devdrops-research-brief— agent skill

When to use this skill

• User wants a structured research brief on a topic, company, market, or event
• Agent is preparing background material for a meeting, report, or decision
• User asks "research [topic] for me", "give me a brief on [subject]", or "what do I need to know about [topic]?"
• Agent needs to synthesise information from multiple sources into a structured output

How it works

The endpoint gathers data from multiple sources — Google News headlines, academic papers (OpenAlex), and Wikipedia — then sends the aggregated content to the Claude API for synthesis into a structured brief. The brief includes an executive summary, key findings, risks, and source metadata. GET /api/research/brief?topic= is the quick-start path and caches results. POST /api/research/brief skips the cache and accepts a focus and depth parameter for more targeted output. This endpoint costs $0.10 per query — the highest price in the data aggregation tier due to Claude API costs.

Endpoints

Parameters

GET

POST body

Response fields

Quick start

TypeScript — GET (cached)

import { wrapFetchWithPayment } from "@x402/fetch";
const pay = wrapFetchWithPayment(fetch, walletClient);

const res = await pay(
  "https://api.devdrops.run/api/research/brief?topic=EU+AI+Act+compliance+requirements"
);
const { data } = await res.json();
console.log(data.brief.summary);

TypeScript — POST (fresh, with focus)

const res = await pay("https://api.devdrops.run/api/research/brief", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    topic: "quantum computing investment landscape",
    focus: "opportunities in enterprise software",
    depth: "deep",
  }),
});
const { data } = await res.json();

curl

# GET
curl -H "x-402-payment: <proof>" \
  "https://api.devdrops.run/api/research/brief?topic=stablecoin+regulation+US+2026"

# POST with focus
curl -X POST -H "x-402-payment: <proof>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"topic":"carbon credits market 2026","focus":"risks","depth":"standard"}' \
  "https://api.devdrops.run/api/research/brief"

Examples

Example 1: GET brief

GET /api/research/brief?topic=stablecoin+regulation+US+2026

{
  "product": "research",
  "data": {
    "topic": "stablecoin regulation US 2026",
    "sources_consulted": {
      "news_articles": 7,
      "academic_papers": 5,
      "wikipedia": true
    },
    "brief": {
      "summary": "US stablecoin regulation accelerated in 2025–2026 following GENIUS Act passage. Key requirements include 1:1 reserve backing, monthly attestations, and registration with OCC or state regulators for issuers above $10B market cap.",
      "findings": [
        "GENIUS Act passed May 2025 — establishes federal licensing for payment stablecoin issuers",
        "Reserve requirements: US Treasuries (≤93 days), insured deposits, central bank reserves only",
        "Algorithmic stablecoins explicitly excluded from the GENIUS Act framework"
      ],
      "risks": [
        "State vs federal regulatory fragmentation unresolved for cross-border issuers",
        "Non-US issuers face uncertain access to US market without federal registration"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Example 2: POST with focus

POST /api/research/brief
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "topic": "lithium supply chain concentration risk",
  "focus": "risks for EV manufacturers",
  "depth": "deep"
}

Example 3: Pre-meeting brief agent

async function preMeetingBrief(company: string, context: string) {
  const res = await pay("https://api.devdrops.run/api/research/brief", {
    method: "POST",
    headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      topic: `${company} company overview`,
      focus: context,
      depth: "standard",
    }),
  });
  const { data } = await res.json();
  return data.brief;
}

const brief = await preMeetingBrief(
  "Stripe",
  "focus on financial stability and regulatory standing for vendor due diligence"
);

Example 4: Parallel topic briefs

const topics = [
  "EU AI Act compliance",
  "SEC crypto enforcement trends",
  "UK fintech regulation 2026",
];

const briefs = await Promise.all(
  topics.map(topic =>
    pay(`https://api.devdrops.run/api/research/brief?topic=${encodeURIComponent(topic)}`)
      .then(r => r.json())
      .then(d => ({ topic, summary: d.data?.brief?.summary }))
  )
);

Errors & limits

No free tier. All requests $0.10.

Caching: GET requests are cached per topic. POST requests are NOT cached — each call synthesises fresh.

Latency: Standard depth: 5–10 seconds. Deep: 10–20 seconds. Set your HTTP client timeout to at least 30 seconds.

Topic specificity: More specific topics produce better briefs. "AI regulation UK 2026" outperforms "AI".

Sources: The endpoint queries Google News (up to 8 headlines), OpenAlex academic papers (up to 5), and Wikipedia. It does not do live web search.

Related skills

• devdrops-regulatory-feeds — raw regulatory data to supplement or verify
• devdrops-prediction-markets — quantitative market context alongside the brief
• devdrops-document-summariser — summarise a specific URL once found