domain-research

What this skill does

# Domain Research

Help the user pick a useful, descriptive .com for a new product by combining keyword demand data (Google Trends + Ahrefs) with batch availability checks (RDAP). Optimize for SEO-as-marketing, not brand-building.

## Baked-in preferences

These apply unless the user explicitly overrides them:

- **.com first, always.** Only look at alt-TLDs (.io, .so, .app, .dev, .ai) if the user opens that door or every sensible .com is taken.
- **Useful > brandable.** The user's strategy is descriptive naming that does SEO work. Do NOT suggest invented/abstract names (Obsidian/Roam style) as primary options — the user can't afford brand-building spend.
- **No obscure acronyms.** `ai` and `llm` are fine (widely understood). `kb`, `pkb`, `pkm`, `kms` and similar are not — spell them out.
- **"llm" dates fast.** Flag it when suggesting names that contain it. "ai" is less risky but still mention the concern.
- **Watch trademarks.** Flag when a name is close to a well-known brand (e.g. "Second Brain" = Tiago Forte territory).

## Step 0: Confirm agent-browser + Ahrefs session

Ahrefs keyword research requires the user to be logged into Ahrefs in Brave. Before doing anything:

1. Check if Brave is running with debugging enabled by trying `agent-browser --auto-connect get url` (quick, cheap).
2. If that fails, ask the user: "I need you to open Brave and log into Ahrefs at https://ahrefs.com so I can run keyword research. Let me know when you're ready."
3. When ready, open `https://app.ahrefs.com/dashboard` and check the URL. If it redirects to `/pricing` or `/login`, Ahrefs is not logged in on this account's plan — tell the user and fall back: skip the Ahrefs step and use Google autocomplete + common-sense volume guesses instead. Google Trends does not require login.

Session check is part of every run, even if the skill ran successfully earlier — sessions expire.

## Step 1: Understand the product

If the user hasn't already described the product in conversation, ask:

1. What does the product do? (one or two sentences)
2. Who is it for? (developers, general consumers, specific niche)
3. What phrases would a user type into Google to find it?

Infer the search terms if the user's description is clear enough. Don't over-ask — one round is usually enough.

## Step 2: Propose 2-3 keyword pathways

Based on the product, identify 2-3 candidate head terms — the phrases people might search that the domain could anchor on. For a knowledge/PKM tool the pathways might be:

- "second brain" (biggest pond, but Tiago Forte conflict)
- "personal knowledge base" (cleaner, smaller)
- "wiki" or "personal wiki" (smallest, most specific)

For other products, pick whatever pathways fit. Present 2-3 with trade-offs (volume, KD, conflict risk, typicality of phrasing). Ask the user which pathway to dig into, or offer to run all in parallel.

## Step 3: Google Trends trajectory (required)

Before sinking time into detailed keyword research, validate direction. A term with >1000 monthly searches but a declining trend over 12 months is worse than a term with >100 and a 2x climb.

Google Trends supports side-by-side comparison of up to 5 terms. Use agent-browser:

```bash
# URL-encode the comma-separated query string; %2C = ","
agent-browser --auto-connect open "https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=term1%2Cterm2%2Cterm3&geo=US&date=today%2012-m"
agent-browser --auto-connect wait --load networkidle
agent-browser --auto-connect wait --text "Interest over time" --timeout 30000
agent-browser --auto-connect screenshot /tmp/trends.png
```

Read the screenshot visually to compare trajectory lines. Record for each pathway:

- Average interest (0-100, relative scale — Google Trends is NOT absolute volume)
- Trend direction: climbing / flat / declining
- Ratio between terms (e.g. "second brain runs ~3-5x higher than personal wiki")

Also scroll to the "Related queries" section and screenshot "Rising" — this surfaces emerging phrasings the user might not have considered. Rising queries often make better domain bets than the head term itself.

If you need exact weekly data points, use the CSV export button. But a visual read of the chart is usually enough for naming decisions.

Important caveats to tell the user:

- Google Trends values are **relative, not absolute**. A term at "100" vs a term at "10" means 10x the relative interest, but neither value maps to search volume directly.
- Terms with low absolute volume may show as "0" even if they have some activity — combine Trends with Ahrefs volume buckets for the full picture.

## Step 4: Keyword validation via Ahrefs free tool

For each surviving pathway, visit `https://ahrefs.com/keyword-generator/?country=us&input=<PHRASE>` via agent-browser.

Extract the results dialog with:

```js
Array.from(document.querySelectorAll("tr")).slice(0,12).map(r =>
  Array.from(r.querySelectorAll("td,th")).map(c => c.innerText.trim().replace(/\s+/g," ")).join(" | ")
).join("\n")
```

Record volume (bucketed: `<100`, `>100`, `>1000`, `>10000`) and KD (Easy/Medium/Hard) for each head term. Also record a few adjacent phrases the user might target.

If Ahrefs returns "No keyword ideas," flag the term as invented/zero-volume.

Cloudflare challenges may appear — wait 5-10 seconds and re-check the page before concluding no data.

## Step 5: Generate descriptive .com candidate list

For each surviving pathway, generate ~10-15 descriptive .com candidate patterns. Apply baked-in preferences:

Good patterns:
- `<modifier><headterm>.com` — e.g., `aisecondbrain.com`, `livingsecondbrain.com`, `growingwiki.com`
- `<verb><headterm>.com` — e.g., `buildsecondbrain.com`, `ownyourwiki.com`
- `<headterm><suffix>.com` — e.g., `secondbrainapp.com` (weak), `secondbrainllm.com` (dates)
- `<differentiator>+<category>.com` — e.g., `compoundwiki.com`, `livingnotes.com`

Avoid patterns:
- Invented/abstract words as primary options (Obsidian-style) — save these as optional side list only
- Obscure acronyms (pkb, kb, pkm)
- Awkward multi-word stacks ("aisecondbrainapp.com" = too long)

Add user-mentioned candidates to the list — never silently drop them. Also consider rising queries from Step 3 as candidate seeds.

## Step 6: Batch availability check via RDAP

Use rdap.org (follows redirects to the right registry) — NOT macOS `whois`, which falls back to IANA for unfamiliar TLDs and returns false-positives.

```bash
for d in <list>; do
  c=$(curl -sL -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" "https://rdap.org/domain/$d" --max-time 8)
  if [ "$c" = "404" ]; then echo "AVAIL  $d"
  elif [ "$c" = "200" ]; then echo "taken  $d"
  else echo "?$c  $d"  # 429 = rate limit, retry
  fi
done
```

**Parallelism**: Start with `xargs -P 6` for speed. Sequential retry (with `sleep 0.4-0.6` between calls) for any that return `429`.

**429 handling**: Collect all 429s and rerun them sequentially in a retry pass. Do not mark a domain taken based on a 429.

**Big batch tip**: Run in `run_in_background: true` and use `Monitor` with `grep --line-buffered -E "^AVAIL"` to stream hits as they arrive.

## Step 7: Rank and present shortlist

Group by pathway, rank by:

1. **Matches head term** — higher volume head term = stronger SEO anchor
2. **Trajectory** — climbing term > flat > declining (from Step 3)
3. **Ages well** — no "llm" > "ai" > trendy suffixes
4. **Conflict risk** — flag proximity to known brands (Tiago Forte for "second brain", Notion/Obsidian/Roam for "note", etc.)
5. **Memorability** — short, pronounceable, not awkward

Present as a compact table. Include a "skip" list for weak available options so the user knows I evaluated them.

Always surface a **top pick** with one-sentence justification and a **runner-up** for comparison. Don't hedge with 10 equal options.

## Step 8: Market reality check (optional, ask first)

Before committing, offer: "Want me to run a market reality check on the top pick? Covers how buyers talk, who ranks for the head term, and signals from social."

If yes, run any combi