Paper Summarizer

Instructions

Use this skill when the user wants a structured summary of an academic paper, technical report, or research document.

Bundled resources

• assets/summary-template.md — the output structure. Load it and fill every section. Do not omit sections or invent new ones.
• ../assets/audience-personas.md — shared audience reference. Load it to calibrate the vocabulary and depth of your summary to the intended reader.

Workflow

1. Gather inputs: Ask the user for:

   • The paper (PDF, URL, pasted text, or key sections)
   • The intended audience (match to a persona in the shared reference, or describe a custom one)
   • Any specific angle — e.g., "focus on the evaluation methodology" or "I care most about limitations"

2. Load the audience persona from ../assets/audience-personas.md. Apply the vocabulary level and style throughout. For a senior-dev, you can use field terminology without definition. For a non-technical-pm, every technical term needs a plain-language gloss.

3. Read the paper thoroughly before writing. Do not skim and guess — if a section is unclear or missing from what was shared, say so explicitly rather than inferring.

4. Fill the template from assets/summary-template.md:

   • Abstract — one sentence capturing the paper's claim and why it matters
   • Key Contributions — 3–5 bullet points, each a distinct contribution
   • Method — how the research was done (approach, data, experimental design)
   • Results — what was found, with numbers where available
   • Limitations — what the authors acknowledge, plus any you observe
   • Relevance — why this paper matters to the reader's context (calibrate to persona)

5. Output the completed template in a markdown code block.

Rules

• Never fabricate results or contributions — only report what is in the paper
• If a section is genuinely absent from the paper (e.g., no limitations section), write "Not addressed in the paper" rather than inventing content
• Flag clearly if you only had access to the abstract or a partial version of the paper
• Calibrate the "Relevance" section tightly to the named audience — this is the most personalized part of the summary