scoop-check

Scoop Check

Systematically verify whether a proposed research novelty overlaps with existing literature. The goal is to either (a) surface prior work that already covers the claim, or (b) produce a crisp, defensible "delta" statement that distinguishes the proposed contribution.

Inputs

This skill requires exactly two inputs from the user:

1. Research problem — the specific issue, challenge, or gap in knowledge being addressed.
2. Novelty — the specific claimed contribution (new method, theorem, dataset, framing, or insight) that distinguishes this work from prior art.

If either input is missing, vague, or conflated (e.g., the "novelty" merely restates the problem), infer the most reasonable interpretation and proceed immediately. Do not use AskUserQuestion or pause for confirmation at any point — always proceed directly through every step.

Procedure

Execute the steps below in order. At the start of the procedure, use TaskCreate to register all seven steps as tasks up front, then mark each as in_progress when you begin it and completed when you finish. The procedure is long enough that progress tracking is always worth the small overhead — without it, it's easy to skip a step (especially the per-step logging in the Important Notes) or lose track of which candidates still need a deep dive.

Step 1 — Decompose the Novelty

Break the claimed Novelty into four atomic axes, presented as a labeled list:

• Problem framing — Task definition, inputs, outputs, and evaluation regime.
• Core mechanism — The technical contribution — architecture, algorithm, proof technique, or data construction.
• Key insight — What makes it work; what prior state-of-the-art lacked.
• Application domain — Where it applies and how broadly.

Step 2 — Search and Deduplicate

Read the Research problem and craft three complementary search queries:

• Query 1 — Original-Problem: restate the original research problem. Example: score-based generative model fast inference
• Query 2 — Broad-Domain: the high-level area, ~3–5 words. Example: diffusion model sampling efficiency
• Query 3 — Method-Signature: the specific technical move, ~5–8 words. Example: consistency model knowledge distillation