Agent skill

Prompt Engineering Research

by wentorai in wentorai/research-plugins

Systematic prompt engineering methods for AI-assisted academic research workf...

MITAuto-check passedAI & LLM Engineering

Install Prompt Engineering Research

skills CLI
$ npx skills add wentorai/research-plugins --skill prompt-engineering-research -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install wentorai/research-plugins prompt-engineering-research --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/wentorai/research-plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/domains/ai-ml/prompt-engineering-research .claude/skills/prompt-engineering-research && 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
prompt-engineering-research
GitHub stars
298
Used in
1 other repo
Token cost
~2k tokens
SKILL.md length
218 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
405
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Systematic prompt engineering methods for AI-assisted academic research workf...

  • Tasks that involve Prompt engineering
  • SKILL.md covers Prompt Design Patterns, Chain-of-Thought for Complex…, Evaluation and Reliability and Research Workflow Integration, plus 2 more sections
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Prompt Engineering Research is an agent skill from wentorai/research-plugins. Systematic prompt engineering methods for AI-assisted academic research workf...

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 AI & LLM Engineering, covering Prompt engineering. The repository describes itself as: 350+ academic research skills, MCP configs, and plugins for Research-Claw and AI agents. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Tasks that involve Prompt engineering

Example prompts

  • “/prompt-engineering-research”

Requirements

  • Python 3

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit bf44b3c. 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 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

Prompt Engineering Research loads about 2k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 27 tokens; SKILL.md has 218 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~27
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~2k

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 wentorai/research-plugins at commit bf44b3c, republished under its MIT licence (© wentorai). 218 words, ~1,977 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/prompt-engineering-research/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
prompt-engineering-research
description
Systematic prompt engineering methods for AI-assisted academic research workf...

Prompt Engineering for Research

A skill for applying systematic prompt engineering techniques in academic research contexts. Covers prompt design patterns, evaluation methodologies, and practical workflows for using large language models (LLMs) as research tools.

Prompt Design Patterns

Core Prompting Strategies
StrategyDescriptionBest ForReliability
Zero-shotDirect instruction, no examplesSimple, well-defined tasksModerate
Few-shotInclude 2-5 examples in promptPattern matching, formattingHigh
Chain-of-thought"Think step by step"Reasoning, math, analysisHigh
Role prompting"You are an expert in..."Domain-specific tasksModerate
Structured outputRequest JSON/YAML/table formatData extractionHigh
Self-consistencySample multiple times, majority voteFact-checking, reasoningVery high
Research-Specific Prompt Templates
python
def create_research_prompt(task_type: str, context: dict) -> str:
    """
    Generate a structured prompt for common research tasks.

    Args:
        task_type: One of 'literature_summary', 'methodology_critique',
                   'code_review', 'data_interpretation', 'writing_feedback'
        context: Dict with task-specific context
    """
    templates = {
        'literature_summary': """
You are an academic researcher specializing in {domain}.

Summarize the following paper excerpt, focusing on:
1. The research question and its significance
2. The methodology used
3. Key findings and their implications
4. Limitations acknowledged by the authors
5. How this work relates to {related_topic}

Paper excerpt:
{text}

Provide a structured summary in 200-300 words. Distinguish clearly
between what the authors claim and what the evidence supports.
""",
        'methodology_critique': """
You are a methods expert reviewing a research design.

Evaluate the following methodology description:
{text}

Assess the following:
1. Internal validity: Are there confounding variables not controlled?
2. External validity: How generalizable are the findings?
3. Statistical approach: Is the analysis appropriate for the data?
4. Sample: Is the sample size adequate? Any selection bias?
5. Reproducibility: Could another researcher replicate this?

For each concern, rate severity (minor/moderate/major) and suggest
a specific improvement.
""",
        'data_interpretation': """
You are a statistical consultant helping interpret results.

Given these results:
{results}

Context: {context_description}

Provide:
1. Plain-language interpretation of each result
2. Effect size interpretation (is it practically significant?)
3. Potential alternative explanations
4. Caveats the authors should mention
5. Suggested follow-up analyses

Be precise about what the data does and does not support.
Do not overstate findings.
"""
    }

    template = templates.get(task_type, templates['literature_summary'])
    return template.format(**context)

Chain-of-Thought for Complex Research Tasks

Structured Reasoning
python
def research_cot_prompt(question: str, data: str) -> str:
    """
    Create a chain-of-thought prompt for complex research analysis.
    """
    return f"""
I need to analyze the following research question step by step.

Research Question: {question}

Available Data:
{data}

Please reason through this systematically:

Step 1: Identify the key variables and their relationships
Step 2: Consider what statistical test or analytical approach is appropriate
Step 3: Check assumptions required for this approach
Step 4: Perform the analysis or describe how to perform it
Step 5: Interpret the results in context
Step 6: State limitations and alternative interpretations

Show your reasoning at each step before moving to the next.
If you are uncertain about any step, explicitly state the uncertainty
rather than guessing.
"""

Evaluation and Reliability

Measuring Prompt Effectiveness
python
def evaluate_prompt(prompt_template: str, test_cases: list[dict],
                     expected_outputs: list[str],
                     model_fn: callable) -> dict:
    """
    Systematically evaluate a prompt template's reliability.

    Args:
        prompt_template: The prompt template with {placeholders}
        test_cases: List of dicts with placeholder values
        expected_outputs: Expected outputs for each test case
        model_fn: Function that takes a prompt string and returns model output
    """
    results = []
    for case, expected in zip(test_cases, expected_outputs):
        prompt = prompt_template.format(**case)

        # Run multiple times for consistency check
        outputs = [model_fn(prompt) for _ in range(3)]

        # Measure consistency (self-agreement)
        from difflib import SequenceMatcher
        similarities = []
        for i in range(len(outputs)):
            for j in range(i+1, len(outputs)):
                sim = SequenceMatcher(None, outputs[i], outputs[j]).ratio()
                similarities.append(sim)

        avg_similarity = sum(similarities) / len(similarities) if similarities else 0

        results.append({
            'test_case': case,
            'n_runs': 3,
            'consistency': round(avg_similarity, 3),
            'outputs': outputs
        })

    return {
        'n_test_cases': len(test_cases),
        'avg_consistency': round(
            sum(r['consistency'] for r in results) / len(results), 3
        ),
        'results': results,
        'reliability': (
            'high' if all(r['consistency'] > 0.8 for r in results)
            else 'moderate' if all(r['consistency'] > 0.5 for r in results)
            else 'low -- prompt needs refinement'
        )
    }

Research Workflow Integration

Automated Literature Screening
python
def screen_paper_relevance(title: str, abstract: str,
                            inclusion_criteria: list[str],
                            exclusion_criteria: list[str]) -> str:
    """
    Generate a prompt for AI-assisted paper screening in systematic reviews.
    """
    return f"""
You are screening papers for a systematic review.

Paper:
Title: {title}
Abstract: {abstract}

Inclusion criteria:
{chr(10).join(f'- {c}' for c in inclusion_criteria)}

Exclusion criteria:
{chr(10).join(f'- {c}' for c in exclusion_criteria)}

Evaluate the paper against each criterion and respond with:
1. INCLUDE, EXCLUDE, or UNCERTAIN
2. Which specific criteria were met or not met
3. Confidence level (high/medium/low)

Important: When uncertain, err on the side of INCLUDE (to be screened
at full-text stage). False exclusions are worse than false inclusions
in systematic review screening.
"""

Ethical Considerations

  • Transparency: Always disclose AI usage in your research methodology
  • Verification: Never trust LLM outputs without independent verification -- check facts, citations, and calculations
  • Bias awareness: LLMs can introduce biases; use structured prompts and diverse perspectives
  • Citation integrity: LLMs may hallucinate citations; verify every reference exists
  • Authorship: AI tools do not meet authorship criteria (ICMJE); they are tools, not co-authors
  • Reproducibility: Document the model, version, temperature, and exact prompts used

Key References

  • Wei, J., et al. (2022). Chain-of-thought prompting elicits reasoning in LLMs. NeurIPS.
  • Brown, T., et al. (2020). Language models are few-shot learners. NeurIPS.

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

Files

Just SKILL.md in skills/domains/ai-ml/prompt-engineering-research of wentorai/research-plugins.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit bf44b3c

Used in 1 other repository

We found 1 copy of this SKILL.md (exact, near-identical or edited) in other folders, from 1 other GitHub owner. This page covers the copy in wentorai/research-plugins, which our catalogue first saw on October 7, 2026.

Compare with similar skills

Prompt Engineering Research 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.

Prompt Engineering Research compared with similar skills
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Prompt Engineering Patternsynulihao/AgentSkillOS61814 repos~1.7kAutomated safety check: PassNone
Patch CreationPiebald-AI/tweakcc2.5k—~1.6kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Senior Prompt Engineermaslennikov-ig/claude-code-orchestrator-kit2603 repos~1.4kAutomated safety check: PassCustom licence
Codex Fable5baskduf/FableCodex437—~1.6kAutomated safety check: PassAGPL-3.0

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Questions about Prompt Engineering Research

What does Prompt Engineering Research do?

Systematic prompt engineering methods for AI-assisted academic research workf... Prompt Engineering Research is an agent skill from wentorai/research-plugins. Systematic prompt engineering methods for AI-assisted academic research workf...

When should I use Prompt Engineering Research?

Prompt Engineering Research fits situations like: tasks that involve Prompt engineering.

How do I install Prompt Engineering Research in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add wentorai/research-plugins --skill prompt-engineering-research -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/domains/ai-ml/prompt-engineering-research in wentorai/research-plugins) into .claude/skills/prompt-engineering-research in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Prompt Engineering Research in Codex?

Run `npx skills add wentorai/research-plugins --skill prompt-engineering-research -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/domains/ai-ml/prompt-engineering-research in wentorai/research-plugins) into .agents/skills/prompt-engineering-research in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Prompt Engineering Research 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 wentorai/research-plugins --skill prompt-engineering-research -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/prompt-engineering-research, .gemini/skills/prompt-engineering-research, .github/skills/prompt-engineering-research and .opencode/skills/prompt-engineering-research in your project.

What does Prompt Engineering Research need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Prompt Engineering Research is instructions for the agent only. Our summary lists: Python 3.

Does Prompt Engineering Research 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 Prompt Engineering Research 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 Prompt Engineering Research use?

Prompt Engineering Research is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Prompt Engineering Research use?

About 2k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 7.9k 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 Prompt Engineering Research?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Prompt Engineering Research: Prompt Improver (severity1/claude-code-prompt-improver, 1.9k stars), Prompt Engineering Patterns (ynulihao/AgentSkillOS, 618 stars), Patch Creation (Piebald-AI/tweakcc, 2.5k stars) and Senior Prompt Engineer (maslennikov-ig/claude-code-orchestrator-kit, 260 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Prompt Engineering Research?

wentorai (a GitHub user) maintains it in wentorai/research-plugins, which has 298 GitHub stars. The repository holds 405 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on June 19, 2026.

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