This skill drives the scientific-consensus-pp-cli binary. You must verify the CLI is installed before invoking any command from this skill. If it is missing, install it first:
Install via the Printing Press installer. It defaults binaries to $HOME/.local/bin on macOS/Linux and %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\PrintingPress\bin on Windows:
Ensure the reported install directory is on $PATH for the agent/runtime that will invoke this skill.
If the npx install fails (no Node, offline, etc.), fall back to a direct Go install (requires Go 1.26.4 or newer). This installs into $GOPATH/bin (default $HOME/go/bin), so add that directory to $PATH instead:
go install github.com/mvanhorn/printing-press-library/library/other/scientific-consensus/cmd/scientific-consensus-pp-cli@latest
If --version reports "command not found" after install, the runtime cannot see the binary directory on $PATH. Do not proceed with skill commands until verification succeeds.
Scientific Consensus turns large collections of papers into actionable evidence. It scores consensus across sources (consensus), classifies studies by design and renders evidence pyramids (evidence), detects gaps and controversies, and persists everything to a local SQLite store you can query offline with --json. Fully keyless; optional AI keys upgrade summarization.
When to Use This CLI
Use Scientific Consensus when an agent or researcher needs to know what the evidence says about a claim, not just find papers. It is the right tool for evidence synthesis, consensus scoring, study-design classification, gap/controversy detection, and topic monitoring across biomedical and general scientific literature. It excels when offline persistence and agent-native JSON matter.
Anti-triggers
Do not use this CLI for:
Do not use for retrieving the full text PDF of a specific paper (use the publisher or Europe PMC full-text directly).
Do not use for non-scholarly web search or news.
Do not use as a citation manager replacement for writing (use Zotero); it exports BibTeX but does not manage libraries.
Do not treat heuristic consensus/quality scores as peer-reviewed conclusions.
Unique Capabilities
These capabilities aren't available in any other tool for this API.
Evidence intelligence
consensus — Answer 'what does the evidence say about X' with a Consensus Score, Confidence Score, and Evidence Strength across all sources.
Reach for this when an agent needs an evidence-backed yes/no/mixed verdict instead of a raw paper list.
scientific-consensus consensus "vitamin D reduces respiratory infections" --agent
evidence — Classify retrieved studies by design (meta-analysis to case report) and render the evidence pyramid for a topic.
Reach for this to judge whether a claim rests on RCTs/meta-analyses or just case series.
scientific-consensus-pp-cli works get — Get a single work by OpenAlex ID, DOI, or PMID
scientific-consensus-pp-cli works search — Search scholarly works
Finding the right command
When you know what you want to do but not which command does it, ask the CLI directly:
scientific-consensus-pp-cli which"<capability in your own words>"
which resolves a natural-language capability query to the best matching command from this CLI's curated feature index. Exit code 0 means at least one match; exit code 2 means no confident match — fall back to --help or use a narrower query.
Reports new publications since the last run from the local baseline.
Auth Setup
No API key required for any command. Optional env vars raise limits or enable AI summarization: NCBI_API_KEY (PubMed, higher rate limit), SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY (Semantic Scholar enrichment), and OPENAI_API_KEY / ANTHROPIC_API_KEY / GEMINI_API_KEY (enhanced summarization). Everything works without them.
Run scientific-consensus-pp-cli doctor to verify setup.
Agent Mode
Add --agent to any command. Expands to: --json --compact --no-input --no-color --yes.
Pipeable — JSON on stdout, errors on stderr
Filterable — --select keeps a subset of fields. Dotted paths descend into nested structures; arrays traverse element-wise. Critical for keeping context small on verbose APIs:
scientific-consensus-pp-cli authors get mock-value --agent --selectid,name,status
Previewable — --dry-run shows the request without sending
Offline-friendly — sync/search commands can use the local SQLite store when available
Non-interactive — never prompts, every input is a flag
Read-only — do not use this CLI for create, update, delete, publish, comment, upvote, invite, order, send, or other mutating requests
Response envelope
Commands that read from the local store or the API wrap output in a provenance envelope:
Parse .results for data and .meta.source to know whether it's live or local. A human-readable N results (live) summary is printed to stderr only when stdout is a terminal AND no machine-format flag (--json, --csv, --compact, --quiet, --plain, --select) is set — piped/agent consumers and explicit-format runs get pure JSON on stdout.
Agent Feedback
When you (or the agent) notice something off about this CLI, record it:
scientific-consensus-pp-cli feedback "the --since flag is inclusive but docs say exclusive"
scientific-consensus-pp-cli feedback --stdin < notes.txt
scientific-consensus-pp-cli feedback list --json --limit 10
Entries are stored locally at ~/.local/share/scientific-consensus-pp-cli/feedback.jsonl. They are never POSTed unless SCIENTIFIC_CONSENSUS_FEEDBACK_ENDPOINT is set AND either --send is passed or SCIENTIFIC_CONSENSUS_FEEDBACK_AUTO_SEND=true. Default behavior is local-only.
Write what surprised you, not a bug report. Short, specific, one line: that is the part that compounds.
Output Delivery
Every command accepts --deliver <sink>. The output goes to the named sink in addition to (or instead of) stdout, so agents can route command results without hand-piping. Three sinks are supported:
Sink
Effect
stdout
Default; write to stdout only
file:<path>
Atomically write output to <path> (tmp + rename)
webhook:<url>
POST the output body to the URL (application/json or application/x-ndjson when --compact)
Unknown schemes are refused with a structured error naming the supported set. Webhook failures return non-zero and log the URL + HTTP status on stderr.
Named Profiles
A profile is a saved set of flag values, reused across invocations. Use it when a scheduled agent calls the same command every run with the same configuration - HeyGen's "Beacon" pattern.
scientific-consensus-pp-cli profile save briefing --json
scientific-consensus-pp-cli --profile briefing authors get mock-value
scientific-consensus-pp-cli profile list --json
scientific-consensus-pp-cli profile show briefing
scientific-consensus-pp-cli profile delete briefing --yes
Explicit flags always win over profile values; profile values win over defaults. agent-context lists all available profiles under available_profiles so introspecting agents discover them at runtime.
Exit Codes
Code
Meaning
0
Success
2
Usage error (wrong arguments)
3
Resource not found
5
API error (upstream issue)
7
Rate limited (wait and retry)
10
Config error
Argument Parsing
Parse $ARGUMENTS:
Empty, help, or --help → show scientific-consensus-pp-cli --help output
Starts with install → ends with mcp → MCP installation; otherwise → see Prerequisites above
Anything else → Direct Use (execute as CLI command with --agent)
MCP Server Installation
Install the MCP server:
go install github.com/mvanhorn/printing-press-library/library/other/scientific-consensus/cmd/scientific-consensus-pp-mcp@latest
Register with Claude Code:
claude mcp add scientific-consensus-pp-mcp -- scientific-consensus-pp-mcp
Verify: claude mcp list
Direct Use
Check if installed: which scientific-consensus-pp-cli
If not found, offer to install (see Prerequisites at the top of this skill).
Match the user query to the best command from the Unique Capabilities and Command Reference above.
