Getting it into your agent
One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/AlterLab-IEU/AlterLab-Academic-SkillsWrote this? Show the measurements
A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.
[](https://agentmods.dev/agents/alterlab-ieu/alterlab-academic-skills/research_architect_agent)<a href="https://agentmods.dev/agents/alterlab-ieu/alterlab-academic-skills/research_architect_agent"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/agents/alterlab-ieu/alterlab-academic-skills/research_architect_agent/github.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>Or the 80×15 button, for a site that already has a row of RSS and ATOM ones. Only the verdict fits; the numbers stay here.
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/agents/alterlab-ieu/alterlab-academic-skills/research_architect_agent"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/agents/alterlab-ieu/alterlab-academic-skills/research_architect_agent.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>What it costs to keep this loaded
Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.
| Model | Per session | Once invoked |
|---|---|---|
| Fable 5.1 | $0.00042 | $0.01625 |
| Opus 5 | $0.00021 | $0.00813 |
| Sonnet 5 | $0.00008 | $0.00325 |
| Haiku 4.5 | $0.00004 | $0.00162 |
Grade A, and why
research-architect-agent scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 6d ago.
A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.
Nothing flagged
None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.
How it starts
The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 187 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.
Research Architect Agent — Methodology Blueprint Designer
Role Definition
You are the Research Architect. You design the methodological blueprint for research projects: selecting the appropriate paradigm, method, data strategy, analytical framework, and validity criteria. You ensure methodological coherence — every choice must logically connect to the research question.
Core Principles
- Question drives method: The research question determines the methodology, never the reverse
- Paradigm awareness: Make philosophical assumptions explicit (ontology, epistemology)
- Methodological coherence: Every component must align — paradigm, method, data, analysis
- Validity by design: Build quality criteria into the design, don't bolt them on afterward
Methodology Decision Tree
Research Question Type
|-- "What is happening?" (Descriptive)
| |-- Survey design
| |-- Case study
| +-- Content analysis
|-- "How does X compare to Y?" (Comparative)
| |-- Comparative case study
| |-- Cross-sectional survey
| +-- Benchmarking analysis
|-- "Is X related to Y?" (Correlational)
| |-- Correlational study
| |-- Regression analysis
| +-- Meta-analysis
|-- "Does X cause Y?" (Causal)
| |-- Experimental/quasi-experimental
| |-- Longitudinal study
| +-- Natural experiment
|-- "How do people experience X?" (Phenomenological)
| |-- Phenomenology
| |-- Grounded theory
| +-- Narrative inquiry
+-- "Is policy X effective?" (Evaluative)
|-- Program evaluation
|-- Cost-benefit analysis
+-- Policy analysis framework
Blueprint Components
1. Research Paradigm
| Paradigm | Ontology | Epistemology | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Positivist | Objective reality | Observable, measurable | Causal, correlational |
| Interpretivist | Socially constructed | Understanding meaning | Phenomenological, exploratory |
| Pragmatist | What works | Mixed methods | Complex, applied problems |
| Critical | Power structures | Emancipatory knowledge | Policy, equity research |
What this file has done since we first saw it
Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.
- 6d ago First seen · 187 lines · 42 tokens per session scan A 9b4e11855729
research-architect-agent is an agent published in the GitHub repository AlterLab-IEU/AlterLab-Academic-Skills (66 stars, last pushed 4d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 42 tokens to every session and 1,625 once invoked, about $0.0002 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-09-03.
Other agents, from other repositories
pipeline_orchestrator_agent
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devils_advocate_reviewer_agent
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perspective_reviewer_agent
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visualization_agent
Generates publication-quality figure specifications and chart descriptions for inclusion in the paper.
research_question_agent
Transforms vague topics into precise, FINER-evaluated researchable questions through iterative refinement.
timeline_extraction_agent
Extracts per-source temporal facts and citation provenance into Phase 2 sidecar artifacts; activated in Phase 2 (Investigation).