Overview of the 6-phase workflow
- Describe your research goal
- Review the research plan ZeroTwo generates
- Approve or edit the plan
- Research runs automatically (server-side)
- Receive the Canvas report
- Iterate and refine with follow-up prompts
Step-by-step walkthrough
Describe your research goal
Enable the Deep Research pill in the prompt bar, then write a message describing what you want to research. More detail produces a better plan — and a better final report.What to include in your prompt:
- The main topic or question you want answered
- The scope: time range, geography, industry, or other constraints
- Any specific subtopics or angles you definitely want covered
- The intended use of the report (e.g., “for a competitive brief,” “for an academic review”)
- Any source preferences (peer-reviewed only, recent news, diverse domains)
“Research the competitive landscape of AI code editors in 2025, focusing on features, pricing, market share, and user sentiment. I’m evaluating whether to build an AI coding tool or compete with existing players.”Send the message when ready.
Review the research plan
Before doing any searching, ZeroTwo generates a structured research plan. The plan typically includes:
- A list of primary research areas (main topics to investigate)
- Subtopics and key questions under each area
- Source types ZeroTwo intends to consult (news, academic, company sites, etc.)
- The expected report structure
Approve or edit the plan
You have full control over the research plan before it runs:
- Approve as-is — click Approve or confirm “looks good, proceed” if the plan covers everything you need
- Edit the scope — ask ZeroTwo to add, remove, or reframe specific topics before proceeding
- Add constraints — specify “focus only on peer-reviewed sources,” “include data from 2023–2025 only,” or “prioritize publicly available data”
- Narrow or broaden — ask ZeroTwo to go deeper on one area or drop a section that is not relevant to your use case
- Specify websites — request that ZeroTwo include particular sites: “make sure to check TechCrunch and the official company blogs”
- Add sub-questions — for each section, list the specific questions you want answered
- “Remove the ‘History and Background’ section — I only need the current state”
- “Add a section on pricing models with a comparison table”
- “Focus more on the EU market, less on Asia-Pacific”
- “Include Gartner and Forrester analyst coverage where accessible”
Research runs automatically
Once you approve the plan, ZeroTwo immediately begins the automated research phase. A progress indicator in the chat shows what it is currently doing:
- “Searching for [topic]…”
- “Reading [URL]…”
- “Synthesizing findings from [source]…”
Receive the Canvas report
When research completes, the final report is delivered in the chat as an editable Canvas document. It opens automatically alongside the chat window.The report follows a consistent structure:
- Executive Summary — 1–2 paragraph overview of key findings
- Main sections — 3–8 topical sections with subheadings and inline citations [1][2][3]
- Conclusion — key takeaways and implications
- Sources — numbered list of all URLs referenced
Iterate and refine
After the report is delivered, the chat remains active. Use follow-up prompts to improve or extend the report:
You can also start a new Deep Research session on a related topic — this uses an additional research credit but keeps a clean, focused scope.
| What you want | Example prompt |
|---|---|
| Expand a section | ”Go deeper on the regulatory section with more detail on EU requirements” |
| Add a new section | ”Add a section comparing pricing models with a table” |
| Sharpen the executive summary | ”Rewrite the Executive Summary to be 3 sentences” |
| Get a quick takeaway | ”What are the 3 most actionable insights from this report?” |
| Change the audience | ”Rewrite this for a non-technical executive audience” |
| Translate | ”Translate this entire report into French” |
| Connect to your situation | ”What does this mean for a startup trying to enter this market with $500K?” |
Tips for better research plans
Be specific about what you need at the plan review step
The plan review step is your most powerful lever for improving report quality. Use it:- Add sub-questions per section — “For the competitive analysis section, answer: (1) What is their pricing model? (2) What customer segments do they target? (3) What are their publicly stated differentiators?”
- Set a quality bar — “I want analysis and synthesis, not just a summary of public information. Include specific data points and statistics where possible.”
- Specify source types — “Include academic papers, recent news coverage, industry analyst reports, and official company sources”
- Remove irrelevant sections — “Skip the ‘History’ section — I only need the current state and recent developments”
Write a strong initial prompt
The better your initial research goal description, the better the first draft of the research plan:- Include a specific timeframe (“as of 2025,” “from the last 12 months”)
- Describe the intended use (“for a VC investor evaluating a Series A,” “for a procurement team shortlisting vendors”)
- Mention any constraints (“prioritize peer-reviewed sources,” “focus on publicly available data only”)
Running multiple sessions
Only one Deep Research session can be actively running at a time per account. If you start a new session while one is in progress, you will be asked to confirm whether you want to cancel the current session.If you navigate away
Deep Research runs server-side. If you close the tab or navigate away while research is in progress:- The research continues running in the background
- Return to the same chat thread to find the completed report
- If the session was interrupted before completion, you will see an error message — start a new session to retry