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Agent skill

Scholar Idea

by joshzyj in joshzyj/open-scholar-skill

Explore broad social science ideas and convert them into formal, researchable questions.

Custom licenceAuto-check: notesResearch & Science

Install Scholar Idea

skills CLI
$ npx skills add joshzyj/open-scholar-skill --skill scholar-idea -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install joshzyj/open-scholar-skill scholar-idea --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/joshzyj/open-scholar-skill.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/.claude/skills/scholar-idea .claude/skills/scholar-idea && 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
scholar-idea
GitHub stars
168
Token cost
~8.8k tokens
SKILL.md length
3,865 words
Files
2 (incl. references)
Skills in repo
30
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
Custom licence

At a glance

Explore broad social science ideas and convert them into formal, researchable questions.

  • Works in 10 steps: Clarify the Puzzle → Generate Candidate Angles → Quick Literature Scan → …
  • The user has an early-stage topic
  • SKILL.md covers Arguments, Setup, Primary Goal and Workflow, plus 3 more sections
  • Calls bash

What it does

Scholar Idea is an agent skill from joshzyj/open-scholar-skill. Explore broad social science ideas and convert them into formal, researchable questions. Use when the user has an early-stage topic, puzzle, or rough question and wants sharper research questions, candidate mechanisms, scope conditions, testable hypotheses, and feasible study directions.

Its SKILL.md is about 8.8k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 2 other files, including reference files (for example `references/idea-patterns.md`).

It sits in Research & Science, covering Hypothesis generation. The repository describes itself as: Open scholar skill, a claude code plugin, for academic research.

When your agent uses it

  • The user has an early-stage topic
  • Rough question and wants sharper research questions
  • Candidate mechanisms
  • Scope conditions

Example prompts

  • “/scholar-idea”

Workflow steps

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

  1. Clarify the Puzzle
  2. Generate Candidate Angles
  3. Quick Literature Scan
  4. Formalize Research Questions
  5. Map Variables and Mechanisms
  6. Derive Testable Hypotheses
  7. Data Source Inventory
  8. Multi-Agent Evaluation Panel
  9. Recommend Next Skill Path
  10. Save Output to File

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 6e5ac8e. 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

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • bash

    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

Scholar Idea loads about 8.8k tokens when it runs, and up to ~25k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 75 tokens; SKILL.md has 3,865 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~75
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~8.8k
With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them
~25k

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: notes

The automated check noted patterns worth knowing about, such as sudo or a known installer.

  • NoteMentions a .env fileSKILL.md:97
    [ -f "${SKILL_DIR}/.env" ] && . "${SKILL_DIR}/.env" 2>/dev/null || true
  • NoteMentions a .env fileSKILL.md:98
    [ -f "$HOME/.claude/.env" ] && . "$HOME/.claude/.env" 2>/dev/null || true
  • NoteMentions a .env fileSKILL.md:159
    [ -f "${SKILL_DIR}/.env" ] && . "${SKILL_DIR}/.env" 2>/dev/null || true
  • NoteMentions a .env fileSKILL.md:160
    [ -f "$HOME/.claude/.env" ] && . "$HOME/.claude/.env" 2>/dev/null || true

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 3,865 words (~8,812 tokens).

“You are a senior social scientist helping turn vague ideas into rigorous, publishable research questions.”

— opening of SKILL.md by joshzyj, Custom licence
name
scholar-idea
tools
Read, WebSearch, Write, Task
argument-hint
[broad idea or rough research question] [optional: field, population, method, journal]
user-invocable
true

Read the full SKILL.md on GitHub

Files

SKILL.md and 1 other file (references) in .claude/skills/scholar-idea of joshzyj/open-scholar-skill.

  • SKILL.md
  • references/idea-patterns.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 6e5ac8e

Compare with similar skills

Scholar Idea 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.

Scholar Idea compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Scholar Idea this skilljoshzyj/open-scholar-skill168—~8.8kAutomated safety check: NotesCustom licence
Hypothesis Generationspacering-net/codeg3.9k14 repos~3.6kAutomated safety check: NotesMIT
Nature Paper CardYuan1z0825/nature-skills47k2 repos~2.1kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Hypothesis GenerationK-Dense-AI/claude-scientific-writer2.4k2 repos~3.9kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Good QuestionRimagination/good-question3051 repos~4.3kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
High Stakes Analytics Decision Lablimingrui679-design/high-stakes-analytics-decision-lab1k—~2.2kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

Similar skills

  • Hypothesis Generation

    spacering-net/codeg

    Structured hypothesis formulation from observations. An agent skill from spacering-net/codeg.

    3.9k GitHub starsUsed in 14 repos~3.6k tokens
    Research & ScienceAuto-check: notes

  • Nature Paper Card

    Yuan1z0825/nature-skills

    Builds a structured deep-reading card for one scientific paper, covering methods, how experiments support claims, limitations and research ideas, with a script to prepare the source.

    47k GitHub starsUsed in 2 repos~2.1k tokens
    Research & ScienceAuto-check passed

  • Hypothesis Generation

    K-Dense-AI/claude-scientific-writer

    Formulate evidence-bounded scientific questions, candidate hypotheses, rival explanations, causal or associational claims, discriminating predictions, measurements, and preregistration-ready…

    2.4k GitHub starsUsed in 2 repos~3.9k tokens
    Research & ScienceAuto-check passed

  • Good Question

    Rimagination/good-question

    A skill your agent uses when a researcher is choosing, framing, refining, or stress-testing a research question, hypothesis, thesis topic, project idea, grant direction, paper angle, or stalled…

    305 GitHub starsUsed in 1 repo~4.3k tokens
    Research & ScienceAuto-check passed

  • High Stakes Analytics Decision Lab

    limingrui679-design/high-stakes-analytics-decision-lab

    Build or review source-backed descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, and prescriptive analysis for consequential decisions.

    1k GitHub stars~2.2k tokensUpdated 4 days ago
    Research & ScienceAuto-check passed

  • Claim-Driven Experiment Planner

    zjYao36/Auto-Research-Refine

    Turns a refined research proposal into a claim-to-evidence-to-run-order roadmap instead of a sprawling benchmark wishlist.

    128 GitHub starsUsed in 6 repos~2.3k tokens
    Research & ScienceAuto-check: notes

More from joshzyj/open-scholar-skill

All 30 skills in this repo

  • Scholar Annotate

    joshzyj/open-scholar-skill

    Turn unstructured text into validated, structured variables at corpus scale with LLMs: codebook design, dev/gold-set construction, DSPy prompt optimization, a hard reliability gate (Cohen κ ≥ 0.70)…

    168 GitHub stars~4.6k tokensUpdated 21 days ago
    Auto-check passed

  • Scholar Auto Research

    joshzyj/open-scholar-skill

    Stable, deterministic social-science research-paper pipeline from idea or data to verified manuscript, citations, replication package, and final md/docx/tex/pdf outputs.

    168 GitHub stars~21k tokensUpdated 21 days ago
    Auto-check passed

  • Scholar RAG

    joshzyj/open-scholar-skill

    Build and query a local vector database + GraphRAG over your entire reference library (Zotero or a PDF folder) for literature review.

    168 GitHub stars~7.4k tokensUpdated 21 days ago
    Auto-check: notes

  • Scholar Causal

    joshzyj/open-scholar-skill

    Comprehensive causal inference toolkit for social science research.

    168 GitHub stars~10k tokensUpdated 21 days ago
    Auto-check passed

  • Scholar Data

    joshzyj/open-scholar-skill

    Comprehensive open data directory (100+ datasets across 14 categories) with auto-fetch capability, plus data collection instrument design, variable dictionaries, data management, IRB materials, and…

    168 GitHub stars~23k tokensUpdated 21 days ago
    Auto-check: notes

  • Scholar Eda

    joshzyj/open-scholar-skill

    Conduct exploratory data analysis (EDA) before hypothesis testing.

    168 GitHub stars~12k tokensUpdated 21 days ago
    Auto-check passed

Categories

Questions about Scholar Idea

What does Scholar Idea do?

Explore broad social science ideas and convert them into formal, researchable questions. Scholar Idea is an agent skill from joshzyj/open-scholar-skill. Explore broad social science ideas and convert them into formal, researchable questions.

When should I use Scholar Idea?

Scholar Idea fits situations like: the user has an early-stage topic; rough question and wants sharper research questions; candidate mechanisms; scope conditions.

How do I install Scholar Idea in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add joshzyj/open-scholar-skill --skill scholar-idea -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (.claude/skills/scholar-idea in joshzyj/open-scholar-skill) into .claude/skills/scholar-idea in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Scholar Idea in Codex?

Run `npx skills add joshzyj/open-scholar-skill --skill scholar-idea -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (.claude/skills/scholar-idea in joshzyj/open-scholar-skill) into .agents/skills/scholar-idea in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Scholar Idea 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 joshzyj/open-scholar-skill --skill scholar-idea -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/scholar-idea, .gemini/skills/scholar-idea, .github/skills/scholar-idea and .opencode/skills/scholar-idea in your project.

What does Scholar Idea need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Scholar Idea needs the command-line tools its instructions call (bash).

Does Scholar Idea 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 Scholar Idea safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found notes only (mentions a .env file), nothing it rates as a warning. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Scholar Idea use?

Scholar Idea 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 Scholar Idea use?

About 8.8k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 35k 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 16k tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.

What are the alternatives to Scholar Idea?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Scholar Idea: Hypothesis Generation (spacering-net/codeg, 3.9k stars), Nature Paper Card (Yuan1z0825/nature-skills, 47k stars), Hypothesis Generation (K-Dense-AI/claude-scientific-writer, 2.4k stars) and Good Question (Rimagination/good-question, 305 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Scholar Idea?

joshzyj (a GitHub user) maintains it in joshzyj/open-scholar-skill, which has 168 GitHub stars. The repository holds 30 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on September 18, 2026.

Source: joshzyj/open-scholar-skill on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.