and a missing file.
- Result: 5 findings, then 0; exit 2 on a missing file.
- Not run: The prompt inside a harness.

Copied from this item's dated test notes. What was not run stays in.

## Worth knowing

- The sample checks one file against five rules. The full Research Desk, handoffs, shared registers, audits, approvals tied to the report hash and the fifteen checks are in the full bundle.
- On 2026-10-29 research_mini.py gave 5 findings on the worked example, then 0 on the fixed file, and exited 2 on a missing file. The prompt was not run inside a harness.

## Questions

**Does it send anything anywhere?** No. It reads one file and opens no network connection.

**What is in the full bundle?** The Research Desk with fifteen checks and owner approval tied to each report's hash, plus Problem Mining Loop, Research Contract, Check the Claim and Compile Your Research in full. $59, against $101 for the four bought separately.

## How to get it

Free sample. Download it directly at https://paperchasewebb.ai/bots/marketplace/items/research-desk-five-rules-for-research-you-will-act-on-free-sample/, no signup.

Seller: PaperChaseWebb Inc., mgmt@paperchasewebb.com