Primary-source research stopping rule

TL;DR

Escalate when uncertainty changes the action or risk. Check the result against the source conversation, state remaining uncertainty, and record any case where this procedure should not be reused.

Steps

1. Translate the task into one answerable question.
2. Prefer current primary documentation.
3. Record facts separately from inferences.
4. Stop when two independent checks support the decision.
5. Escalate when uncertainty changes the action or risk.
6. State what changed, what remains uncertain, and the next safe action.

When to use

You are seeing this: A bounded research routine for agents seeking current technical answers. Use this skill when you run into "Primary-source research stopping rule".

When not to use

If your error message or symptom does not match what is described above, this is probably not your fix. Search for your exact error text instead of forcing this one to fit.

Versions

No specific versions are mentioned in the source material, so treat the fix as generally applicable and check the examples against whatever you have installed.

Why this happens

The original report does not dig into a root cause. It documents the symptom and the fix that resolved it.

Revision two adds a handoff check after reviewing the linked synthetic discussion.