Paper Reader Heilmeier
Turn an uploaded PDF, arXiv link, or pasted paper into a structured Heilmeier critique you can cite when deciding whether a technique belongs in your product or agent stack.
Overview
paper-reader-heilmeier is an agent skill most often used in Idea (also Validate, Build) that reads academic papers and produces an eight-question Heilmeier analysis combining summary and structured critique.
Install
npx skills add https://github.com/RealZYZhang/paper-reader-heilmeier --skill SKILL.mdWhat is this skill?
- Runs eight fixed Heilmeier questions with a mandatory self-contained sentence per answer
- Splits every response into merits and risks so summary and critique stay in one pass
- Accepts PDF uploads, arXiv IDs or URLs, DOIs, or pasted full text without requiring the user to say Heilmeier
- Triggers on casual asks such as read this, summarize, review, or analyze for academic papers only
- Explicitly excludes blog posts, news, and non-academic articles to avoid misapplied templates
- 8 fixed Heilmeier questions per paper
- Two-part answer structure (merits and risks) for every question
Adoption & trust: 63 GitHub stars.
What problem does it solve?
You have a dense PDF or arXiv preprint and only a vague takeaway, so you cannot quickly judge whether the work is credible enough to influence your build or positioning.
Who is it for?
Solo builders evaluating ML, systems, or agent research papers via PDF, arXiv, or DOI when they want consistent critique—not a casual blurb.
Skip if: Blog posts, news, marketing pages, or any non-academic source—the skill should not run on those even if the user says summarize.
When should I use this skill?
User shares a research paper (PDF, arXiv link or ID, DOI, or pasted paper text) and asks to read, summarize, analyze, review, critique, or produce a Heilmeier-style analysis—or drops a paper with little explanation.
What do I get? / Deliverables
You get one structured Heilmeier document with eight balanced question-answers you can reuse in notes, specs, or go/no-go discussions before deeper prototyping.
- Single structured Heilmeier analysis covering all eight questions
- Per-question one-sentence answers with explicit merits and risks
Recommended Skills
Journey fit
Spans multiple journey phases - primary shelf plus alternate fits below.
Paper digestion is most common before you commit to an approach—when you are still exploring what is possible and credible in the literature. The research subphase is where solo builders compare papers, methods, and claims; this skill standardizes that step into one reusable output format.
Where it fits
Compare three agent-memory papers with the same eight questions before picking a vector-store design.
Stress-test whether a cited benchmark paper actually supports your MVP latency claims before you write the spec.
Produce a Heilmeier brief on the paper your README cites so future you remembers limitations of the chosen method.
Read a tool-use or RLHF paper before wiring a new agent pattern into your Codex or Cursor workflow.
How it compares
Use instead of one-paragraph chat summaries when you need comparable critique across many papers in the same eight-question frame.
Common Questions / FAQ
Who is paper-reader-heilmeier for?
Solo and indie builders using coding agents who ingest academic papers while researching ideas, validating technical bets, or reading prior art during implementation.
When should I use paper-reader-heilmeier?
In Idea research when comparing methods; in Validate scope when a paper backs or undermines your approach; in Build docs or agent-tooling when you need a structured read of a cited preprint before changing your stack.
Is paper-reader-heilmeier safe to install?
Treat it like any third-party skill: review the Security Audits panel on this Prism page and only point it at papers you are comfortable processing in your agent environment.
SKILL.md
READMESKILL.md - Paper Reader Heilmeier
Read a research paper end to end and produce a single Heilmeier-style analysis that doubles as both summary and critique. Use this skill whenever the user shares a research paper (PDF upload, arXiv link, arXiv ID, DOI, or pasted paper text) and asks anything that resembles "read this", "summarize this paper", "what does this paper do", "analyze this paper", "give me a Heilmeier analysis", "review this paper", or simply drops a paper into the chat with little explanation. Trigger this skill even when the user does not explicitly say "Heilmeier" — any request to digest, summarize, review, or critically assess an academic paper should activate it. Do NOT use this skill for non-academic articles, blog posts, or news. # paper-reader-heilmeier { "name": "paper-reader-heilmeier", "description": "Read a research paper end to end and produce a single Heilmeier-style analysis that doubles as both summary and critique. Use this skill whenever the user shares a research paper (PDF upload, arXiv link, arXiv ID, DOI, or pasted paper text) and asks anything that resembles \"read this\", \"summarize this paper\", \"what does this paper do\", \"analyze this paper\", \"give me a Heilmeier analysis\", \"review this paper\", or simply drops a paper into the chat with little explanation. Trigger this skill even when the user does not explicitly say \"Heilmeier\" — any request to digest, summarize, review, or critically assess an academic paper should activate it. Do NOT use this skill for non-academic articles, blog posts, or news." }