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Agent skill

Alpha Zoo Factor Libraries

by HKUDS in HKUDS/Vibe-Trading

Browses prebuilt cross-sectional factor libraries (Kakushadze 101, GTJA 191, Qlib 158, Fama-French and Carhart) and benchmarks whole libraries with IC and IR over a stock universe.

MITAuto-check passedBusiness, Finance & HR

Install Alpha Zoo Factor Libraries

skills CLI
$ npx skills add HKUDS/Vibe-Trading --skill alpha-zoo -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install HKUDS/Vibe-Trading alpha-zoo --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/HKUDS/Vibe-Trading.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/agent/src/skills/alpha-zoo .claude/skills/alpha-zoo && 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
alpha-zoo
GitHub stars
35k
Token cost
~950 tokens
SKILL.md length
451 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
89
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Browses prebuilt cross-sectional factor libraries (Kakushadze 101, GTJA 191, Qlib 158, Fama-French and Carhart) and benchmarks whole libraries with IC and IR over a stock universe.

  • Listing which alphas exist for a theme such as momentum
  • SKILL.md covers Purpose, Tools Available, Decision Tree and Zoo Inventory, plus 3 more sections
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md
  • Looking up the metadata of a named alpha like gtja191_alpha_001

What it does

The skill orients the agent around three tools. alpha_zoo browses the library: it lists alphas filtered by zoo, theme or universe, returns metadata for a named alpha and reports the registry's load status. alpha_bench runs information coefficient and information ratio tests on one alpha or a whole zoo over a universe and period and produces an HTML report. factor_analysis evaluates a factor you supply as a CSV together with a return CSV.

Four zoos are inventoried: kakushadze101 with formulaic alphas from a 2015 paper, gtja191 with A-share focused factors, qlib158 with features tuned for machine learning pipelines, and classical with Fama-French and Carhart factors. Counts are nominal, so a health check gives the live number. Results are aggregate statistics only, with no per-stock per-date factor values exposed, and lookahead is blocked in the operator set.

When your agent uses it

  • Listing which alphas exist for a theme such as momentum
  • Looking up the metadata of a named alpha like gtja191_alpha_001
  • Benchmarking a whole alpha library on an index universe over a period
  • Evaluating your own factor from a factor CSV and a return CSV

Example prompts

  • “List all momentum alphas in the zoo.”
  • “Show me gtja191_alpha_001.”
  • “Bench all of GTJA 191 on CSI 300 from 2020 to 2024.”
  • “Evaluate the factor in my_factor.csv against the returns file.”

Requirements

  • The alpha_zoo, alpha_bench and factor_analysis tools from the Vibe-Trading project

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit b1f6ce7. 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

Alpha Zoo Factor Libraries loads about 950 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 72 tokens; SKILL.md has 451 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~72
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~950

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 HKUDS/Vibe-Trading at commit b1f6ce7, republished under its MIT licence (© HKUDS). 451 words, ~950 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/alpha-zoo/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
alpha-zoo
description
Browse and bench the bundled alpha zoos — prebuilt cross-sectional factor libraries (Kakushadze 101, GTJA 191, Qlib 158, Fama-French / Carhart). Use when the user asks "which alphas exist", wants metadata on a named alpha, or wants to run IC/IR on a whole zoo over a universe.
category
research

Alpha Zoo

Purpose

When the user asks about prebuilt cross-sectional alphas — Kakushadze 101, GTJA 191, Qlib 158, Fama-French / Carhart — or wants to bench a whole zoo on an investable universe (CSI 300, S&P 500, BTC-USDT, ...), this skill orients you. The zoo is the curated library; the bench is the evaluator.

Tools Available

ToolWhen to use
alpha_zooBrowse the library. action=list_alphas to enumerate (filterable by zoo / theme / universe), action=get_alpha for one alpha's metadata, action=health for registry load status.
alpha_benchRun IC / IR on one alpha or a whole zoo over a universe + period. Emits an HTML report.
factor_analysisAd-hoc factor evaluation from a user-supplied factor CSV + return CSV. Use this when the user has their own factor (not in the zoo).

Decision Tree

  • "list all momentum alphas" → alpha_zoo with action=list_alphas, theme=momentum.
  • "show me gtja191_alpha_001" → alpha_zoo with action=get_alpha, alpha_id=gtja191_alpha_001.
  • "bench all of GTJA 191 on CSI 300 from 2020 to 2024" → alpha_bench with zoo=gtja191, universe=csi300, period=2020-2024.
  • "is the registry healthy" → alpha_zoo with action=health — surfaces loaded, failed, and per-error reasons.
  • User uploads my_factor.csv → factor_analysis (zoo tools are for prebuilt alphas only).

Zoo Inventory

ZooDescriptionApprox. count
kakushadze101Formulaic alphas from Kakushadze's 2015 paper. Mix of momentum, reversal, volume, and microstructure.~101
gtja191Guotai Junan 191 alphas — A-share focused cross-sectional factors.~191
qlib158Microsoft Qlib's 158 alpha factors — features tuned for ML pipelines.~158
classicalFama-French 3/5-factor + Carhart momentum.<10

Counts are nominal; check alpha_zoo action=health for the live count currently loaded.

Show full SKILL.md (211 more words)Show less

Constraints

  • No per-stock per-date factor values are surfaced to the agent. IC results are aggregate stats (mean / std / IR / positive-ratio); the HTML report shows top-N by IR plus formulas, never the underlying panel.
  • Lookahead is banned in the operator set. delta(df, d) requires d >= 1; the negative-shift Ref(df, -n) form does not exist. See docs/alpha-zoo/spec.md for the full operator catalogue.
  • Universe loaders may not be wired for every market yet. When alpha_bench returns universe loader for X not yet implemented, that's the W2 scaffold — the universe is recognised but the data pull lands in W4.
  • Do not expose absolute filesystem paths in agent output. The bench tool writes to ~/.vibe-trading/reports/ by default; refer to it by that shorthand, not by the resolved absolute path.
  • alpha_zoo is read-only. alpha_bench writes a single HTML file per run — no scratch state elsewhere.

Common Pitfalls

  • Filter mismatch on list_alphas: theme / universe must match the alpha's declared metadata exactly (e.g. equity_cn, not cn or china).
  • Calling alpha_bench with both alpha_id and zoo set — they are mutually exclusive; pick one.
  • Empty registry (loaded=0) means no zoo modules are populated yet; treat it as "zoos pending W3 porting" rather than a bug.

Reference

  • Operator catalogue: docs/alpha-zoo/spec.md
  • Registry contract: src/factors/registry.py (frozen; do not modify)
  • IC / layered NAV math: src/factors/factor_analysis_core.py

© HKUDS, 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 agent/src/skills/alpha-zoo of HKUDS/Vibe-Trading.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit b1f6ce7

Compare with similar skills

Alpha Zoo Factor Libraries 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.

Alpha Zoo Factor Libraries compared with similar skills
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Alpha Zoo Factor Libraries this skillHKUDS/Vibe-Trading35k—~950Automated safety check: PassMIT
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Polymarketmachina-sports/sports-skills243—~1.9kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Comps Analysisginlix-ai/LangAlpha1.8k—~6.4kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Strategy Performance Reporttradesdontlie/tradingview-mcp6.8k2 repos~591Automated safety check: PassCustom licence
WorldQuant BRAIN Alpha ResearchQuantML-Research/wq-alpha-research407—~4.9kAutomated safety check: PassNone

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Categories

Questions about Alpha Zoo Factor Libraries

What does Alpha Zoo Factor Libraries do?

Browses prebuilt cross-sectional factor libraries (Kakushadze 101, GTJA 191, Qlib 158, Fama-French and Carhart) and benchmarks whole libraries with IC and IR over a stock universe. The skill orients the agent around three tools. alpha_zoo browses the library: it lists alphas filtered by zoo, theme or universe, returns metadata for a named alpha and reports the registry's load status.

When should I use Alpha Zoo Factor Libraries?

Alpha Zoo Factor Libraries fits situations like: listing which alphas exist for a theme such as momentum; looking up the metadata of a named alpha like gtja191_alpha_001; benchmarking a whole alpha library on an index universe over a period; evaluating your own factor from a factor CSV and a return CSV.

How do I install Alpha Zoo Factor Libraries in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add HKUDS/Vibe-Trading --skill alpha-zoo -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (agent/src/skills/alpha-zoo in HKUDS/Vibe-Trading) into .claude/skills/alpha-zoo in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Alpha Zoo Factor Libraries in Codex?

Run `npx skills add HKUDS/Vibe-Trading --skill alpha-zoo -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (agent/src/skills/alpha-zoo in HKUDS/Vibe-Trading) into .agents/skills/alpha-zoo in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Alpha Zoo Factor Libraries 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 HKUDS/Vibe-Trading --skill alpha-zoo -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/alpha-zoo, .gemini/skills/alpha-zoo, .github/skills/alpha-zoo and .opencode/skills/alpha-zoo in your project.

What does Alpha Zoo Factor Libraries need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Alpha Zoo Factor Libraries is instructions for the agent only. Our summary lists: The alpha_zoo, alpha_bench and factor_analysis tools from the Vibe-Trading project.

Does Alpha Zoo Factor Libraries 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 Alpha Zoo Factor Libraries 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 Alpha Zoo Factor Libraries use?

Alpha Zoo Factor Libraries 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 Alpha Zoo Factor Libraries use?

About 950 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 3.8k 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 Alpha Zoo Factor Libraries?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Alpha Zoo Factor Libraries: Fin Guru Quant Analysis (AojdevStudio/Finance-Guru, 322 stars), Polymarket (machina-sports/sports-skills, 243 stars), Comps Analysis (ginlix-ai/LangAlpha, 1.8k stars) and Strategy Performance Report (tradesdontlie/tradingview-mcp, 6.8k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Alpha Zoo Factor Libraries?

HKUDS (a GitHub organization) maintains it in HKUDS/Vibe-Trading, which has 35,097 GitHub stars. The repository holds 89 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 9, 2026.

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