# Using Amplify
> Use when starting any conversation - establishes how to find and use research skills, requiring Skill tool invocation before ANY response including clarifying questions
- Skill: `evoclaw/using-amplify` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add evoclaw/using-amplify`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/evoclaw/using-amplify/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Research & Search
- Author: EvoClaw (https://skillmd.com/u/evoclaw)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/evoclaw/using-amplify
---
If you think there is even a 1% chance a skill might apply to what you are doing, you ABSOLUTELY MUST invoke the skill.
IF A SKILL APPLIES TO YOUR TASK, YOU DO NOT HAVE A CHOICE. YOU MUST USE IT.
This is not negotiable. This is not optional. You cannot rationalize your way out of this.
# ABSOLUTE RULE #1: ONE PHASE PER TURN
YOU MUST COMPLETE ONLY **ONE PHASE** PER RESPONSE. After completing a phase or reaching a gate, you MUST:
1. Present the phase deliverables and/or gate checklist to the user
2. **END YOUR RESPONSE AND WAIT FOR THE USER TO REPLY**
3. Only proceed to the next phase AFTER the user explicitly approves
**THIS IS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT RULE IN THE ENTIRE SYSTEM.**
Violating this rule — even once — collapses the entire research workflow into a shallow one-shot demo. The phases exist because each one requires human judgment before the next can begin.
### What "end your response" means
- After Phase 0: present `research-anchor.yaml` summary → **STOP. Wait for user.**
- After Phase 1 + G1: present G1 checklist → **STOP. Wait for user.**
- After Phase 2: present feasibility assessment → **STOP. Wait for user.**
- After Phase 3 + G2: present frozen plan → **STOP. Wait for user.**
- After G3: present readiness check → **STOP. Wait for user.**
- After Phase 4a: present exploration report + options (proceed / local adjustment / focused re-discussion / return to Phase 3 / return to Phase 2) → **STOP. Wait for user decision.** Most common outcome is local adjustment, not full phase reset.
- After Phase 4b: present results summary → **STOP. Ask: "Are results sufficient? Shall I proceed to results integration?"**
- After Phase 5 + G4: present content outline → **STOP. Ask: "Shall I proceed to paper writing?"**
- During Phase 6: present EACH SECTION individually → **STOP. Wait for user feedback on that section.**
### What counts as user approval
- Explicit: "approved", "yes", "proceed", "looks good, go ahead", "继续", "可以"
- NOT approval: silence, no response, "ok" (ambiguous), or your own judgment that "it looks fine"
### Fast Mode
If the user says **"fast mode"**, **"快速模式"**, or **"combine phases"** at the start:
- Combine Phase 0 + Phase 1 into a single turn (but still present both deliverables)
- After each gate, still STOP and wait for approval (gates are never combined)
- Multi-agent deliberation rounds are reduced to max 3 (instead of 5)
- Per-section polishing rounds are reduced to max 2 (instead of 5)
**Fast Mode does NOT skip any phase or gate.** It only reduces stops and deliberation rounds. If the user wants to skip phases entirely, they must explicitly say which phases to skip.
### Rationalizations that WILL occur — reject them all
| Your thought | Why it's wrong |
|-------------|---------------|
| "The user said to write a paper, so I should do all phases" | The user said WHAT. The workflow says HOW. One phase at a time. |
| "This is a simple project, I can combine phases" | No project is simple enough to skip human checkpoints. |
| "The user will get annoyed if I stop too often" | The user will get a bad paper if you don't stop. |
| "I already know what the user will say" | You don't. That's why you ask. |
| "Let me just do the next phase quickly" | "Quickly" = cutting corners. Stop. |
| "Phase 2 isn't needed for Type D" | Phase 2 is ALWAYS required. See below. |
# ABSOLUTE RULE #2: NO PHASE IS OPTIONAL
ALL SEVEN PHASES (0 through 6) ARE MANDATORY FOR ALL RESEARCH TYPES.
Specifically:
- **Phase 2 (Problem Validation) is REQUIRED for Type D.** Data analysis without adversarial questioning produces shallow, undefendable findings. "It's just data analysis" is the #1 rationalization for skipping Phase 2.
- **Phase 3 (Method/Analysis Design) is REQUIRED** even if the analysis seems straightforward. Locking the evaluation protocol and story line prevents goalpost-moving later.
- **Phase 5 (Results Integration) requires the full multi-agent discussion.** Skipping the discussion panel and jumping to paper writing produces thin, report-like papers.
The ONLY exception: the user explicitly says "skip Phase X" — and even then, warn them of consequences.
## How to Access Skills
**In Cursor:** Use the `Read` tool on `~/.cursor/skills/amplify/skills/{skill-name}/SKILL.md`. When you read a skill, follow it directly.
**In other environments:** Check your platform's documentation for how skills are loaded.
# Using Research Skills
## The Rule
**Read and follow relevant skills BEFORE any response or action.** Even a 1% chance a skill might apply means you should read the skill.
## System Architecture
Amplify operates on three layers:
**Workflow Layer** — Phase-by-phase research flow (domain-anchoring → exploration → validation → design → execution → integration → paper). These tell you WHAT to do next.
**Discipline Layer** — Cross-phase scientific rigor (metric-lock, anti-cherry-pick, claim-evidence-alignment, figure-quality-standards, reproducibility, verification). These tell you WHAT RULES to follow at all times.
**Meta-Control Layer** — Project governance (novelty-classifier, scope-control, pivot-or-kill, venue-alignment). These tell you WHEN to stop, pivot, or escalate.
## Four Gates
Progress between phases requires passing gates:
- **G1 (Topic & Venue)** — Between exploration and method design
- **G2 (Plan Freeze)** — Between method design and execution
- **G3 (Execution Readiness)** — Before full-scale experiments
- **G4 (Write-Ready)** — Before paper writing
No gate may be skipped. Each gate has a checklist that must be fully satisfied.
## Research Workflow Priority
When a user describes research intent, skills apply in this order:
```dot
digraph skill_flow {
"User describes research intent" [shape=doublecircle];
"Domain anchored?" [shape=diamond];
"Invoke domain-anchoring" [shape=box];
"Direction explored?" [shape=diamond];
"Invoke research-direction-exploration" [shape=box];
"Problem validated?" [shape=diamond];
"Invoke problem-validation" [shape=box];
"Method designed?" [shape=diamond];
"Invoke method-framework-design" [shape=box];
"Executing experiments?" [shape=diamond];
"Invoke experiment-execution" [shape=box];
"Results ready?" [shape=diamond];
"Invoke results-integration" [shape=box];
"Writing paper?" [shape=diamond];
"Invoke paper-writing" [shape=box];
"Respond" [shape=doublecircle];
"User describes research intent" -> "Domain anchored?";
"Domain anchored?" -> "Invoke domain-anchoring" [label="no"];
"Domain anchored?" -> "Direction explored?" [label="yes"];
"Invoke domain-anchoring" -> "Direction explored?";
"Direction explored?" -> "Invoke research-direction-exploration" [label="no"];
"Direction explored?" -> "Problem validated?" [label="yes"];
"Invoke research-direction-exploration" -> "Problem validated?";
"Problem validated?" -> "Invoke problem-validation" [label="no"];
"Problem validated?" -> "Method designed?" [label="yes"];
"Invoke problem-validation" -> "Method designed?";
"Method designed?" -> "Invoke method-framework-design" [label="no"];
"Method designed?" -> "Executing experiments?" [label="yes"];
"Invoke method-framework-design" -> "Executing experiments?";
"Executing experiments?" -> "Invoke experiment-execution" [label="yes"];
"Executing experiments?" -> "Respond" [label="not yet"];
"Invoke experiment-execution" -> "Results ready?";
"Results ready?" -> "Invoke results-integration" [label="yes"];
"Results ready?" -> "Respond" [label="no"];
"Invoke results-integration" -> "Writing paper?";
"Writing paper?" -> "Invoke paper-writing" [label="user requests"];
"Writing paper?" -> "Respond" [label="no"];
"Invoke paper-writing" -> "Respond";
}
```
## Discipline Skills — Always Active
Once activated, these skills remain in effect for the rest of the project:
| Skill | Activates | What It Enforces |
|-------|-----------|-----------------|
| metric-lock | After G2 | Evaluation metrics cannot be changed without user permission |
| anti-cherry-pick | Phase 4 start | All seeds reported, failures recorded, no selective reporting |
| claim-evidence-alignment | Phase 5-6 | Every claim maps to evidence; unmapped claims deleted |
| figure-quality-standards | Phase 4-6 | Publication-quality figures: style template, colorblind-safe, vector format, consistent colors |
| reproducibility-driven-research | Phase 4 start | Seeds, environments, scripts all recorded |
| results-verification-protocol | Always | No completion claims without fresh verification |
## Meta-Control Skills — Triggered by Conditions
| Skill | Trigger | What It Does |
|-------|---------|-------------|
| novelty-classifier | Phase 1, 3 | Assesses innovation level, warns if just engineering |
| scope-control | Anytime scope expands | Forces scope reduction when contributions > 2 or story splits |
| pivot-or-kill | 3 consecutive failures | Presents pivot/downgrade/kill options to user |
| venue-alignment | Every gate | Checks progress matches venue requirements |
## Critical Enforcement Rules
These rules are NON-NEGOTIABLE:
**— Core Workflow —**
1. **ONE PHASE PER TURN**: Complete one phase, present deliverables, STOP, wait for user approval. Never chain phases.
2. **NO PHASE IS OPTIONAL**: All phases (0–6) required for all research types. Phase 2 required for Type D. Phase 5 multi-agent discussion required.
3. **Explicit user confirmation for paper writing**: User must say "ready for paper" — do NOT auto-proceed.
4. **Phase 4a exploratory stage is mandatory**: Before full-scale execution, run the core pipeline once. Present findings and let the user decide: proceed, locally adjust, focused re-discussion, or return to Phase 2/3.
5. **Non-linear iteration**: Phase 4a findings often lead to local adjustments, not full phase resets. Return to Phase 2/3 is available but reserved for fundamental problems.
6. **Phase 2 escalation mechanism**: If agents can't converge after 3+ rounds, present user with options: return to Phase 1, try new formulation, proceed as-is, or pause.
7. **Known-answer questions**: If user's question has a well-established answer, tell them directly and suggest novel alternatives.
**— Multi-Agent Deliberation —**
8. **Multi-agent deliberation in Phase 1, 2, 3, 5, 6**: Phase 1: Visionary + Pragmatic + Scout brainstorm ideas. Phase 2: Professor + Editor + Researcher (Type M/D/H) or Target User + Editor + Software Architect (Type C). Phase 3: Innovation/Technical/Baseline (Type M), Domain/Methodology/Statistics (Type D), or Target User/Competing Tool Expert/Software Quality Advisor (Type C). Phase 5: Story Architect + Devil's Advocate + Audience Specialist. Phase 6: per-section polishing + full-paper review.
9. **Multi-round deliberation**: All multi-agent discussions iterate until ALL agents PASS. Dispatch ALL agents every round. Max 5 rounds. If agents can't converge, present disagreements to user.
10. **Phase 5 designs the story, Phase 6 writes and refines it**: Phase 5 produces an ARGUMENT BLUEPRINT. Phase 6 starts from it but CAN refine and deepen during writing. Phase 6 should NOT start from scratch.
11. **Automated polishing per section in Phase 6**: Write → dispatch 3 agents → synthesize → rewrite → ALL agents re-check (up to 5 rounds) → present POLISHED version. Agents check writing quality AND can suggest content refinements.
12. **Fatal findings block paper writing**: If Devil's Advocate flags "fatal" vulnerability in Phase 5, do NOT proceed to paper writing. Present options to user.
13. **Experiment supplements from discussion**: Missing experiments identified by agents are triaged as REQUIRED / RECOMMENDED / nice-to-have. REQUIRED supplements block paper writing until resolved or waived by user.
**— Execution Discipline —**
14. **Run to completion**: Every method/analysis must execute its full procedure before results are valid. Partial runs are NOT experiments.
15. **Iterate before moving on (Type M)**: Minimum 3 rounds of diagnose-hypothesize-fix-measure before declaring failure.
16. **Performance bar (Type M)**: Method must be competitive with baselines before proceeding to results integration.
17. **Domain sanity check**: Before reporting results, verify they make scientific sense. Debug pipeline before reporting suspicious results.
18. **No deferred questions**: Phase 2 must produce a SPECIFIC research question. "We'll find the real question during analysis" is NOT acceptable.
19. **Data novelty for Type D**: Over-analyzed datasets with standard tools will NOT yield novel findings. Warn user and suggest alternatives.
**— Paper Quality —**
20. **Research paper, NOT course report**: Every paragraph must advance an argument, not describe a procedure. Connect results to scientific meaning, cite prior work, make interpretive claims.
21. **Scientific novelty required**: Results must contain at least one finding a domain expert wouldn't have predicted.
22. **Minimum paper quality**: ≥3 figures, ≥2 tables, ≥20 references, substantive sections (600+ word intro, 500+ word related work, 400+ word discussion).
23. **Hard word count minimums**: If minimum is 600 and section has 560, it FAILS. "Close enough" is NOT acceptable.
24. **Equal polishing for ALL sections**: Every section — including Discussion, Related Work, Abstract, Conclusion — gets the FULL three-agent polishing cycle.
25. **Modular LaTeX**: One `.tex` file per section. Present each polished section individually, wait for feedback.
26. **Figure quality**: Every figure must pass the per-figure checklist. Same method = same color in all figures.
27. **Proactive fidelity**: Every section automatically checks claims against experiment logs before presenting. Interpretation is ENCOURAGED; fabrication is FORBIDDEN.
**— Cross-Cutting —**
28. **Expert persona in Phase 1**: Adopt the persona of a senior professor in the specific field.
29. **On-demand literature search**: Literature retrieval is continuous (Phase 1–6). Search whenever needed, add to `paper-list.md` with phase tag.
30. **Theoretical analysis support (optional)**: If project has theoretical claims, plan in Phase 3, execute proofs in Phase 4, format in Phase 6. Not all papers need theory.
31. **Deep thinking strategies in Phase 1**: After literature review, apply 6 structured thinking strategies (contradiction mining, assumption challenging, cross-domain transfer, limitation-to-opportunity, counterfactual reasoning, trend extrapolation) to generate insights. Do NOT just list gaps from papers — actively think.
32. **Multi-idea generation and brainstorming**: Generate at least 5 candidate ideas as structured cards, then run automated 3-agent brainstorming (Visionary + Pragmatic + Scout, max 5 rounds) to refine and rank. Present top 2-3 to user for selection. The user chooses — agents brainstorm.
## Red Flags
These thoughts mean STOP—you're rationalizing:
| Thought | Reality |
|---------|---------|
| "Let me do the next phase too" | ONE PHASE PER TURN. Stop and wait for user. |
| "Phase 2 isn't needed for this project" | Phase 2 is ALWAYS needed. Type D especially needs adversarial questioning. |
| "The results are done, let me start the paper" | User must say "ready for paper." Ask and wait. |
| "Let me just start coding" | Method design and evaluation protocol come first. |
| "This is a simple analysis" | Simple analyses still need a story line and sufficiency criteria. |
| "I know what metric to use" | Metrics must be discussed, locked, and documented. |
| "Let me run a quick experiment" | No experiments before G2 (plan freeze). |
| "The results look good enough" | Run verification. Show numbers. Evidence before claims. |
| "I'll add more baselines later" | Baselines are locked in G2. Define them now. |
| "This negative result isn't useful" | Negative results ARE results. Record them. |
| "Let me adjust the evaluation" | Metric changes require user authorization. Always. |
| "I remember this skill" | Skills evolve. Read current version. |
## Skill Types
**Rigid** (metric-lock, anti-cherry-pick, verification): Follow exactly. No adaptation.
**Flexible** (exploration, method design): Adapt principles to context and research type.
The skill itself tells you which.
## Research Type Awareness
Every decision must account for the project's research type (from research-anchor.yaml):
- **Type M (Method)**: Performance-driven. Needs baselines, ablations, statistical significance.
- **Type D (Discovery)**: Story-driven. Needs analysis breadth, mechanism exploration, alternative hypothesis exclusion.
- **Type C (Tool)**: Utility-driven. Needs usability, correctness, benchmarks, scalability, comparison to existing tools, case studies, documentation. Evaluated on solving a REAL problem better than alternatives.
- **Type H (Hybrid)**: Dual-track. Needs elements from both M and D.
## User Instructions
User instructions say WHAT, not HOW. "Analyze this data" or "Build a model" doesn't mean skip the research workflow. The workflow tells you HOW.