Decision-first: Write research docs so a downstream agent can act in 30 seconds and verify cheaply. Lead with the recommendation + its biggest caveat; attach a one-line verification recipe to every load-bearing claim; put what didn’t work where it can’t be missed. Descriptive “how X works” prose is the least valuable part.

Scope & freshness: Format conventions, version-independent. Authored 2026-05-25 from a local-LLM benchmarking effort; the examples are LLM/GPU but the format applies to any research/benchmarking knowledge.