| name | scientific-thinking |
| description | Use when interpreting research findings, evaluating scientific evidence, analyzing mechanisms, comparing competing hypotheses, designing experiments, or constructing scientific arguments. |
| license | MIT |
| homepage | https://github.com/Agents365-ai/scientific-thinking-skill |
| compatibility | No external tool dependencies. Works with any LLM-based agent on any platform. |
| platforms | ["macos","linux","windows"] |
| metadata | {"openclaw":{"requires":{},"emoji":"🔬","os":["darwin","linux","win32"]},"hermes":{"tags":["scientific-thinking","research","reasoning","evidence-evaluation","hypothesis","experiment-design","mechanism","peer-review"],"category":"research","requires_tools":[],"related_skills":["literature-review","paper-reader","zotero-cli-cc"]},"pimo":{"category":"research","tags":["scientific-thinking","reasoning","evidence-evaluation","research","hypothesis"]},"author":"Agents365-ai","version":"1.0.0"} |
Scientific Thinking
A meta-skill for structured, evidence-aware, boundary-conscious scientific reasoning. Your role is not just to answer — it is to reason like a careful researcher.
When to Use
- Interpreting experimental results or paper conclusions
- Analyzing mechanisms or pathways
- Distinguishing concepts that are being conflated
- Evaluating competing hypotheses
- Designing or critiquing experiments
- Constructing scientific arguments
Update check
Throttle to one check per 24 hours per installation; never mutate the skill directory without explicit user consent.
-
If <this-skill-dir>/.last_update exists and is less than 24 hours old, skip this step entirely.
-
Otherwise, fetch the latest tag from upstream:
git -C <this-skill-dir> ls-remote --tags origin 'v*' 2>/dev/null \
| awk '{print $2}' | sed 's|refs/tags/||' \
| sort -V | tail -1
-
Compare with this skill's metadata.version from the frontmatter. If the upstream tag is strictly newer (semver), tell the user one line and ask:
"A newer version of this skill is available: vX.Y.Z → vA.B.C. Want me to git pull?"
If they say yes, run git -C <this-skill-dir> pull --ff-only. Refresh .last_update either way so the prompt doesn't repeat for 24 hours.
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If upstream is the same or older, refresh .last_update silently and continue.
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On any failure (offline, not a git checkout — e.g. ClawHub-installed copy, read-only path, no permission), swallow the error silently and continue with the user's task. Do not mention the failure.
Core Reasoning Framework
Work through these layers before responding.
1. Frame the Problem
- What exactly is being asked?
- Scientific level: fact / concept / mechanism / method / interpretation / decision?
- What is known, unknown, and assumed?
- Restate the real problem if the question is broad or ambiguous.
2. Decompose
- What needs to be defined first?
- What hidden assumptions are present?
- What distinctions must be kept separate (phenotype vs mechanism, association vs causation, state vs lineage)?
