Setting the file. One moment.
Subchapter 1.3
references/company-researcher.mdMarkdown8 KBView on GitHub
Research a company using its website URL or a text description, then map findings to the Stripe Connect decision matrix. Produces a structured analysis with confidence levels that the calling skill uses to auto-fill discovery questions.
You will receive one or both of:
If a URL is provided:
WebFetch the homepage. Prompt: “Extract: what this company does, who the sellers or providers are, who the buyers or customers are, how payments and money flow between parties, any pricing or fee information, and whether this is a marketplace, platform, or SaaS product.”
Attempt to fetch deeper pages for additional signals. Try these URL suffixes in parallel and use whatever succeeds:
/about, /about-us, /how-it-works — for business model clarity/pricing, /plans — for fee structureIf the homepage fetch fails (403, 404, timeout, empty content), fall back to WebSearch using the domain name plus “business model how it works”.
If only a description is provided (no URL):
WebSearch for the company name (if identifiable) plus “business model” and “pricing”.If both WebFetch and WebSearch are unavailable or fail:
If no description text is available (URL-only input and web research failed), return the early-exit output from Step 4 with all dimensions set to LOW confidence and the note: “Web research unavailable and no description provided. Cannot perform research.”
Otherwise, classify directly from the provided description text and codebase signals (Step 2). Cap all web-derived dimensions at LOW confidence and note: “Web research unavailable — classification based on description and codebase signals only.”
If neither URL nor description is provided:
Return the early-exit output (see Step 4 failure format) with all dimensions set to LOW confidence and the note: “No company URL or description provided. Cannot perform research.”
Check if there’s an existing project to scan:
Glob for package.json, requirements.txt, Gemfile, go.mod, pom.xml at the project root.
If a project exists, Grep for business model signals:
seller, vendor, operator, provider, merchant, host, creatorbuyer, customer, rider, guest, clientcommission, fee, split, payout, transfer, earningsmarketplace, platform, connectUse codebase signals to corroborate or strengthen web research findings. For example, if the homepage says “marketplace” and the codebase has terms like commission, payout, split, listing, booking, cart, order, storefront, or seller/vendor/provider patterns, that’s stronger confirmation.
For each of the 6 dimensions below, report what you found and how confident you are. Do NOT interpret the decision matrix or derive a recommended configuration — that happens downstream.
| Dimension | What to determine | Confidence: HIGH | Confidence: MEDIUM | Confidence: LOW |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business model | marketplace, on-demand services, professional services, SaaS with payments, crowdfunding, subscription platform, rental marketplace, event ticketing, e-commerce (white-label), B2B platform | Explicit on homepage or about page | Inferred from product description or competitor comparison | Guessing from vague signals |
| Parties | Who are the sellers or providers? Who are the buyers? | Roles explicitly named on the site | Inferred from business model type | No party information found |
| Payment flow | Platform collects → pays out? Buyers pay sellers directly? Platform processes on behalf? | Pricing page or docs describe the flow | Inferred from business model (for example, marketplaces usually collect) | No payment information found |
| Onboarding control | Embedded, Stripe-hosted redirect, or fully custom or API | Custom onboarding shown on site, or white-label signals | Default inference from business model | Contradictory signals |
| Dispute responsibility | Platform handles, sellers handle, or shared | Explicitly stated in terms/policies | Inferred from model (marketplace → platform usually) | No information |
| Fee structure | Percentage, flat, tiered, subscription+tx | Pricing page shows exact fee structure | Inferred from competitor patterns or partial information | No pricing information found |
Write the Summary section as if speaking directly to the user, using second person. Say “Your barbers are…” not “The barbers are…”. Frame findings as a conversational confirmation seeking validation.
Return your analysis in this exact format:
## Company Research: [Company Name or "Unknown"]
### Summary
[2-3 sentences speaking directly to the user: what their company does, their key parties, and how money flows. Use "you/your" — for example, "Your platform connects customers with barbers who provide services. You collect payment from customers and pay out barbers after taking a platform fee."]
### Research Findings
| Dimension | Finding | Confidence | Evidence |
|----------------|------------------------------------------|------------------|--------------------------|
| Business Model | [type from the dimension table above] | [HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW] | [1-sentence explanation] |
| Parties | [sellers] (sellers) + [buyers] (buyers) | [HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW] | [1-sentence explanation] |
| Payment Flow | [observed flow description] | [HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW] | [1-sentence explanation] |
| Onboarding | [signals about onboarding preferences] | [HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW] | [1-sentence explanation] |
| Disputes | [who appears to handle] | [HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW] | [1-sentence explanation] |
| Fee Structure | [type]: [details] | [HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW] | [1-sentence explanation] |
### Sources
- [list each URL fetched or search query used]| Scenario | What to do |
|---|---|
| URL returns 403/404/timeout | Fall back to WebSearch with the domain name. Note in Sources: “Direct URL unreachable, used web search.” |
| URL is a SPA with minimal HTML | WebFetch may return little content. Fall back to WebSearch. Check meta tags and page title. |
| Pricing is behind a login | Fee structure confidence drops to LOW. Note: “Pricing not publicly available.” |
| Company does multiple things | Note the ambiguity. Classify based on the primary product. Set confidence to MEDIUM with reasoning about which facet you chose. |
| Not a marketplace or platform | If the business is purely B2C with no multi-party payments, flag clearly: “This business appears to be a direct seller — standard Stripe integration may be more appropriate than Stripe Connect.” Set Business Model confidence to HIGH with value “not-connect”. |
| Conflicting signals | Note the conflict explicitly. Set confidence to MEDIUM. Provide your best inference with reasoning about why you chose one interpretation over the other. |