3.6 / 5

Research Agent

Give it a topic, it browses and compiles sources while you do other things

Serious

The Problem

Deep research is time-consuming; AI summaries lack sources; manual research misses things

Current Solutions (Not Great)

Manual research (hours), Perplexity (shallow, one-shot), research assistants (expensive)

Who Needs This

Students, academics, journalists, analysts, professionals writing reports

Deep research requires opening dozens of tabs, reading, evaluating sources, taking notes, and synthesizing. It's hours of work. Research Agent does the legwork: give it a topic or question, and it searches, browses, evaluates sources, extracts key information, and compiles a structured research document. It runs in the background while you do other work. Come back to find a curated set of sources with summaries, key quotes, and a synthesis—not AI-generated fluff, but pointers to real sources you can verify and cite.

Honest Take

Perplexity, Elicit, and other AI research tools are moving incredibly fast in this space, with well-funded companies and strong network effects. The citation quality and depth angle is compelling for academics, but you're competing against tools that have massive model access and search infrastructure. Could work as a niche tool for specific research workflows.

Monetization Ideas

Ways to turn this into revenue

Freemium

Free basic, $5-15/mo for pro

Subscription

$5-29/month or $49-199/year

One-Time Purchase

$9-49 per license

Features

Key features that make this app valuable

Natural language research queries
Autonomous multi-source browsing
Source quality evaluation
Key information extraction
Quote capture with citations
Structured output (not just summary)
Source diversity checking
Contradiction identification
Exportable research document

Build Prompt

Use this prompt with an AI assistant to start building

Build a Chrome extension called 'Research Agent' using WebInfer. Manifest V3 with tabs, activeTab, storage permissions. UI: popup with research query input, ongoing research status, completed research list. On query submit: 1) AI generates search queries (multiple angles on topic), 2) Open search results page, extract top URLs, 3) Queue URLs for analysis. Background processing: open URL in background tab, wait for load, content script extracts main content. Use generateObject to return { url: string, title: string, sourceType: 'academic'|'news'|'blog'|'official'|'other', credibilityScore: number, relevance: number, keyInformation: string[], quotablePassages: [{ quote: string, context: string }], relatedTopics: string[], contradicts?: string }. Build research document in IndexedDB: { query, sources: [], synthesis: string, keyFindings: [], contradictions: [], gaps: [] }. After N sources (configurable), generate synthesis. Display: research document with collapsible source summaries, key quotes with one-click citation copy, synthesis at top, source list with credibility indicators. Export as markdown/DOCX with proper citations. Rate limiting: max tabs, delay between requests, respect robots.txt. 'Dig deeper on...' button explores specific subtopics.

Score Breakdown

Pain