Use when starting any conversation in a dissertation project — establishes available skills and when to use them
IF A SKILL APPLIES TO YOUR TASK, YOU DO NOT HAVE A CHOICE. YOU MUST USE IT. </EXTREMELY-IMPORTANT>
In Claude Code: Use the Skill tool.
In Copilot CLI: Use the skill tool.
In Gemini CLI: Use the activate_skill tool.
In other environments: Check your platform's documentation.
Skills use Claude Code tool names. Non-CC platforms: see references/copilot-tools.md (Copilot CLI), references/codex-tools.md (Codex), references/gemini-tools.md (Gemini CLI) for tool equivalents.
Invoke relevant skills BEFORE any response or action. Even a 1% chance a skill might apply means you should invoke it.
Skills that keep the project organized and the agent oriented.
| Skill | Trigger |
|---|---|
superpaper-init | Starting a new dissertation project or adopting an existing repo |
superpaper-checkin | Every session start in a dissertation project |
superpaper-plan | Creating or updating project timeline and milestones |
superpaper-ingest | New materials (papers, notes, data, results) to process |
superpaper-memory-update | End of session — persist what happened |
Skills that guide exploration and delegate deep work to specialized agents.
| Skill | Trigger |
|---|---|
superpaper-brainstorm | Exploring research topics, directions, or pivots |
superpaper-research | Literature gaps identified, need search strategy |
superpaper-data-explore | New dataset, need exploratory analysis spec |
superpaper-analysis | Formal analysis needed, need spec for coding agent |
Skills that produce and improve prose.
| Skill | Trigger |
|---|---|
superpaper-setup-style | Sample papers/chapters provided, extracting writing style |
superpaper-outline | Planning a chapter's argument and evidence structure |
superpaper-draft | Writing or updating chapter sections |
superpaper-review | Checking draft for logic, citations, consistency, style |
Skills that audit the whole manuscript.
| Skill | Trigger |
|---|---|
superpaper-lint | Auditing manuscript for TODOs, contradictions, gaps |
superpaper-export | Combining chapters into submission document |
Starting a session: checkin → (whatever the session suggests) Adding a paper: ingest → update relevant chapter resources Writing a chapter: outline → draft → review → (repeat draft ↔ review) Ending a session: memory-update
SuperPaper is a project manager and writing assistant. It does NOT:
It DOES generate ready-to-copy prompts for delegated work, with full context.