research-init

name	research-init
description	Initialize a new research topic or new project integration for Research Harness. Trigger on phrases like "research-init", "/research-init", "初始化研究主题", "初始化 Research Harness", "给项目接入 Research Harness", or equivalent requests to create topic scaffolding, update AGENTS or CLAUDE guidance, and ingest seed papers.
public_suite	research
task_type	initialization
data_access_level	local+external
inputs	topic name, research scope, venue, seed papers, project workspace
outputs	topic record, bootstrap guidance, seed ingestion plan, initial artifacts
gates	every ingested paper needs topic_id; record durable bootstrap outputs
artifact_schemas	topic, frontier_attention_evidence
estimated_runtime	10-30 min

Research Init

Use this skill when the user wants to bootstrap a project or topic into Research Harness.

Workflow

1. Read ~/code/research-harness/docs/agent-guide.md.
2. Identify:
   • topic slug or project name
   • target venue or timeline if provided
   • seed papers, DOI, arXiv IDs, or PDFs if provided
3. Ensure the target project has Research Harness guidance:
   • add or update AGENTS.md for Codex
   • if the user explicitly wants Claude compatibility, update CLAUDE.md too
4. If rhub or MCP is available, perform the minimum viable setup:
   • initialize the topic
   • ingest any provided seed papers
   • record assumptions when metadata is incomplete
5. If the user did not provide a topic slug, derive one from the title using lowercase hyphen-case.
6. Return a compact setup report with:
   • topic slug
   • touched files
   • ingested seeds
   • missing inputs
   • next 3 actions

Execution Heuristic

Prefer doing the setup directly instead of only describing it when the repo context is clear enough.

If inputs are partial, continue with safe defaults:

• missing venue: omit it
• missing seeds: create integration files first
• missing project-level guidance: use docs/research-bootstrap.md as the source template

Do not block on optional metadata.

Rules

• Prefer using existing Research Harness conventions from docs/research-bootstrap.md.
• Do not invent seed papers.
• If topic metadata is missing, make the minimum safe assumptions and state them clearly.
• For any topic intended for a paper, survey, or serious research direction, create or request a frontier_attention_evidence artifact: latest top academic signals plus official industry signals proving the direction is actively important. If either side is weak, report it as a scope risk rather than overstating the topic.