Nsf Proposal Guardrail

NSF Proposal Guardrail

Overview

Use this skill as the single entry point for NSF proposal compliance work inside one proposal repository.

This skill is NSF-first. If the user provides another sponsor's governing call text, FAQ, or related requirements under <proposal-dir>/context/solicitation/, you can still use the same ingest and QA workflow, but treat the supplied call materials as authoritative over generic NSF expectations.

The skill has three operating modes:

1. ingest: parse the solicitation and build a requirements baseline
2. qa: answer "is this required?" during drafting
3. preflight: check what is missing or risky before submission

Keep the raw solicitation inputs in <proposal-dir>/context/solicitation/ and write durable guardrail artifacts under <proposal-dir>/guardrail/. Reserve <proposal-dir>/out/ for temporary build or compile outputs.

In a multi-proposal repo, use <proposal-dir> to mean one concrete proposal workspace such as proposals/nsf-25-533-fairos.

Repository Convention

For one proposal workspace, prefer this layout:

<proposal-dir>/
  context/
    solicitation/
      solicitation.pdf
      solicitation.txt
      faq.txt
      pappg-excerpt.txt
    team/
    notes/
  guardrail/
  solicitation-requirements.json
  solicitation-qc.md
  solicitation-from-pdf.txt
  solicitation-source-check.json
  solicitation-source-check.md

Only <proposal-dir>/context/solicitation/solicitation.txt is required for parsing. Keep <proposal-dir>/context/solicitation/solicitation.pdf nearby for manual verification of tables, footnotes, or formatting details that raw text may flatten.

Mode 1: ingest

Use this mode when:

• a proposal starts
• the solicitation changes
• you need a fresh compliance baseline

When both PDF and text are available, start with a source cross-check:

python skills\nsf-proposal-guardrail\scripts\verify_solicitation_sources.py --pdf proposals\nsf-25-533-fairos\context\solicitation\solicitation.pdf --txt proposals\nsf-25-533-fairos\context\solicitation\solicitation.txt --pdf-text-output proposals\nsf-25-533-fairos\guardrail\solicitation-from-pdf.txt --report-json proposals\nsf-25-533-fairos\guardrail\solicitation-source-check.json --report-md proposals\nsf-25-533-fairos\guardrail\solicitation-source-check.md

This step does three things:

1. extracts machine text from the PDF
2. checks high-value signals in both sources
3. surfaces TXT-only and PDF-only candidates for manual review

Then run the parser:

python skills\nsf-proposal-guardrail\scripts\parse_solicitation_text.py --input proposals\nsf-25-533-fairos\context\solicitation\solicitation.txt --output proposals\nsf-25-533-fairos\guardrail\solicitation-requirements.json

If there are supporting sources:

python skills\nsf-proposal-guardrail\scripts\parse_solicitation_text.py --input proposals\nsf-25-533-fairos\context\solicitation\solicitation.txt --input proposals\nsf-25-533-fairos\context\solicitation\faq.txt --input proposals\nsf-25-533-fairos\context\solicitation\pappg-excerpt.txt --output proposals\nsf-25-533-fairos\guardrail\solicitation-requirements.json

Then render the checklist:

python skills\nsf-proposal-guardrail\scripts\render_qc_checklist.py --requirements proposals\nsf-25-533-fairos\guardrail\solicitation-requirements.json --proposal-dir proposals\nsf-25-533-fairos --output proposals\nsf-25-533-fairos\guardrail\solicitation-qc.md

The parser is heuristic. Treat the generated JSON and markdown as candidate baselines, not final truth.

Open references/output-schema.md if you need field meanings. Open references/verification-rules.md when resolving ambiguity.

Mode 2: qa

Use this mode when the user asks questions such as:

• "Do we need X?"
• "Is this section required or optional?"
• "Where should this content go in the template?"
• "Is this a must-have, conditional item, or just a recommendation?"

Workflow:

1. Read <proposal-dir>/guardrail/solicitation-requirements.json and <proposal-dir>/guardrail/solicitation-qc.md if they exist.
2. If they are missing or stale relative to the current solicitation, run ingest first.
3. Answer with this exact shape:
   • verdict: required, conditional, not required, or unclear
   • evidence: short cited excerpt
   • location: where it belongs in the current proposal repository
   • status: whether the repository appears to already contain it

When mapping to the proposal repository, use references/template-mapping.md.

Mode 3: preflight

Use this mode immediately before submission or whenever the user asks:

• "What is still missing?"
• "What do we still need before submission?"
• "What is noncompliant?"
• "What should I double-check?"

Workflow:

1. Ensure ingest has been run on the current solicitation.
2. Compare the requirements artifacts against the repository contents.
3. Run a personnel consistency pass when the repository contains multiple investigator-owned sections:

python skills\nsf-proposal-guardrail\scripts\check_personnel_consistency.py --proposal-dir proposals\nsf-25-533-fairos --output-json proposals\nsf-25-533-fairos\guardrail\personnel-consistency.json --output-md proposals\nsf-25-533-fairos\guardrail\personnel-consistency.md

4. Run a heading-style consistency pass for \section{}, \subsection{}, and \subsubsection{} titles:

python skills\nsf-proposal-guardrail\scripts\check_heading_case.py --proposal-dir proposals\nsf-25-533-fairos --output-json proposals\nsf-25-533-fairos\guardrail\heading-case.json --output-md proposals\nsf-25-533-fairos\guardrail\heading-case.md

5. Include any PI/co-PI role, roster, or heading-style mismatches in the findings.
6. Also treat missing cleaned investigator profiles under <proposal-dir>/context/team/<person>/profile.md as a preflight gap, because those files are the preferred drafting-time source for team qualification. For the PI, a profile under template/context/team/<person>/profile.md satisfies this check as a fallback — the PI's general profile is maintained at the template level and shared across proposals.
7. Run a letter-type compliance check:
   • Letters of collaboration are permitted under PAPPG for substantial unfunded collaborations unless the solicitation says otherwise. Letters of support are submitted only when a solicitation explicitly requires them.
   • Flag any letters of support when the solicitation does not explicitly request them (PAPPG 24-1: unsolicited letters of support may cause return without review).
   • Flag any collaboration letter that contains endorsements or evaluative language beyond the PAPPG single-sentence template.
   • Flag any substantial unfunded collaborator mentioned in the Project Description or Facilities section who lacks a corresponding letter. Budgeted collaborators (subawards, consultants) and non-person resource mentions do not require a letter unless the solicitation says otherwise.
   • See references/template-mapping.md for the full collaboration-vs-support distinction and template locations.
8. Report findings in descending priority:
   • missing required items
   • present but likely noncompliant items
   • unresolved conditional items
   • recommended but non-blocking follow-ups

Treat preflight as a guardrail, not as a legal assertion. Surface ambiguity instead of pretending certainty.

Answering Rules

• Prefer the solicitation text over informal summaries.
• Use PAPPG text only when the solicitation explicitly defers to it or when the user provides it as governing context.
• Keep required, conditional, and prohibited separate.
• Cite the source file and a short excerpt for non-obvious answers.
• Do not infer that a standard NSF section is required unless the solicitation or governing PAPPG material supports that conclusion.
• Do not silently discard low-confidence items; mark them for review.

Bundled Resources

scripts/parse_solicitation_text.py

Parse one or more raw text files and emit a structured JSON file with requirement candidates and supporting evidence.

scripts/verify_solicitation_sources.py

Extract PDF text and compare it against <proposal-dir>/context/solicitation/solicitation.txt before drafting-time use.

scripts/render_qc_checklist.py

Render the parsed JSON into a markdown checklist and optionally map common NSF sections to files in the current workspace.

scripts/check_personnel_consistency.py

Compare 30-collaborators.tex against the active proposal .tex files and flag PI/co-PI role mismatches, unknown personnel mentions, missing institution mentions in 03-team-qualification.tex, and missing cleaned team profiles under context/team/.

scripts/check_heading_case.py

Check whether sectioning commands in proposal .tex files follow the repo's Title Case heading convention.

references/output-schema.md

Describe the JSON shape used by both qa and preflight.

references/verification-rules.md

Define source precedence, ambiguity-handling rules, and what to leave unresolved.

references/template-mapping.md

Map common NSF proposal components onto the repository layout.