Research Idea
SkillSearchUse this skill whenever the user wants to generate or refine a research idea through literature search and discussion. Triggers include: 'research idea', 'brainstorm idea', 'generate idea', 'research-idea', 'idea generation', 'discuss new direction', or any request to explore literature and output to IDEA.md. This skill is the **mandatory interface-layer idea generator** in NeuroClaw: it calls networking search skills to retrieve recent papers, identifies gaps/trends, then iteratively discusses with the user to finalize a structured idea, always saving the result as IDEA.md.
Available today. Use it from your connected AI after setup.
No other account needed.
Connect ahel once, and every AI you use reads what you have installed.
Then ask your AI: use the Research Idea skill
What this skill tells your AI
The instructions your AI receives, as published by cuhk-aim-group/neuroclaw in skills/research-idea/SKILL.md and read by ahel’s review.
Overview
This skill implements the Literature Search + User Discussion process for NeuroClaw research-idea phase.
It acts as the Idea Generator within the multi-agent framework:
- Automatically calls search skills (
multi-search-engine,academic-research-hub, etc.) for the latest papers (prefer last 3–6 months). - Summarizes key trends, methods, and open gaps.
- Engages in step-by-step discussion with the user to refine novelty and feasibility.
- Saves the final structured idea as IDEA.md (Background, Gap, Proposed Idea, Methods Outline, Impact).
If no topic is provided, it first asks the user for a domain (e.g., MRI segmentation, world models in neuroscience).
Research use only — the output is a concise, actionable IDEA.md ready for method-design.
Quick Reference (Idea Flow)
| Step | Description | Output File |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Search | Call search skills for recent literature | temp_search.md |
| 2. Analysis | Summarize trends & gaps | 01_gap_analysis.md |
| 3. Draft | Propose initial idea | 02_preliminary.md |
| 4. Discuss | Iterate with user feedback | 03_discussion.md |
| 5. Finalize | Polish and save | IDEA.md |
Installation
# Place files in: skills/research-idea/
Important Notes & Limitations
- Always uses external search skills (no LLM hallucination for literature).
- Every step saved as numbered .md files for transparency/resume.
- Requires user confirmation at discussion steps.
- Final output always saved as
IDEA.mdin workspace root.
When to Call This Skill
- Start of any new project
- User wants to brainstorm or pivot research direction
- Before method-design or paper-writing
Complementary / Related Skills
multi-search-engine→ core web & general literature retrievalacademic-research-hub→ arXiv, PubMed, Semantic Scholar paper searchmethod-design→ consumes IDEA.mdpaper-writing→ consumes IDEA.mdexperiment-controller→ follows finalized idea
Reference
NeuroClaw architecture (section 1.4 research survey skill). Flow: search → gap analysis → proposal → user discussion → IDEA.md
Created At: 2026-03-24 20:00 HKT Last Updated At: 2026-03-26 00:28 HKT Author: chengwang96
Signals
- GitHub stars
- 85
- Forks
- 4
- Last commit
- Sep 2026
Advanced
- Catalog kind
- skill
- Gateway key
research-idea- Source
- github.com/cuhk-aim-group/neuroclaw