paper-search

Paper Search Skill

Unified paper search across arXiv, DBLP, OpenAlex, OpenReview (NeurIPS / ICLR / ICML), Semantic Scholar, and Crossref using ./scripts/search_papers.py. All sources are searched concurrently (in independent child processes) by default for maximum speed. Queries within one source remain serial. Returns results grouped by source.

When to use

Trigger this skill when the user asks things like:

• "Find papers on X published between 2023 and 2025."
• "Search NeurIPS / ICLR / ICML for work on X."
• "Get arXiv + Semantic Scholar results for X."
• "Show me recent prior art on X."

Inputs (all auto-inferred — NEVER ask the user for confirmation or clarification)

Derive these automatically from the user's message. Run the search immediately without asking for confirmation:

• query: Rephrase the user's question into a focused search phrase.
• start_year (int): If the user gives a year, use it directly. If they say "last 2 years", compute from today. Default: 2 years ago.
• end_year (int): Default: current year.
• max_papers (int): Number of results per source. Default: 10.
• sources: Which sources to query. Default: all 6 API sources plus the model-knowledge source, in this canonical order (highest-signal first, so the best results render before the user scrolls): semantic_scholar open_alex arxiv openreview crossref dblp model_knowledge. Only restrict sources if the user explicitly asks.

How to run

Preferred: call the CLI directly. The script lives at ${CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR}/skills/paper_search/scripts/search_papers.py — invoke it by absolute path so the command works regardless of the current working directory (relying on cd scripts && ... breaks when the model is running from a different folder, which happens often).

For brevity in the examples below, treat $SEARCH as shorthand for that absolute path:

SEARCH="${CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR}/skills/paper_search/scripts/search_papers.py"