Agent Systems: Deep Search Pattern

Problem

The first query is usually underspecified and retrieves only the obvious material. A broad question needs controlled decomposition and repeated evidence collection.

Intent and structure

question → subquestions → search branches → inspect sources → refine → synthesize

Each branch should record its query, selected source, relevance judgment, extracted claim, and unresolved question. The synthesis step must distinguish direct support, nearby technique, contradiction, and open gap.

Relation to ordinary retrieval

Basic retrieval answers one context-selection problem. Deep search adds a research policy: decide what to search next based on what the last search taught the system. It therefore composes retrieval, reflection, routing, and a stopping rule.

Mathematical stopping rules

Stop when the requested coverage is reached, new searches repeat known results, the time or query budget is exhausted, or a human decides that the remaining uncertainty is the actual research problem.

Failure modes

Search can become a loop, confirmation bias can narrow the branches too early, and citation count can be mistaken for mathematical relevance. Keep a search log and preserve negative results.

Figure

Figure: a broad question is decomposed into evidence-producing search branches.