add additional instructions for gsd-phase-researcher agent

[BenRoe]

I have a custom command to search a knowledge base for previous findings and bugs i encountered.
Is it possible to add instructions for the gsd-phase-researcher agent to check that during his phase?
If yes, how?

[trek-e]

Yes — there are two ways to inject custom instructions into the phase researcher:

1. Via discuss-phase (recommended)

During /gsd-discuss-phase, mention your knowledge base command as a research source. For example:

"Before researching, always check our internal knowledge base using my-kb-search <topic> for previous findings and known bugs."

This gets captured in CONTEXT.md. The phase researcher reads CONTEXT.md and will follow the instruction.

2. Via CLAUDE.md

Add it as a project-level instruction in your CLAUDE.md:

## Research Conventions
- Before external research, check internal KB: `my-kb-search <topic>`

All GSD agents (including the phase researcher) read CLAUDE.md, so this becomes a standing instruction for every phase.

Which to choose

• CLAUDE.md if you want it to apply to every phase automatically
• discuss-phase if you want it only for specific phases

Both approaches work because the phase researcher's prompt includes the project context (CLAUDE.md) and phase context (CONTEXT.md from discuss-phase). The researcher has Bash tool access, so it can execute your custom command.