lit-status

---

name: lit-status description: Query the Obsidian literature library: counts by status, tags, projects; orphans; gaps; reading queue. Use for "what's in my library", "what should I read next".

Lit Status (Desktop)

A read-only skill that surfaces what's in 30_Literature/ and how it relates to the user's active projects.

This skill is identical to the Code variant -- no Agent tool dependency. Desktop has no /lit-map slash command, so the user invokes by free text. Recognize phrasings like "what's in my library", "what should I read next on X", "what gaps do I have in topic Y".

What it answers

• How many papers are in the library, broken down by status (unread / skimmed / read / cited / dismissed) and by year.
• What tags / topics are present, and how concentrated.
• What's been read recently (last 30 / 90 days, by added and by status change time).
• What papers are cited in active project notes but missing from the library (so the user can capture them).
• What papers in the library don't link to any project (orphaned reading).
• Reading queue: unread papers, ranked by how often their citekey is referenced in active project notes.

Workflow

1. Use the obsidian MCP to enumerate notes in 30_Literature/. Read frontmatter for each (citekey, status, tags, projects, added, year, doi, arxiv).
2. Use obsidian MCP search to find citekey references across 10_Projects/, 60_MOCs/, 00_Inbox/. Build a citation count map.
3. Compose the requested report.

Modes

The skill supports several report shapes; the slash command or invocation passes a mode hint:

• summary (default) -- one-paragraph overview + counts.
• unread -- list of unread papers, ranked by project-reference count.
• tags -- tag cloud + papers per tag.
• gaps -- papers cited in projects but not captured.
• orphans -- papers in library not linked to any project or MOC.
• citation-map {citekey} -- for one paper, show which project notes reference it.
• next-action -- "what should I read next?" Returns a single, prioritized next action in <=5 lines: the most-cited unread paper in the active project (or, if no active project, the most-recently-added unread paper), plus the exact prompt the user can paste back to act on it (typically Extract claims from {citekey} or Synthesize {citekey1} and {citekey2}). Used by research-copilot for its Suggest move.

Constraints

• Read-only. Never writes to the vault. If the user wants to update a paper's status, point them to the file path; don't edit it for them.
• If the obsidian MCP is offline, fall back to filesystem Glob + Grep against the vault path from OBSIDIAN_VAULT_PATH.
• Limit each report section to <=30 entries; if there are more, show top 30 and the total count.

Output style

Markdown tables for lists; one paragraph for summaries. Always include the count at the top of each table so the user knows whether they're seeing all or a subset.

Example output

## Library status (2026-04-27)

**Total**: 142 papers -- 61 read, 23 skimmed, 53 unread, 5 cited, 0 dismissed.
**Most-referenced unread** (top 5):
| Citekey | Title | References in active project notes |
|---|---|---|
| kim2023ionic | ... | 7 |
| ... |

**Tags** (top 8):
- ion-gated-transistor (38), reservoir-computing (29), edl (22), ...

**Gaps** (cited in 10_Projects/{active-slug} but not in library): 3
- 10.1038/s41928-... -> suggested: /capture-paper 10.1038/s41928-...
- ...