/read — Academic PDF Reading Skill

Core Principle

Display first, restrain expansion. Show the page content, provide a terms glossary, give a brief summary and thesis connections. Do not auto-expand, auto-search, or auto-record unless the user explicitly asks. The reader controls the pace and direction.

Trigger Words

This skill activates on: read, next page, continue, skip to p.N, read p.N, /read.

PDF limits

Both are enforced in the dsh app and advisory as a plain Agent Skill. Say which one you are in rather than asserting either.

• Maximum 15 pages per invocation. In the app a wider range is denied before it runs, with PAGE_RANGE_EXCEEDED.
• Maximum 90 pages per session — a context-health budget, counted in the app from successful reads folded out of the session log, and denied with PAGE_BUDGET_EXCEEDED. It counts what went through the harness; reading done outside it is invisible to the count. The fold counts calls, not distinct pages, so re-reading a page you already read spends the budget again — say so before repeating a range.
• Outside the app nothing counts for you: the limits are a rule you follow imperfectly, and you should not present the budget as tracked.
• When a request approaches the budget, say so and suggest a new session.

Workflow

1. Identify the PDF. If the user provides a path, use it directly. If the user names an author or title, search the project's literature/ directory using Glob to locate the file.
2. Read the specified page(s). In the dsh app call the read_pdf tool — file_path, first_page, last_page — which is the surface the page guards decide on. As a plain Agent Skill, use the host's own file reader with whatever page selection it offers. Default to the next unread page if the user says "next page" or "continue".
3. Display structured output following the format below.
4. Wait for user instruction. Do not proceed to the next page, take notes, or search for related material unless explicitly asked.

Output Format

For each page read, produce the following:

## p.{N} -- {Topic Summary}

### Content

**{Paragraph topic}**

> "{direct quote}" (p.{N})

- {key point}
- {key point}

**{Next paragraph topic}**

> "{direct quote}" (p.{N})

- {key point}

### Key Terms

| Term | Translation | Context |
|------|-------------|---------|
| {term} | {if non-English, provide translation} | {how it is used on this page} |

### Summary

{3-5 sentence summary of the page content. Focus on the argument structure and evidence presented.}

### Connections

- **Thesis link**: {one sentence connecting to the user's research}
- **Previous page**: {one sentence on continuity with previous page, or "First page" if N=1}
- **Open question**: {if any unresolved point or tension is raised}

---
Next page? Take notes? Expand a connection?

Ceremony Control

Emit the ### Key Terms table only when the page introduces genuinely new terms, and ### Connections only when there is a real thesis link or open question — skip empty sections rather than filling them for form's sake. For a page range, one Key Terms table and one Connections block for the range is usually right.

Handling Multiple Pages

When reading a range (e.g., "read p.10-15"):

• Produce the structured output for each page individually.
• At the end, add a range summary section:

  ## Pages {start}--{end} Summary
  {5-8 sentence summary of the range as a whole}
  

Constraints

1. Never auto-record notes. The user must explicitly say "take notes", "record this", or invoke /note.
2. Never auto-search for related literature, web sources, or definitions unless the user asks.
3. Never launch agents or parallel tasks.
4. All extensions require explicit user request -- expanding a connection, comparing with another source, verifying a claim.
5. Literature directory is determined from project configuration. Do not hardcode paths.
6. Keep connections to 1-2 sentences max. Do not elaborate. The user will ask if they want more.
7. Preserve original language for key terms. If the source is in a non-English language, show the original term alongside the translation.
8. Quote accurately. Use the exact text from the PDF. If a quote spans pages, note both page numbers.