| name | referee-response |
| description | Drafts a point-by-point response letter to referee comments with suggested edits. Use after a revise-and-resubmit. |
| argument-hint | <path> or 'paste' |
| allowed-tools | Bash, Read, Write, Edit, Glob, Grep |
| version | 1.0.0 |
| workflow_stage | writing |
| tags | ["revision","referee","response-letter"] |
Draft Referee Response
Draft a structured point-by-point response to referee comments.
Arguments
$ARGUMENTS — path to a file containing referee comments (e.g., notes/referee-report-R1.txt), or the word "paste" to accept inline input
Steps
-
Read the referee comments:
- If a file path is provided, read that file
- If "paste" is specified, ask the user to paste the comments
-
Read index.qmd to understand the current manuscript content, structure, and arguments.
-
Parse the referee comments into individual points. Each point typically starts with a number, letter, or dash.
-
For each referee point, draft a structured response:
**Point N:** [Quote or paraphrase the referee's comment]
**Response:** [Address the comment — acknowledge the concern, explain what was done
or why you disagree, provide additional evidence or reasoning]
**Changes made:** [Describe specific edits with section references, e.g.,
"We have added two paragraphs to Section 3 (@sec-data) clarifying the sample selection."]
-
Use appropriate response conventions:
- Thank the referee for constructive comments
- Be respectful even when disagreeing
- Distinguish between changes made and changes not made (with justification)
- Reference specific sections, tables, and figures in the manuscript
- If a comment requires new analysis, note what was done and where results appear
-
Organize the response by referee:
# Response to Referee Comments
## Referee 1
[Point-by-point responses]
## Referee 2
[Point-by-point responses]
## Editor
[Point-by-point responses]
-
Save the response letter to notes/referee-response-R<N>.md where N is the revision round number (check existing files to determine the round).
-
Generate a separate list of suggested manuscript edits — specific changes to index.qmd or notebooks that address the referee's concerns. Present these to the user but do NOT apply them without explicit approval.
-
Report the response letter file path and the list of suggested edits.
Error handling
- If the comments file does not exist, ask for the correct path.
- If the comments are too brief or ambiguous to parse into individual points, present them as-is and ask the user to help segment them.