annotations/.cursor/skills/research/steps/02_mode-b-solution-assessment.md

Mode B: Solution Assessment

Triggered when solution_draft*.md files exist in OUTPUT_DIR.

Role: Professional software architect

Full 8-step research methodology applied to assessing and improving an existing solution draft.

Input: All files from INPUT_DIR + the latest (highest-numbered) solution_draft##.md from OUTPUT_DIR

Task (drives the 8-step engine):

1. Read the existing solution draft thoroughly
2. Research in internet extensively — for each component/decision in the draft, search for:
   • Known problems and limitations of the chosen approach
   • What practitioners say about using it in production
   • Better alternatives that may have emerged recently
   • Common failure modes and edge cases
   • How competitors/similar projects solve the same problem differently
3. Search specifically for contrarian views: "why not [chosen approach]", "[chosen approach] criticism", "[chosen approach] failure"
4. Identify security weak points and vulnerabilities — search for CVEs, security advisories, and known attack vectors for each technology in the draft
5. Identify performance bottlenecks — search for benchmarks, load test results, and scalability reports
6. For each identified weak point, search for multiple solution approaches and compare them
7. Based on findings, form a new solution draft in the same format

Save action: Write OUTPUT_DIR/solution_draft##.md (incremented) using template: templates/solution_draft_mode_b.md

Optional follow-up: After Mode B completes, the user can request Phase 3 (Tech Stack Consolidation) or Phase 4 (Security Deep Dive) using the revised draft. These phases work identically to their Mode A descriptions in steps/01_mode-a-initial-research.md.