Agent skill

Literature Extensive Read

by aipoch in aipoch/medical-research-skills

Rapidly skim and summarize academic papers (default:PDF-to-Markdown full text with Page XX pagination and image references) and output a structured extensive-reading summary in Markdown when you…

MITAuto-check passedDocuments & Office

Install Literature Extensive Read

skills CLI
$ npx skills add aipoch/medical-research-skills --skill literature-extensive-read -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install aipoch/medical-research-skills literature-extensive-read --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/aipoch/medical-research-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/'scientific-skills/Evidence Insight/literature-extensive-read' .claude/skills/literature-extensive-read && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
literature-extensive-read
GitHub stars
1.9k
Token cost
~1.1k tokens
SKILL.md length
488 words
Files
4 (incl. references, assets)
Skills in repo
578
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Rapidly skim and summarize academic papers (default:PDF-to-Markdown full text with Page XX pagination and image references) and output a structured extensive-reading summary in Markdown when you…

  • Works in 2 steps: (Optional) Convert PDF to Markdown → Read and summarize using the template
  • Tasks that involve PDF
  • SKILL.md covers When to Use, Key Features, Dependencies and Example Usage, plus 1 more section
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Literature Extensive Read is an agent skill from aipoch/medical-research-skills. Rapidly skim and summarize academic papers (default:PDF-to-Markdown full text with Page XX pagination and image references) and output a structured extensive-reading summary in Markdown when you need to quickly understand research questions, methods, key results, conclusions, and decide whether intensive reading is worthwhile.

Its SKILL.md is about 1.1k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 5 other files, including reference files and assets (for example `assets/rapid_summary_template.md`, `literature-extensive-read_audit_result_v1.json` and `references/guide.md`).

It sits in Documents & Office, covering PDF and Hypothesis generation. The repository describes itself as: Hundreds of agent skills for medical research, including protocol design, data analysis, evidence insights, and academic writing. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Tasks that involve PDF
  • Tasks that involve Hypothesis generation

Example prompts

  • “/literature-extensive-read”

Workflow steps

2 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

  1. (Optional) Convert PDF to Markdown
  2. Read and summarize using the template

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 686e09d. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md (its code samples are bash).

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Literature Extensive Read loads about 1.1k tokens when it runs, and up to ~1.4k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 90 tokens; SKILL.md has 488 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~90
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.1k
With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them
~1.4k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from aipoch/medical-research-skills at commit 686e09d, republished under its MIT licence (© aipoch). 488 words, ~1,082 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/literature-extensive-read/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 3 other files; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
literature-extensive-read
description
Rapidly skim and summarize academic papers (default:PDF-to-Markdown full text with `## Page XX` pagination and image references) and output a structured extensive-reading summary in Markdown when you need to quickly understand research questions, methods, key results, conclusions, and decide whether intensive reading is worthwhile.
license
MIT
author
AIPOCH

Source: https://github.com/aipoch/medical-research-skills

When to Use

  • You have a paper converted from PDF to Markdown and need a fast, structured overview before deciding to read it deeply.
  • You need to extract the research question, methodology, main findings, and conclusions for literature triage.
  • You are reviewing many papers and want consistent summaries using a fixed template.
  • You want a quick interpretation of figures/tables referenced as images in the Markdown (only based on what is explicitly shown/described).
  • You need to produce a UTF-8 Markdown summary file saved to a standard output directory for later review.

Key Features

  • Rapid extensive reading workflow: prioritize title/abstract/conclusion, then scan methods and results.
  • Structured output using a predefined Markdown template.
  • Supports PDF-to-Markdown inputs that include ## Page XX pagination headers.
  • Allows using embedded image references (e.g., ![page-01](...)) to briefly describe charts/tables when explicitly interpretable.
  • Strictly summarizes only explicit content from the provided text (no speculation); missing items are marked as “Not specified”.
  • Standardized output location: saves results to outputs/ (created if missing).

Dependencies

  • pdf-extract (version: Not specified) — used only when the input is PDF and must be converted to Markdown first.
  • securityclaw (version: Not specified) — optional security audit report saved alongside outputs.

Example Usage

Input

Assume you have one of the following:

  1. A PDF-to-Markdown file (recommended):
  • paper.md (contains full text, may include ## Page XX and image references)
  1. Only a PDF:
  • paper.pdf (convert it first using pdf-extract)
Steps
  1. (Optional) Convert PDF to Markdown
bash
pdf-extract paper.pdf > paper.md
  1. Read and summarize using the template
  • Read paper.md, prioritizing: Title → Abstract → Conclusion, then scan Methods and Results.
  • Follow requirements and quality checks in:
    • references/guide.md
  • Fill the output template:
    • assets/rapid_summary_template.md
  • If any field cannot be found in the text, write: Not specified.
  1. Save output
  • Save the completed summary as a UTF-8 encoded Markdown file to:
    • outputs/rapid_summary.md
  1. (Optional) Save security audit report
  • If generated, save the securityclaw report to:
    • outputs/
Show full SKILL.md (181 more words)Show less

Implementation Details

  • Input format

    • Default input is full-text Markdown converted from PDF.
    • Pagination headers like ## Page XX may appear and should be treated as page markers, not section headings.
    • Image references (e.g., ![page-01](...)) may be used to support brief figure/table descriptions only when the content is explicitly interpretable.
  • Reading strategy (algorithm)

    1. Extract bibliographic and high-level intent from Title/Abstract.
    2. Identify the research question(s) and scope.
    3. Scan Methods to capture: data, experimental setup, models, baselines, evaluation metrics, and key parameters (only if explicitly stated).
    4. Scan Results to capture the main quantitative/qualitative findings and comparisons.
    5. Read Conclusion/Discussion to capture claims, limitations, and future work.
    6. Produce an intensive-reading recommendation based on the paper’s stated contributions, clarity of evidence, and relevance to the user’s goal (when provided).
  • Output rules

    • Use assets/rapid_summary_template.md as the sole structure for the final summary.
    • If information is missing or unclear in the source text, write Not specified (do not infer).
    • Output must be Markdown (.md) and saved in UTF-8 to avoid encoding issues.
    • Default output language is Chinese unless the user explicitly requests another language.

© aipoch, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 3 other files (references, assets) in scientific-skills/Evidence Insight/literature-extensive-read of aipoch/medical-research-skills.

  • SKILL.md
  • assets/rapid_summary_template.md
  • literature-extensive-read_audit_result_v1.json
  • references/guide.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 686e09d

Compare with similar skills

Literature Extensive Read next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Literature Extensive Read compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Literature Extensive Read this skillaipoch/medical-research-skills1.9k—~1.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Five Questionsbrycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills4.6k—~1.7kAutomated safety check: NotesCustom licence
Paper Interpretationdigoal/blog8.6k—~1.5kAutomated safety check: PassGPL-2.0
Paper2htmlcnfjlhj/ai-collab-playbook454—~2.4kAutomated safety check: PassNone
Paper LensYSQ-boop/paper-lens101—~1.3kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Paper Auditbahayonghang/academic-writing-skills500—~5.1kAutomated safety check: PassNone

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Questions about Literature Extensive Read

What does Literature Extensive Read do?

Rapidly skim and summarize academic papers (default:PDF-to-Markdown full text with Page XX pagination and image references) and output a structured extensive-reading summary in Markdown when you…. Literature Extensive Read is an agent skill from aipoch/medical-research-skills. Rapidly skim and summarize academic papers (default:PDF-to-Markdown full text with Page XX pagination and image references) and output a structured extensive-reading summary in Markdown when you need to quickly understand research questions, methods, key results, conclusions, and decide whether intensive reading is worthwhile.

When should I use Literature Extensive Read?

Literature Extensive Read fits situations like: tasks that involve PDF; tasks that involve Hypothesis generation.

How do I install Literature Extensive Read in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add aipoch/medical-research-skills --skill literature-extensive-read -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (scientific-skills/Evidence Insight/literature-extensive-read in aipoch/medical-research-skills) into .claude/skills/literature-extensive-read in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Literature Extensive Read in Codex?

Run `npx skills add aipoch/medical-research-skills --skill literature-extensive-read -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (scientific-skills/Evidence Insight/literature-extensive-read in aipoch/medical-research-skills) into .agents/skills/literature-extensive-read in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Literature Extensive Read in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add aipoch/medical-research-skills --skill literature-extensive-read -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/literature-extensive-read, .gemini/skills/literature-extensive-read, .github/skills/literature-extensive-read and .opencode/skills/literature-extensive-read in your project.

What does Literature Extensive Read need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Literature Extensive Read is instructions for the agent only.

Does Literature Extensive Read access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Literature Extensive Read safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Literature Extensive Read use?

Literature Extensive Read is published under the MIT licence (declared in SKILL.md). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Literature Extensive Read use?

About 1.1k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 4.3k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full. Its references folder adds about 327 tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.

What are the alternatives to Literature Extensive Read?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Literature Extensive Read: Five Questions (brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills, 4.6k stars), Paper Interpretation (digoal/blog, 8.6k stars), Paper2html (cnfjlhj/ai-collab-playbook, 454 stars) and Paper Lens (YSQ-boop/paper-lens, 101 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Literature Extensive Read?

aipoch (a GitHub organization) maintains it in aipoch/medical-research-skills, which has 1,937 GitHub stars. The repository holds 578 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on September 17, 2026.

Source: aipoch/medical-research-skills on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.