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Agent skill

Meta Protocol Writer

by aipoch in aipoch/medical-research-skills

Generates a PROSPERO-compliant Meta-analysis protocol based on Title and PICOS.

MITAuto-check passedResearch & Science

Install Meta Protocol Writer

skills CLI
$ npx skills add aipoch/medical-research-skills --skill meta-protocol-writer -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install aipoch/medical-research-skills meta-protocol-writer --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/Protocol Design/meta-protocol-writer' .claude/skills/meta-protocol-writer && 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
meta-protocol-writer
GitHub stars
2k
Token cost
~1.5k tokens
SKILL.md length
733 words
Files
5 (incl. scripts, references)
Skills in repo
578
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Generates a PROSPERO-compliant Meta-analysis protocol based on Title and PICOS.

  • Works in 4 steps: Validate Title → Gather Inputs → Generate Protocol Sections → …
  • The user wants to write a protocol for a systematic review
  • SKILL.md covers When to Use, Key Features, Dependencies and Example Usage, plus 4 more sections
  • Runs Python scripts from its folder; calls python

What it does

Meta Protocol Writer is an agent skill from aipoch/medical-research-skills. Generates a PROSPERO-compliant Meta-analysis protocol based on Title and PICOS. Use when the user wants to write a protocol for a systematic review or meta-analysis.

Its SKILL.md is about 1.5k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 6 other files, including scripts and reference files (for example `POLISH_CHANGELOG.md`, `eval_report_meta-protocol-writer_result.json` and `references/prompts.md`).

It sits in Research & Science, covering Literature review. 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

  • The user wants to write a protocol for a systematic review
  • Tasks that involve Literature review

Example prompts

  • “Use the meta-protocol-writer skill to generate a PROSPERO-compliant Meta-analysis protocol based on Title and PICOS”
  • “/meta-protocol-writer”

Requirements

  • Python 3

Workflow steps

4 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

  1. Validate Title
  2. Gather Inputs
  3. Generate Protocol Sections
  4. Final Output

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

    Ships 1 file in scripts/ (Python), which the agent can run.

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • python

    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

Meta Protocol Writer loads about 1.5k tokens when it runs, and up to ~2.4k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 47 tokens; SKILL.md has 733 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~47
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.5k
With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them
~2.4k

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); the scripts in this folder are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from aipoch/medical-research-skills at commit 686e09d, republished under its MIT licence (© aipoch). 733 words, ~1,477 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/meta-protocol-writer/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 4 other files; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
meta-protocol-writer
description
Generates a PROSPERO-compliant Meta-analysis protocol based on Title and PICOS. Use when the user wants to write a protocol for a systematic review or meta-analysis.
license
MIT
author
AIPOCH

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

Meta Protocol Writer

This skill helps users generate a standard protocol for PROSPERO registration (without the registration number) for a Meta-analysis or Systematic Review.

When to Use

  • Use this skill when you need generates a prospero-compliant meta-analysis protocol based on title and picos. use when the user wants to write a protocol for a systematic review or meta-analysis in a reproducible workflow.
  • Use this skill when a protocol design task needs a packaged method instead of ad-hoc freeform output.
  • Use this skill when the user expects a concrete deliverable, validation step, or file-based result.
  • Use this skill when scripts/utils.py is the most direct path to complete the request.
  • Use this skill when you need the meta-protocol-writer package behavior rather than a generic answer.

Key Features

  • Scope-focused workflow aligned to: Generates a PROSPERO-compliant Meta-analysis protocol based on Title and PICOS. Use when the user wants to write a protocol for a systematic review or meta-analysis.
  • Packaged executable path(s): scripts/utils.py.
  • Reference material available in references/ for task-specific guidance.
  • Structured execution path designed to keep outputs consistent and reviewable.

Dependencies

  • Python: 3.10+. Repository baseline for current packaged skills.
  • Third-party packages: not explicitly version-pinned in this skill package. Add pinned versions if this skill needs stricter environment control.

Example Usage

bash
cd "20260316/scientific-skills/Protocol Design/meta-protocol-writer"
python -m py_compile scripts/utils.py
python scripts/utils.py --help

Example run plan:

  1. Confirm the user input, output path, and any required config values.
  2. Edit the in-file CONFIG block or documented parameters if the script uses fixed settings.
  3. Run python scripts/utils.py with the validated inputs.
  4. Review the generated output and return the final artifact with any assumptions called out.

Implementation Details

See ## Workflow above for related details.

  • Execution model: validate the request, choose the packaged workflow, and produce a bounded deliverable.
  • Input controls: confirm the source files, scope limits, output format, and acceptance criteria before running any script.
  • Primary implementation surface: scripts/utils.py.
  • Reference guidance: references/ contains supporting rules, prompts, or checklists.
  • Parameters to clarify first: input path, output path, scope filters, thresholds, and any domain-specific constraints.
  • Output discipline: keep results reproducible, identify assumptions explicitly, and avoid undocumented side effects.

Workflow

Follow these steps to generate the protocol.

1. Validate Title

Check if the user provided a title.

  • If Title is missing: Ask the user to provide a title or suggest one based on PICOS if provided.
  • If Title is present: Validate it using the Title Review Rules (see below).

Title Review Rules:

  • Must contain "Meta-analysis" or "Systematic review".
  • Must cover PICOS elements (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome).
  • Must be concise (< 25 words).

If the title fails validation, explain why and ask for a revised title.

2. Gather Inputs

Ensure you have the following information (PICOS):

  • Participants (P)
  • Interventions (I)
  • Comparisons (C)
  • Outcomes (O)

If any are missing, ask the user.

Show full SKILL.md (282 more words)Show less
3. Generate Protocol Sections

Use the prompts in references/prompts.md to generate the three main sections. You must follow the content requirements and word counts strictly.

Step 3.1: Administrative Information
  • Use the Administrative Information Prompt in references/prompts.md.
  • Inputs: Validated Title, Author information (if known, else use placeholders).
Step 3.2: Introduction
  • Use the Introduction Prompt in references/prompts.md.
  • Inputs: PICOS.
  • Constraints: Rationale (5-150 words), Objectives (10-200 words).
Step 3.3: Methods
  • Use the Methods Prompt in references/prompts.md.
  • Inputs: PICOS.
  • Critical: For the Search Strategy, use the Current Date as the end date.
    • You can run python scripts/utils.py to get the exact current date if needed, or just use today's date known to you.
    • Start date must be "inception". Do NOT set a specific start year (e.g., 2000) unless requested.
4. Final Output

Combine the sections into a single Markdown document.

Structure:

  1. Administrative Information
  2. Introduction
  3. Methods

Ensure all headings match the PROSPERO requirements.

Error Handling

  • If required inputs are missing, state exactly which fields are missing and request only the minimum additional information.
  • If the task goes outside the documented scope, stop instead of guessing or silently widening the assignment.
  • If execution fails, report the failure point, summarize what can still be completed safely, and provide a manual fallback.
  • Do not fabricate files, citations, data, search results, or execution outcomes.

Input Validation

This skill accepts requests that match the documented purpose of meta-protocol-writer and include enough context to complete the workflow safely.

Do not continue the workflow when the request is out of scope, missing a critical input, or would require unsupported assumptions. Instead respond:

meta-protocol-writer only handles its documented workflow. Please provide the missing required inputs or switch to a more suitable skill.

© 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 4 other files (scripts, references) in scientific-skills/Protocol Design/meta-protocol-writer of aipoch/medical-research-skills.

  • SKILL.md
  • POLISH_CHANGELOG.md
  • eval_report_meta-protocol-writer_result.json
  • references/prompts.md
  • scripts/utils.py

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 686e09d

Compare with similar skills

Meta Protocol Writer 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.

Meta Protocol Writer compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Meta Protocol Writer this skillaipoch/medical-research-skills2k—~1.5kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Nature Paper CardYuan1z0825/nature-skills47k2 repos~2.1kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Systematic Review ScreenerImbad0202/academic-research-skills51k—~8.4kAutomated safety check: PassCustom licence
Literature Reviewneflibata-feng/MyArxiv-Agent12620 repos~5.9kAutomated safety check: NotesMIT
Preprint Search on bioRxivLigphiDonk/Oh-my--paper73812 repos~3.7kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Academic Paper Writing PipelineImbad0202/academic-research-skills51k—~16kAutomated safety check: PassCustom licence

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Categories

Questions about Meta Protocol Writer

What does Meta Protocol Writer do?

Generates a PROSPERO-compliant Meta-analysis protocol based on Title and PICOS. Meta Protocol Writer is an agent skill from aipoch/medical-research-skills. Generates a PROSPERO-compliant Meta-analysis protocol based on Title and PICOS.

When should I use Meta Protocol Writer?

Meta Protocol Writer fits situations like: the user wants to write a protocol for a systematic review; tasks that involve Literature review.

How do I install Meta Protocol Writer in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add aipoch/medical-research-skills --skill meta-protocol-writer -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (scientific-skills/Protocol Design/meta-protocol-writer in aipoch/medical-research-skills) into .claude/skills/meta-protocol-writer in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Meta Protocol Writer in Codex?

Run `npx skills add aipoch/medical-research-skills --skill meta-protocol-writer -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (scientific-skills/Protocol Design/meta-protocol-writer in aipoch/medical-research-skills) into .agents/skills/meta-protocol-writer in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Meta Protocol Writer 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 meta-protocol-writer -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/meta-protocol-writer, .gemini/skills/meta-protocol-writer, .github/skills/meta-protocol-writer and .opencode/skills/meta-protocol-writer in your project.

What does Meta Protocol Writer need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Meta Protocol Writer needs Python for the scripts in its folder and the command-line tools its instructions call (python). Our summary lists: Python 3.

Does Meta Protocol Writer 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 Meta Protocol Writer 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. The check reads SKILL.md only: the scripts in the folder are not scanned, so read them before running anything.

What licence does Meta Protocol Writer use?

Meta Protocol Writer 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 Meta Protocol Writer use?

About 1.5k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 5.9k 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 914 tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.

What are the alternatives to Meta Protocol Writer?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Meta Protocol Writer: Nature Paper Card (Yuan1z0825/nature-skills, 47k stars), Systematic Review Screener (Imbad0202/academic-research-skills, 51k stars), Literature Review (neflibata-feng/MyArxiv-Agent, 126 stars) and Preprint Search on bioRxiv (LigphiDonk/Oh-my--paper, 738 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Meta Protocol Writer?

aipoch (a GitHub organization) maintains it in aipoch/medical-research-skills, which has 1,978 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.