| name | related-work-survey |
| description | Conducts a systematic related-work / literature-survey / state-of-the-art review for a research question by defining survey dimensions, searching each axis, building a taxonomy of prior work, identifying the gap, and producing a positioning narrative for a paper's Related Work section. Goes beyond a flat paper list to deliver structured analysis. Use when the user is starting a new research project and needs to map the landscape, asks "what's been done on X?" or "how does my idea compare to existing work?", needs to write or revise a Related Work / Background / Prior Art section, wants to identify a research gap or position their contribution, or asks to build a taxonomy of approaches in a research area.
|
Related Work Survey
Systematic literature survey for positioning a research contribution.
When to Use
- User starts a new research project and needs landscape understanding
- User asks "what's been done on X?"
- User needs to write a related work section
- User wants to identify the gap their work fills
Workflow
Step 1: Define the Research Question
Work with the user to pin down:
- Core question: What specific problem are we solving?
- Key concepts: What are the 3-5 key terms/concepts?
- Scope boundaries: What's in scope vs. adjacent but out of scope?
Step 2: Identify Survey Dimensions
Every research topic sits at an intersection of multiple dimensions. Identify 2-4 axes:
Example for "Neural-Symbolic Decomposition in LLM Agents":
- Axis 1: Neuro-symbolic integration approaches
- Axis 2: LLM agent architectures (harness, scaffolding)
- Axis 3: Adaptive/metacognitive planning
- Axis 4: Text analysis at scale (specific application)
Step 3: Search Each Dimension
For each axis, use literature-search skill with targeted queries:
Axis 1 → "neuro-symbolic integration LLM reasoning 2024 2025"
Axis 2 → "LLM agent harness scaffolding architecture survey"
Axis 3 → "metacognitive planning adaptive tool use LLM"
Axis 4 → "large scale text analysis LLM code generation quality"
Collect 10-20 papers per axis, then deduplicate across axes.
Step 4: Build the Taxonomy
Organize papers into a structured taxonomy:
## Related Work Taxonomy
### 1. Neuro-Symbolic Integration
1.1 Neural reasoning with symbolic verification
1.2 Symbolic planning with neural execution
1.3 Adaptive decomposition (our focus)
### 2. LLM Agent Architecture
2.1 Harness engineering
2.2 Self-evolving agents
2.3 Meta-Harness optimization
### 3. ...
Step 5: Identify the Gap
The gap is where your work lives — the intersection that no existing paper covers:
Paper A does X but not Y.
Paper B does Y but not X.
We do both X and Y, connected by Z.
Step 6: Write the Narrative
Structure the related work section as a story:
- Context: What's the broader field?
- Prior art per axis: What has been done?
- Gap statement: What's missing?
- Our position: How do we fit in?
Output Format
Deliver a structured document:
# Related Work Survey: [Topic]
## Research Question
[1-2 sentences]
## Taxonomy
[Structured tree]
## Key Papers
| Paper | Axis | Key Contribution | Gap Relative to Us |
|-------|------|------------------|--------------------|
| ... | ... | ... | ... |
## Identified Gap
[Clear statement of what no existing work covers]
## Recommended Positioning
[How to frame our contribution relative to existing work]
Principles
- Be honest about overlap: If someone has done something very similar, acknowledge it
- Recent > old: Prioritize 2024-2026 papers for positioning; cite older seminal works for foundations
- Quality > quantity: 20 well-chosen papers > 50 tangentially related ones
- Track the conversation: Note who cites whom — citation chains reveal intellectual lineage
- Check workshops/findings: Important early-stage work often appears in workshop papers
