prioritize-reference-files

Prioritize Reference Files

Purpose

This skill ensures that when reference files are provided in task context, you MUST read and extract data from them FIRST before attempting web searches or generating synthetic data. Ignoring available structured data leads to fabricated outputs and incorrect results.

Core Principle

Reference files in context > Web search > Data fabrication (never)

Workflow

Step 1: Scan Task Context for Reference Files

Before taking any action, identify all files provided in the task context:

• Look for file attachments, uploads, or references in the task description
• Common formats: .xlsx, .csv, .json, .pdf, .docx, .txt
• Check for phrases like "attached", "provided", "reference file", "see file"

Step 2: Read Reference Files First

Use the appropriate tool to read each reference file:

# For Excel files
read_file(filetype="xlsx", file_path="path/to/file.xlsx")

# For CSV files  
read_file(filetype="csv", file_path="path/to/file.csv")

# For PDF files
read_file(filetype="pdf", file_path="path/to/file.pdf")

# For JSON files
read_file(filetype="json", file_path="path/to/file.json")

# For text files
read_file(filetype="txt", file_path="path/to/file.txt")

If read_file fails on .docx files (returns error, empty content, or 'unknown error'):

Fallback Approach 1: Direct zipfile/XML extraction via run_shell

# .docx files are ZIP archives containing XML; extract document.xml directly
unzip -p path/to/file.docx word/document.xml | grep -oP '(?<=<w:t>)[^<]+' | tr '\n' ' '

Or for more complete extraction:

mkdir -p /tmp/docx_extract && cd /tmp/docx_extract && unzip path/to/file.docx && cat word/document.xml

Fallback Approach 2: Use shell_agent for complex extraction If direct extraction fails, delegate to shell_agent:

shell_agent(task="Extract text content from path/to/file.docx using zipfile and XML parsing")

The agent will attempt multiple extraction methods and report results.