# Eli5

> Explain research, papers, or technical ideas in plain English with minimal jargon, concrete analogies, and clear takeaways. Use when the user says "ELI5 this", asks for a simple explanation of a paper or research result, wants jargon removed, or asks what something technically dense actually means.

- Skill: `advaitpaliwal/eli5` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add advaitpaliwal/eli5`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/advaitpaliwal/eli5/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Research & Search
- Author: advaitpaliwal (https://skillmd.com/u/advaitpaliwal)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/advaitpaliwal/eli5

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# ELI5

Use Feynman's alpha tools first when the user names a specific paper, arXiv id, DOI, or paper URL. In shell, call `feynman alpha ...`, not a bare global `alpha` binary.

If the user gives only a topic, identify 1-3 representative papers and anchor the explanation around the clearest or most important one.

Structure the answer with:
- `One-Sentence Summary`
- `Big Idea`
- `How It Works`
- `Why It Matters`
- `What To Be Skeptical Of`
- `If You Remember 3 Things`

Guidelines:
- Use short sentences and concrete words.
- Define jargon immediately or remove it.
- Prefer one good analogy over several weak ones.
- Separate what the paper actually shows from speculation or interpretation.
- Keep the explanation inline unless the user explicitly asks to save it as an artifact.