create-paper-summary

name	create-paper-summary
description	Create markdown summaries for PDF papers (creates BibTeX first if needed)
argument-hint	<path/to/pdf-or-directory>
disable-model-invocation	true

Create Paper Summary Command

Create markdown summaries for academic PDFs.

Input

$ARGUMENTS

Reference

@.claude/reference/summary-format.md @.claude/reference/bibtex-format.md

Instructions

Step 1: Determine Target Path

If $ARGUMENTS empty: Ask user for path that contains the PDFs(e.g., lit_review/papers/).

If $ARGUMENTS provided: Use path; resolve relative paths from project root.

---

Step 2: Identify PDFs to Process

Single file: Verify exists and is .pdf; note subdirectory relative to lit_review/papers/.

Directory: Recursively find all .pdf files; note each file's subdirectory.

Build list with full path and relative subdirectory. Report count; if zero, inform user and stop.

---

Step 3: Build Work List

1. Read paper/main.bib; create lookup with normalized author+year → full entry data (key, title, authors, venue, year, DOI). Report count of existing entries.
2. For each PDF:
   • Parse filename → first author surname (normalized) and year
   • Search main.bib for matching entry; if missing, use the fetchbib skill to create one, then reload main.bib. Record BibTeX key.
   • Check if lit_review/paper_summaries/{subdirectory}/{BibTeXKey}.md already exists → mark as skip or process
3. Report counts: to process, skipped (summary exists), BibTeX entries created.

---

Step 4: Create Summaries

For each PDF marked process:

4a. Extract PDF Content (Token-Efficient)

Use the pdf-extraction skill strategically:

1. Start with first page (contains title, authors, abstract):

   .claude/skills/pdf-extraction/scripts/pdf_extract.sh first "{pdf_path}" 1
   

2. Locate key sections by searching:

   .claude/skills/pdf-extraction/scripts/pdf_extract.sh search-pages "{pdf_path}" "Method"
   .claude/skills/pdf-extraction/scripts/pdf_extract.sh search-pages "{pdf_path}" "Results"
   .claude/skills/pdf-extraction/scripts/pdf_extract.sh search-pages "{pdf_path}" "Limitation"
   .claude/skills/pdf-extraction/scripts/pdf_extract.sh search-pages "{pdf_path}" "Discussion"
   .claude/skills/pdf-extraction/scripts/pdf_extract.sh search-pages "{pdf_path}" "Conclusion"
   

3. Extract only the pages containing those sections:

   .claude/skills/pdf-extraction/scripts/pdf_extract.sh page "{pdf_path}" {page_num}
   

   Or use range for consecutive pages:

   .claude/skills/pdf-extraction/scripts/pdf_extract.sh range "{pdf_path}" {start} {end}
   

Token Budget: Aim for ~4-6 pages of content per paper maximum.

For short papers (<8 pages): May extract the whole thing:

.claude/skills/pdf-extraction/scripts/pdf_extract.sh all "{pdf_path}"

Never extract the full PDF for papers >8 pages. Target specific sections.

4b. Extract Metadata from BibTeX

From matching entry: Authors (comma-separated), Title, Year, Publication venue, DOI, BibTeX Key.

4c. Generate Summary Sections

Per @.claude/reference/summary-format.md:

Main Takeaways (max 5 bullets):

• Focus on the paper's core contributions and findings
• Prioritize empirical over theoretical
• Include significant statistics
• Be concise but specific

Methodological Approach (max 4 bullets):

• Study design
• Data sources/sample sizes
• Analysis methods
• Key tools/frameworks

Limitations (max 4 bullets):

• Check paper's limitations section first
• Common types: sample size constraints, generalizability issues, temporal limitations, methodological trade-offs

4d. Write Summary File

1. Create output directory if needed: lit_review/paper_summaries/{subdirectory}/
2. Write formatted markdown to lit_review/paper_summaries/{subdirectory}/{BibTeXKey}.md using the template from @.claude/reference/summary-format.md
3. Verify file created successfully
4. After every 5 summaries, run:

   /compact Compacting after 5 paper summaries. PRESERVE: (1) Task: creating paper summaries using /create-paper-summary command, (2) papers processed with output paths, (3) papers remaining to process, (4) any warnings/errors, (5) BibTeX state. DISCARD: All extracted PDF text content. Replace PDF extractions with: "Summarized: [filename] → [output_path]".
   

---

Step 5: Report Results

Paper Summary Creation Summary
==============================
PDFs found: {total}
Skipped (summary exists): {skipped}
New summaries created: {created}
BibTeX entries created: {bib_created}

New summaries:
- {path1}
- {path2}

Warnings (if any):
- {filename}: {warning}

---

Edge Cases

Unreadable PDF

Report error "Could not read PDF: {filename}", skip file, continue.

Missing DOI

- **DOI:** Not available
- **URL:** [{url}]({url})

If no URL either, just - **DOI:** Not available.

Short Papers

If paper lacks distinct sections: describe general approach for methodology; note "Not explicitly discussed" for limitations and infer obvious ones.

Non-Research Papers (Reports, White Papers)

Highlight that this work has not been peer-reviewed. Consider this fact when summarizing main takeaways and limitations.

Review Papers

Main takeaways = synthesis findings; Methodology = review protocol; Limitations = gaps in reviewed literature.

BibTeX Key Mismatch

If filename doesn't match any entry after normalization: search by title keywords as fallback; if still no match, create entry first.