Agent skill

Paper Read

by Calix-L in Calix-L/awesome-latex-skills

Summarize and critically analyze academic papers supplied as PDFs, text, arXiv links, or journal URLs.

MITAuto-check passedResearch & Science

Install Paper Read

skills CLI
$ npx skills add Calix-L/awesome-latex-skills --skill paper-read -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install Calix-L/awesome-latex-skills paper-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/Calix-L/awesome-latex-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/paper-read .claude/skills/paper-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
paper-read
GitHub stars
181
Token cost
~1.1k tokens
SKILL.md length
510 words
Files
5 (incl. references)
Skills in repo
5
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Summarize and critically analyze academic papers supplied as PDFs, text, arXiv links, or journal URLs.

  • Tasks that involve Academic paper search
  • SKILL.md covers Choose the depth, Acquire and identify the…, Analyze the inspected material and Compare papers and report
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Paper Read is an agent skill from Calix-L/awesome-latex-skills. Summarize and critically analyze academic papers supplied as PDFs, text, arXiv links, or journal URLs. Ground claims in the inspected version and source locations; support focused questions, deeper appraisal, and cross-paper comparison.

Its SKILL.md is about 1.1k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 6 other files, including reference files (for example `agents/config.yaml`, `agents/openai.yaml` and `references/critical-appraisal.md`).

It sits in Research & Science, covering Academic paper search. It works with arXiv. The repository describes itself as: LaTeX manuscript workflows with five agent skills, project diagnostics, reproducible builds and offline change review. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Tasks that involve Academic paper search

Example prompts

  • “/paper-read”

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 7c29d3c. 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

    Links to these hosts (documentation or services it may open):

    • info.arxiv.org

    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

Paper Read loads about 1.1k tokens when it runs, and up to ~4.7k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 62 tokens; SKILL.md has 510 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~62
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
~4.7k

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 Calix-L/awesome-latex-skills at commit 7c29d3c, republished under its MIT licence (© Calix-L). 510 words, ~1,070 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/paper-read/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 4 other files; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
paper-read
description
Summarize and critically analyze academic papers supplied as PDFs, text, arXiv links, or journal URLs. Ground claims in the inspected version and source locations; support focused questions, deeper appraisal, and cross-paper comparison.
metadata.version
1.25.0

Choose the depth

Match the user's question; a focused question need not produce a full-paper report.

ModeRead forOutput
skimProblem, approach, main results, figures, stated limitationsConcise overview with coverage limits.
read (default)Method, setup, results, and claim/evidence alignmentStructured account with source locations.
deepAssumptions, equations, ablations, implementation details, supplementsCritical appraisal and unresolved questions.

Depth describes coverage, not a guaranteed duration. A skim cannot certify methodological soundness. Use the user's language unless they request otherwise.

Acquire and identify the evidence

Use the supplied text or accessible PDF. For a link, obtain the paper through available browsing/download tools; record title, authors, identifier, exact version, publication status, and available main/supplementary files. An arXiv vN suffix identifies a specific version; preserve it instead of silently switching to the newest paper. New and legacy identifiers are described in the official arXiv identifier guide.

Extract with an available PDF reader, PyMuPDF, or Poppler. Use task-local files and paths appropriate to the host; do not assume /tmp or a particular shell. If extraction loses columns, math, tables, or figures, inspect rendered pages and state what remains unreadable. A missing tool does not require installing software when supplied text or another reader is sufficient.

For inaccessible/paywalled material, look for a legitimate author or repository copy, identify version differences, or request the relevant text. Do not infer the full paper from an abstract or pretend the supplement was inspected.

Show full SKILL.md (275 more words)Show less

Analyze the inspected material

Read reading-framework.md for mode-specific strategies and article-type adjustments. For read and deep, use the relevant items from critical-appraisal.md.

Connect the problem, method, assumptions, training/inference setup, data, baselines, metrics, and results. Preserve units, denominators, uncertainty, dataset splits, and relative versus absolute improvements. Do not call a result statistically significant from its size alone.

For important claims, provide the claim, supporting section/table/figure/equation, what the evidence establishes, and any gap. Use printed page numbers where available and distinguish them from PDF page indexes. Distinguish an author's claim, your interpretation, an algebraic consistency check, and reproduced evidence. Reading a paper is not an independent reproduction or proof audit.

Treat publication status as context, not a substitute for evidence. The same criteria apply to a preprint and a peer-reviewed article. A repository listing or arXiv upload alone does not establish peer-review status.

Verify external comparisons through inspected primary sources. If only the paper's related-work account is available, attribute that comparison to the authors; do not invent a literature history or recommend unread papers as evidence.

Compare papers and report

For multiple papers, align task, dataset/split, metric, evaluation protocol, resources, and version before comparing numbers. Label incomparable results. Explain whether apparently contradictory claims involve different settings.

Deliver an answer centered on the user's question, key conclusions with source locations, strengths and limitations supported by evidence, inspected coverage, and unresolved uncertainties. For implementation requests, separate published settings, public-code defaults, and missing details. Relate findings to the user's stated research goal without assuming one from the author list or venue.

Use latex-polish or latex-fmt only for an additional requested manuscript task and only when the corresponding skill is available.

© Calix-L, 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 (references) in paper-read of Calix-L/awesome-latex-skills.

  • SKILL.md
  • agents/config.yaml
  • agents/openai.yaml
  • references/critical-appraisal.md
  • references/reading-framework.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 7c29d3c

Compare with similar skills

Paper 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.

Paper Read compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Paper Read this skillCalix-L/awesome-latex-skills181—~1.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Huashu Reportalchaincyf/huashu-report443—~1.4kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Paper Analyzerzsyggg/paper-craft-skills1.3k—~1.9kAutomated safety check: PassNone
Literature PDF OCR Library BuilderLigphiDonk/Oh-my--paper738—~1.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Paper ReadingEdwardxlai/easyread871—~567Automated safety check: PassMIT
Paper OrchestraAr9av/PaperOrchestra6771 repos~3.5kAutomated safety check: PassCustom licence

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Works with

Questions about Paper Read

What does Paper Read do?

Summarize and critically analyze academic papers supplied as PDFs, text, arXiv links, or journal URLs. Paper Read is an agent skill from Calix-L/awesome-latex-skills. Summarize and critically analyze academic papers supplied as PDFs, text, arXiv links, or journal URLs.

When should I use Paper Read?

Paper Read fits situations like: tasks that involve Academic paper search.

How do I install Paper Read in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add Calix-L/awesome-latex-skills --skill paper-read -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (paper-read in Calix-L/awesome-latex-skills) into .claude/skills/paper-read in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Paper Read in Codex?

Run `npx skills add Calix-L/awesome-latex-skills --skill paper-read -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (paper-read in Calix-L/awesome-latex-skills) into .agents/skills/paper-read in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Paper 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 Calix-L/awesome-latex-skills --skill paper-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/paper-read, .gemini/skills/paper-read, .github/skills/paper-read and .opencode/skills/paper-read in your project.

What does Paper Read need to run?

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

Does Paper Read access the network?

SKILL.md names 1 domain. As links in the text: info.arxiv.org. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Paper 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 Paper Read use?

Paper Read 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 Paper 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 3.6k tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.

What are the alternatives to Paper Read?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Paper Read: Huashu Report (alchaincyf/huashu-report, 443 stars), Paper Analyzer (zsyggg/paper-craft-skills, 1.3k stars), Literature PDF OCR Library Builder (LigphiDonk/Oh-my--paper, 738 stars) and Paper Reading (Edwardxlai/easyread, 871 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Paper Read?

Calix-L (a GitHub user) maintains it in Calix-L/awesome-latex-skills, which has 181 GitHub stars. The repository holds 5 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 7, 2026.

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