paper-digest

name	paper-digest
description	Given an arXiv ID or URL, fetch the paper, spawn sub-agents to read its key citations, and write an executive summary under.
user-invocable	true
author	Damoon
version	0.0.1

Paper Digest

Input

• arxiv_id: bare ID like 2305.11206 or full https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.11206 (Normalise: strip the URL prefix, extract bare ID.)

Step 1 — Fetch the main paper

Try HTML first: web.fetch https://arxiv.org/html/<arxiv_id>

• If HTTP 200 → use this as paper_text.
• If Falis: add v1 at the end, and try again: web.fetch https://arxiv.org/html/<arxiv_id>v1
• else if all fails skip and ABORT!

If the paper_text is retrieved then write the summary to ~/.openclaw/workspace/papers/<arxiv-id>.md.

Step 2 — Extract citations

Note: DO NOT DO THIS STEP INSIDE sub-agents

Within the main agent and from paper_text, identify at most 5 citations the paper most directly builds on. Prioritize:

• Papers that are explicitly extended or improved upon
• Papers used as the primary baseline for comparison
• Papers that provide the core architecture this work adopts
• Papers referred to repeatedly (not just mentioned once) or that provide essential context

For each citation, extract either the arXiv ID or the title. Then resolve to an arXiv URL:

• If an arXiv ID is in the reference → https://arxiv.org/html/<id>
• Otherwise search https://arxiv.org/search/?query=<title>&searchtype=all and take the first match.

Step 3 — Spawn sub-agents for citations

Note: Ensure that the sub-agent related task is precise and concise so the sub-agent does not have to re-read the previously read SKILLs and files.

For each resolved citation:

• Check if the file for citation exists: ~/.openclaw/workspace/papers/<arxiv-id>.md, if it does then skip and consider the sub-agent concluded.
• If the previous step fails then spawn a sub-agent with this EXACT instruction in VERBATIM:
  • Fetch https://arxiv.org/html/<citation_id> (or add v1 at the end, and try again: web.fetch https://arxiv.org/html/<arxiv_id>v1). If unavailable, SKIP. If retrieved then Write the summary to ~/.openclaw/workspace/papers/<arxiv-id>.md.

Step 4 — Write the executive summary

Check the citation summaries within ~/.openclaw/workspace/papers/ then utilize the main paper we are summarising with citation summaries and write a single markdown document in flowing prose (no bullet lists) to ~/.openclaw/workspace/digest/report_<arxiv-id>. Use this structure:

# <Title>

<What problem this solves and why it matters. Context and related references summary>

<What prior work missed and how this paper addresses that gap. Cite inline as [Author et al., YEAR](<arxiv_link>).

<Core method in plain terms>

<Headline result. How it differs from previous work.

<One limitation and one future direction>

<Detailed ,         >

Rules

• Every citation must be a markdown link: [Author et al., YEAR](<arxiv_or_url>)
• No bullet lists in the output — prose only.
• If a section is absent from the paper (e.g., no ablations), skip it silently.
• Do not fabricate results, metrics, or author claims.
• Citation resolution retry: If a citation URL cannot be resolved after one retry, write the citation as plain text without a link: [Author et al., YEAR].