Idea Generation
voidful/academic-skills
學術研究的 Idea 產生技能——從發散到收斂，系統化地產出高品質研究構想。當使用者想腦力激盪研究方向、找新 research idea、或問「我接下來可以做什麼研究」時，一定要使用此技能。觸發詞包括：brainstorm、想 idea、研究方向、下一步做什麼、有什麼可以研究的、找 gap、research proposal。適用於任何階段的學術研究構想生成。
A skill your agent uses when starting a new research project, exploring a research idea, deciding whether a question is viable, or before touching code or data for a new paper.
Install Brainstorm
$ npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills --skill brainstorm -a claude-codeProject install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.
$ gh skill install brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills brainstorm --agent claude-codeProject scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/60-regisely-superpapers/skills/brainstorm .claude/skills/brainstorm && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.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/
Install the "brainstorm" agent skill from https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills/tree/main/skills/60-regisely-superpapers/skills/brainstorm into .claude/skills/brainstorm/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "brainstorm", then confirm the skill loads.Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$skill-installer install https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills/tree/main/skills/60-regisely-superpapers/skills/brainstormType this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.
$ npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills --skill brainstorm -a codexProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.
$ gh skill install brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills brainstorm --agent codexProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/60-regisely-superpapers/skills/brainstorm .agents/skills/brainstorm && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.
Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/
Install the "brainstorm" agent skill from https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills/tree/main/skills/60-regisely-superpapers/skills/brainstorm into .agents/skills/brainstorm/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "brainstorm", then confirm the skill loads.Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills --skill brainstorm -a cursorProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.
$ gh skill install brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills brainstorm --agent cursorProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/60-regisely-superpapers/skills/brainstorm .cursor/skills/brainstorm && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.
Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/
Install the "brainstorm" agent skill from https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills/tree/main/skills/60-regisely-superpapers/skills/brainstorm into .cursor/skills/brainstorm/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "brainstorm", then confirm the skill loads.Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gemini skills install https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills.git --path skills/60-regisely-superpapers/skills/brainstorm--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.
$ npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills --skill brainstorm -a gemini-cliProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.
$ gh skill install brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills brainstorm --agent gemini-cliProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/60-regisely-superpapers/skills/brainstorm .gemini/skills/brainstorm && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.
Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "brainstorm" agent skill from https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills/tree/main/skills/60-regisely-superpapers/skills/brainstorm into .gemini/skills/brainstorm/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "brainstorm", then confirm the skill loads.Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gh skill install brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills brainstormInstalls for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills --skill brainstorm -a github-copilotProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/60-regisely-superpapers/skills/brainstorm .github/skills/brainstorm && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.
GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "brainstorm" agent skill from https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills/tree/main/skills/60-regisely-superpapers/skills/brainstorm into .github/skills/brainstorm/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "brainstorm", then confirm the skill loads.GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills --skill brainstorm -a opencodeOpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.
$ gh skill install brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills brainstorm --agent opencodeProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/60-regisely-superpapers/skills/brainstorm .opencode/skills/brainstorm && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.
OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "brainstorm" agent skill from https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills/tree/main/skills/60-regisely-superpapers/skills/brainstorm into .opencode/skills/brainstorm/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "brainstorm", then confirm the skill loads.OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
Facts
- Skill name
brainstorm- GitHub stars
- 4.5k
- Token cost
- ~2k tokens
- SKILL.md length
- 955 words
- Files
- 1
- Skills in repo
- 383
- Repo updated
- First seen
- Licence
- Custom licence
At a glance
A skill your agent uses when starting a new research project, exploring a research idea, deciding whether a question is viable, or before touching code or data for a new paper.
- Works in 11 steps: Invoke academic-baseline and… → Explore project context. Inspect… → Detect research field and paper… → …
- Starting a new research project
- SKILL.md covers Overview, When to Use, When NOT to Use and Hard Gate, plus 4 more sections
- Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md
What it does
Brainstorm is an agent skill from brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills. Use when starting a new research project, exploring a research idea, deciding whether a question is viable, or before touching code or data for a new paper. Runs a research-focused brainstorm that clarifies research question, identification strategy, data feasibility, and contribution before any implementation.
Its SKILL.md is about 2k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.
It sits in Agent Workflows, covering Brainstorming and Hypothesis generation. The repository describes itself as: 🔬 A curated collection of 23,000+ agent skills for empirical research across 8 social science disciplines. | 精选 23,000+ AI Agent 技能库，覆盖8大社会科学学科的实证研究。CoPaper.AI…
When your agent uses it
- Starting a new research project
- Exploring a research idea
- Deciding whether a question is viable
- Before touching code
Example prompts
- “/brainstorm”
Workflow steps
11 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.
- Invoke academic-baseline and replication-driven-research first. academic-baseline resolves CLAUDE.superpapers.md via the walk-up Read…
- Explore project context. Inspect existing data/, paper/, .bib files, and git history. Settings from CLAUDE.superpapers.md are already…
- Detect research field and paper language. From project context when possible; otherwise ask the user. The field shapes which databases…
- Ask Socratic questions one at a time. Do not batch. Use multiple choice where possible. Cover these topics in roughly this order
- Propose 2-3 empirical approaches with trade-offs. Always recommend one and explain why. Present options conversationally, not as a menu.
- Present the research design section by section, getting approval after each section. Sections: research question, data strategy…
- Scale each section to its complexity. A simple descriptive study may need one paragraph per section. A novel identification strategy may…
- Write the spec to docs/superpapers/specs/YYYY-MM-DD--design.md in English. The spec is a plugin artifact, not paper content — English…
- Self-review the spec for placeholders, internal contradictions, scope problems, and ambiguous requirements. Fix inline.
- Ask the user to review the written spec. Wait for explicit approval before proceeding.
- Transition to write-plan. This is the only terminal state. Do not invoke execute-plan or any implementation skill directly.
What it can do on your machine
Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 9fa87d8. 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.
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
Brainstorm loads about 2k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 81 tokens; SKILL.md has 955 words of instructions outside code blocks.
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
Its licence (Custom licence) doesn't allow us to republish the file, so here is its outline and opening line. It has 955 words (~1,952 tokens).
“This is the first step in the superpapers pipeline for any new research project. It starts by invoking academic-baseline as the standing policy layer for the session, then mirrors the Superpowers brainstorming philosophy — Socratic questions, proposed approaches, incremental design…”
- name
- brainstorm
Files
Just SKILL.md in skills/60-regisely-superpapers/skills/brainstorm of brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills.
Open the folder on GitHubat commit 9fa87d8
Compare with similar skills
Brainstorm 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.
| Skill | Stars | Used in | Tokens | Auto-check | Licence | Repo updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brainstorm this skillbrycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills | 4.5k | — | ~2k | Automated safety check: Pass | Custom licence | |
| Idea Generationvoidful/academic-skills | 134 | — | ~1.6k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Research Ideationmaxwell2732/paper-replicate-agent-demo | 137 | 1 repos | ~914 | Automated safety check: Pass | None | |
| Interview Mepedrohcgs/claude-code-my-workflow | 1.7k | — | ~1.8k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Research Ideationpedrohcgs/claude-code-my-workflow | 1.7k | — | ~1.7k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Light Idea GenerationLight0305/Light-skills | 640 | — | ~4.6k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT |
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Related
Categories
Questions about Brainstorm
What does Brainstorm do?
A skill your agent uses when starting a new research project, exploring a research idea, deciding whether a question is viable, or before touching code or data for a new paper. Brainstorm is an agent skill from brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills. Use when starting a new research project, exploring a research idea, deciding whether a question is viable, or before touching code or data for a new paper.
When should I use Brainstorm?
Brainstorm fits situations like: starting a new research project; exploring a research idea; deciding whether a question is viable; before touching code.
How do I install Brainstorm in Claude Code?
Run `npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills --skill brainstorm -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/60-regisely-superpapers/skills/brainstorm in brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills) into .claude/skills/brainstorm in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.
How do I install Brainstorm in Codex?
Run `npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills --skill brainstorm -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/60-regisely-superpapers/skills/brainstorm in brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills) into .agents/skills/brainstorm in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.
Can I use Brainstorm 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 brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills --skill brainstorm -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/brainstorm, .gemini/skills/brainstorm, .github/skills/brainstorm and .opencode/skills/brainstorm in your project.
What does Brainstorm need to run?
SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Brainstorm is instructions for the agent only.
Does Brainstorm 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 Brainstorm 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 Brainstorm use?
Brainstorm has a licence file (the repository's licence) that doesn't match a standard licence. Read it on GitHub before reusing the skill.
How many tokens does Brainstorm use?
About 2k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 7.8k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.
What are the alternatives to Brainstorm?
Skills that share tags, products or a category with Brainstorm: Idea Generation (voidful/academic-skills, 134 stars), Research Ideation (maxwell2732/paper-replicate-agent-demo, 137 stars), Interview Me (pedrohcgs/claude-code-my-workflow, 1.7k stars) and Research Ideation (pedrohcgs/claude-code-my-workflow, 1.7k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.
Who maintains Brainstorm?
brycewang-stanford (a GitHub user) maintains it in brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills, which has 4,542 GitHub stars. The repository holds 383 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 5, 2026.
Source: brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-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.