fix(research): the contrarian runs as a second wave with the leading answer to attack

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

commands/trekresearch.md

@@ -384,7 +384,8 @@ changes nothing (SC1). Keep the native-swarm anchors intact ("in parallel",
 5. **On a real report:** keep `effective_engine = deep-research`, log
    `Engine: deep-research (active)`, and carry the report into Phase 6 triangulation
    as the external-findings input (adapted in Phase 7 — see the Deep-research engine
-   adapter below).
+   adapter below); then run wave 2 (`contrarian-researcher`, see Launch rules)
+   from the report's leading answer.
 
 ### External agents (scope = both or external)
 
@@ -413,7 +414,22 @@ ticket IDs) already removed: the agents search with the words they are given.
 
 ### Launch rules
 
-- Launch ALL selected agents **in parallel** in a single message
+- Launch in two waves, both in Phase 4 (before Phase 4.5 and Phase 5, so outside
+  the Phase 5 loop scope marker that `hooks/scripts/pre-agent-cap.mjs` reads).
+- **Wave 1:** ALL selected agents except `contrarian-researcher` **in parallel**
+  in a single message.
+- **Wave 2:** `contrarian-researcher`, when selected, after wave 1 returns, in a
+  message of its own. Give it a conclusion to attack: the leading answer (one or
+  two sentences), the claims for it and the alternatives wave 1 dismissed,
+  taken from wave 1's external findings only, never from the local agents'
+  findings (Hard rules → Independence), and stripped of local parts like the
+  research question above (absolute paths, user names, internal project or
+  repository names, ticket IDs). It searches with the words it is given, so no
+  local file name or project term may be in them. When wave 1's external
+  findings hold no leading answer, say so and give it the research question
+  alone, stripped the same way. With `--engine deep-research`
+  (`effective_engine = deep-research`), wave 2 runs after the engine returns,
+  from the leading answer of its report.
 - Inject the resolved model at every spawn: `phase_signal_result.model` (brief
   signal > profile), with the agent's frontmatter `model:` as the fallback — see
   Hard rules → Cost. The orchestrator itself follows the session model.
@@ -923,12 +939,11 @@ commands surface, don't re-enforce.
 ### High-effort behavior (v5.1.1)
 
 When `phase_signal_result.effort == 'high'` for the `research` phase,
-run the FULL swarm regardless of normal triggering rules: 5 local
+run the FULL swarm regardless of normal selection rules: 5 local
 agents + 4 external agents, AND force `contrarian-researcher` to
-always-on. Normally `contrarian-researcher` triggers conditionally when
-a leading recommendation is emerging from initial agents; in
-high-effort mode it runs unconditionally so the final brief always
-carries an adversarial counter-evidence pass.
+always-on: in high-effort mode `contrarian-researcher` runs
+unconditionally, as wave 2 (see Launch rules), so the final brief
+always carries an adversarial counter-evidence pass.
 
 The former third-party second-opinion bridge pass is **unavailable,
 skipped** (dropped in v5.10.1 by operator directive). High effort no
@@ -943,7 +958,9 @@ turns per under-illuminated dimension, budgeted by
 `--local`, `external_research_enabled: false`) overrides the effort
 signal whenever the external phase does not run at all.
 
-Standard effort (or absent): use the existing conditional triggers.
+Standard effort (or absent): the selected agents run as in Phase 4, and
+`contrarian-researcher`, when selected, runs as wave 2 after the other
+agents return (see Launch rules).
 Low effort: inline research only, no agent swarm (existing
 `--quick`-equivalent code-path).