Agent skill

Paper Explainer for Non-Specialists

by lijigang in lijigang/ljg-skill-paper

Explains a research paper to a non-specialist reader: what was studied, what was contributed, how the findings follow, and what the evidence does not establish.

MITAuto-check passedResearch & Science

SKILL.md written in Chinese; this summary is our English description.

Install Paper Explainer for Non-Specialists

skills CLI
$ npx skills add lijigang/ljg-skill-paper --skill ljg-paper -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install lijigang/ljg-skill-paper ljg-paper --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/lijigang/ljg-skill-paper.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/ljg-paper .claude/skills/ljg-paper && 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
ljg-paper
GitHub stars
138
Token cost
~712 tokens
SKILL.md length
157 words
Files
2 (incl. references)
Skills in repo
1
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Explains a research paper to a non-specialist reader: what was studied, what was contributed, how the findings follow, and what the evidence does not establish.

  • Works in 10 steps: 获取内容 → 拆 → 榨增量 → …
  • Explaining an arXiv paper, PDF or paper title to someone outside that field
  • SKILL.md covers 约束, 执行 and 质量标准
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Written mostly in Chinese, the skill targets a reader with general life experience but no familiarity with the paper's field, and aims to leave them able to explain both the paper's idea in plain language and what the authors actually studied and contributed. It builds the explanation around a clear question, using concrete people, actions and conditions rather than invented drama, switching examples as needed while explaining what each new one adds, and reaching for ASCII diagrams only when a relationship truly needs one.

Depending on the input, a full paper (arXiv link, PDF or local file) gets an Org-mode reading note saved under a fixed directory plus a paper-map research record, while a title-only request first finds a reliable source for the same two files, and a request for only a spoken explanation skips saving but still meets the same three goals: explaining what the paper did, explaining why the reader's prior understanding needs revising, and leaving the reader able to use the paper's own mechanism to explain further findings.

Explicitly out of scope are reproduction, formal peer review, benchmark tables and literature surveys. After writing, a validation script checks the saved note's format against the paper-map, accepting older format versions without requiring old notes to be rewritten.

When your agent uses it

  • Explaining an arXiv paper, PDF or paper title to someone outside that field
  • Writing up a research paper as a saved reading note for later reference
  • Understanding what a paper's evidence actually supports versus what it does not

Example prompts

  • “Explain this arXiv paper to me as if I know nothing about the field.”
  • “Read this arXiv paper on diffusion models and save a reading note on it.”
  • “Just explain the gist out loud, don't save anything.”

Requirements

  • Bun to run the validation script
  • An Org-mode notes setup at ~/Context/

Workflow steps

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

  1. 获取内容
  2. 拆
  3. 榨增量
  4. 白话方法
  5. 关键概念
  6. 餐巾纸速写
  7. 博导审稿
  8. 启发
  9. 缝合与卫生
  10. 生成 Org 文件

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit d33dc42. 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

Paper Explainer for Non-Specialists loads about 712 tokens when it runs, and up to ~1.5k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 102 tokens; SKILL.md has 157 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~102
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~712
With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them
~1.5k

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 lijigang/ljg-skill-paper at commit d33dc42, republished under its MIT licence (© lijigang). 157 words, ~712 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/ljg-paper/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 1 other file; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
ljg-paper
description
Paper reader. Takes an academic paper (URL, PDF, or file), runs the atom pipeline (split→squeeze→plain→feynman→博导审稿), and synthesizes a fluent analysis. Focus: what gap does it fill, and would a seasoned advisor take it seriously? Use when user shares an arxiv link, paper URL, PDF, or asks to analyze a research paper. Trigger words: '读论文', '分析论文', 'paper', or when user shares an academic paper.
user_invocable
true
version
2.0.0

ljg-paper: 读论文

论文 = 一个增量。已有研究走到了某个边界,这篇论文声称往前推了一步。你的任务:这一步踩在哪儿,踩得稳不稳。

约束

Org-mode 语法
  • 加粗用 *bold*(单星号),禁止 **bold**
  • 标题层级从 * 开始,不跳级
ASCII Art

所有图表用纯 ASCII 字符。允许:+ - | / \ > < v ^ * = ~ . : # [ ] ( ) _ , ; ! ' " 和空格。禁止 Unicode 绘图符号。

Denote 文件规范
  • 时间戳:date +%Y%m%dT%H%M%S
  • 可读时间:date "+%Y-%m-%d %a %H:%M"
  • 文件名:{时间戳}--paper-{简短标题}__paper.org
  • 输出目录:~/Documents/notes/
Org 文件头
#+title:      paper-{简短标题}
#+date:       [{YYYY-MM-DD Day HH:MM}]
#+filetags:   :paper:
#+identifier: {YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS}
#+source:     {URL 或来源描述}
#+authors:    {作者列表}
#+venue:      {发表场所/年份}

文件写入后报告路径。

执行

1. 获取内容
  • arxiv URL → ljg-fetch 或 WebFetch
  • PDF → Read(注意 pages 参数限制)
  • 本地文件 → Read
  • 论文名称 → WebSearch

确保拿到:标题、作者、摘要、引言、方法、实验/结果、结论。

2. 拆

论文有固定骨架,但骨架下面藏着真正的结构:

  • 缺口:已有研究做到了哪里?哪里还没做到?这篇论文填的是哪条缝?
  • 假设:显式和隐式的假设。
  • 方法:用什么方法填缝?抓住动词结构——它在做什么操作?
  • 证据:用什么数据/实验证明方法站得住?主要结果。
  • 贡献声明:作者自己说贡献了什么。
3. 榨增量

Before this paper vs after this paper,世界多了什么?

  • 一句话:这篇论文让我们知道了什么以前不知道的?
  • 核心机制图:用 ASCII 图画出方法的内部结构——组件、数据流、操作关系。看完知道「它内部怎么转的」。
4. 白话方法

为核心机制找一个日常类比,让读者跟着走完就能复述方法逻辑。

  • 抓方法的动词结构:什么作用于什么?什么流向什么?
  • 在日常经验中找结构一样的东西。类比必须承重——方法的每个关键组件都能映射到类比的一个部分。
  • 沿着类比把方法从头到尾走一遍。

类比紧跟 ASCII 图之后,是同一段话的延续。

5. 关键概念

论文中 1-3 个理解全文的钥匙概念。用费曼技巧讲:

  • 假设读者完全不懂,从最基础的地方开始
  • 每个概念给一个具体例子
  • 讲完读者能用自己的话复述
6. 餐巾纸速写

在咖啡馆拿起餐巾纸给朋友画:「以前大家这么想,这篇论文说应该这么想。」

  • 识别主流框架和本文框架
  • 用 ASCII 图并排或上下放,标注关键结构差异
  • 图下一句话点出:从 X 到 Y,核心变化是什么

画结构对比,越简洁越好。

7. 博导审稿

换身份:这个方向上带了二十年研究生的博导。学生拿着论文来找你,你在判断这篇东西值不值得认真对待。论文验的是体系——选题眼光、方法成熟度、实验诚意、写作功力。

用白话说,像在办公室跟学生聊:

  • 选题眼光:问题值不值得做?真缺口还是人造缺口?
  • 方法成熟度:巧劲还是蛮力?有没有更自然的做法被忽略了?
  • 实验诚意:baseline 公不公道?消融到位没有?数字经不经得起追问?
  • 写作功力:最该说清楚的地方有没有偷懒?
  • 判决:strong accept / weak accept / borderline / weak reject / strong reject,一句话理由。

好的地方说好,差的地方说差在哪儿。

8. 启发

论文读完,问:对我有什么用?三种方式试探:

  • 迁移:论文的某个机制/视角,能直接移植升级我体系里的某个零件吗?
  • 混搭:论文的某个组件和我已有的东西组合,能产生两者单独都没有的新东西吗?
  • 反转:论文的做法和我的默认假设相反吗?照出了什么盲区?

命中的标注类型并展开。没命中的跳过。三个都没命中,说「没有」。

9. 缝合与卫生

按 references/template.org 的结构,将以上结果编织成一篇连贯分析。

写完扫一遍:

  1. 否定式排比全文不超过两处
  2. 三段式改两项或四项
  3. 同一段落破折号不超过两个

列修改清单确认后生成文件。

10. 生成 Org 文件

按 Denote 规范获取时间戳,读 references/template.org,写入 ~/Documents/notes/。

质量标准

  • 增量要锐:一句话说出 before vs after。说不出就是没找到。
  • 速写要一眼:不看正文也能大致理解变化方向。
  • 博导要像博导:有判断力有分寸,最后一句判决。
  • 零割裂感:读完像一个人在跟你说「我读了篇论文,它干了啥、好不好、对我有什么用」。

© lijigang, 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 1 other file (references) in skills/ljg-paper of lijigang/ljg-skill-paper.

  • SKILL.md
  • references/template.org

Open the folder on GitHubat commit d33dc42

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Works with

Questions about Paper Explainer for Non-Specialists

What does Paper Explainer for Non-Specialists do?

Explains a research paper to a non-specialist reader: what was studied, what was contributed, how the findings follow, and what the evidence does not establish. Written mostly in Chinese, the skill targets a reader with general life experience but no familiarity with the paper's field, and aims to leave them able to explain both the paper's idea in plain language and what the authors actually studied and contributed. It builds the explanation around a clear question, using concrete people, actions and conditions rather than invented drama, switching examples as needed while explaining what each new one adds, and reaching for ASCII diagrams only when a relationship truly needs one.

When should I use Paper Explainer for Non-Specialists?

Paper Explainer for Non-Specialists fits situations like: explaining an arXiv paper, PDF or paper title to someone outside that field; writing up a research paper as a saved reading note for later reference; understanding what a paper's evidence actually supports versus what it does not.

How do I install Paper Explainer for Non-Specialists in Claude Code?

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

How do I install Paper Explainer for Non-Specialists in Codex?

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

Can I use Paper Explainer for Non-Specialists 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 lijigang/ljg-skill-paper --skill ljg-paper -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/ljg-paper, .gemini/skills/ljg-paper, .github/skills/ljg-paper and .opencode/skills/ljg-paper in your project.

What does Paper Explainer for Non-Specialists need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Paper Explainer for Non-Specialists is instructions for the agent only. Our summary lists: Bun to run the validation script; An Org-mode notes setup at ~/Context/.

Does Paper Explainer for Non-Specialists 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 Paper Explainer for Non-Specialists 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 Explainer for Non-Specialists use?

Paper Explainer for Non-Specialists 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 Explainer for Non-Specialists use?

About 712 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 2.8k 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 749 tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.

What are the alternatives to Paper Explainer for Non-Specialists?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Paper Explainer for Non-Specialists: Literature Review (neflibata-feng/MyArxiv-Agent, 126 stars), Systematic Literature Review Builder (bytedance/deer-flow, 84k stars), Paper Research on arXiv (XiaomiMiMo/MiMo-Code, 14k stars) and Literature Review Agent (Ar9av/PaperOrchestra, 679 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Paper Explainer for Non-Specialists?

lijigang (a GitHub user) maintains it in lijigang/ljg-skill-paper, which has 138 GitHub stars. The repository was last updated on March 6, 2026.

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