---

name: s-research description: > Research WoW addon development topics using CLI tools, Blizzard UI source, and documentation. Covers API discovery, pattern research, and Ace3 usage. Use when investigating unfamiliar APIs, finding Blizzard patterns, or learning. Triggers: research, find, search, API, Blizzard UI, documentation, Ace3.

Researching WoW APIs

Expert guidance for discovering and understanding World of Warcraft APIs and patterns.

Related Commands

• c-research - API research workflow

CLI Commands (Use These First)

MANDATORY: Always use CLI commands before manual exploration.

Task	Command
Search APIs (Offline)	mech call api.search -i '{"query": "*Spell*"}'
API Info	mech call api.info -i '{"api_name": "C_Spell.GetSpellInfo"}'
List by Namespace	mech call api.list -i '{"namespace": "C_Spell"}'
Search Icons	mech call atlas.search -i '{"query": "sword"}'
API Stats	mech call api.stats

Capabilities

1. API Discovery — Search 5000+ WoW APIs offline using static definitions
2. Blizzard UI Research — Find patterns in Blizzard's own Lua source code
3. Ace3 Patterns — Guidance on using common addon libraries (AceDB, AceEvent, etc.)
4. Icon/Atlas Search — Find UI assets and textures by name

Routing Logic

Request type	Load reference
Offline API lookup patterns	references/api-research.md
Blizzard UI source patterns	references/blizzard-ui.md
Ace3 library patterns	references/ace3-patterns.md
CLI Reference	../../docs/cli-reference.md

Quick Reference

Search WoW APIs

mech call api.search -i '{"query": "GetItem*", "namespace": "C_Item"}'

Get Detailed API Info

mech call api.info -i '{"api_name": "C_Spell.GetSpellInfo"}'

Search Icons

mech call atlas.search -i '{"query": "sword", "limit": 10}'

Best Practices

• Search First: Use api.search before guessing API names.
• Audit Blizzard: Use ripgrep on local wow-ui-source to see how Blizzard uses an API.
• Namespace Awareness: Most modern APIs are in C_ namespaces (e.g., C_Timer, C_Spell).