rebuttal

Workflow 4: Rebuttal

Before each reviewer slot, follow Selectable Reviewers: resolve invocation → .aris/reviewer.json → Claude Code default (Codex MCP) with reviewer_route.py through the canonical helper resolver, preserving this slot's tier, fresh contexts, source/image inputs and deterministic gates. Codex examples/pins below apply only to backend=codex; other routes use their own first-call/reply contract. Save the route and actual returned identity; unavailable selections are REVIEW_UNAVAILABLE. Classify acceptance from actual families/completion/scope. Forward invocation reviewer/model/effort overrides to reviewer-bearing children. Generation workers are unchanged.

Prepare and maintain a grounded, venue-compliant rebuttal for: $ARGUMENTS

Scope

This skill is optimized for:

• text-only rebuttal under strict character/word limits (e.g. ICML single-document)
• per-reviewer thread responses where each reviewer renders independently (e.g. OpenReview-style)
• multiple reviewers with shared and reviewer-specific concerns
• follow-up rounds after the initial rebuttal
• safe drafting with no fabrication, no overpromise, and full issue coverage

This skill does not:

• run new experiments automatically
• generate new theorem claims automatically
• edit or upload a revised PDF
• submit to OpenReview / CMT / HotCRP

If the user already has new results, derivations, or approved commitments, the skill can incorporate them as user-confirmed evidence.

Lifecycle Position

Workflow 1:   idea-discovery
Workflow 1.5: experiment-bridge
Workflow 2:   auto-review-loop (pre-submission)
Workflow 3:   paper-writing
Workflow 4:   rebuttal (post-submission external reviews)

Constants

• VENUE = ICML — Default venue. Override if needed.
• RESPONSE_MODE = TEXT_ONLY — v1 default.
• REVIEWER_MODEL = gpt-6-astra — Default model for the Codex backend. Used for internal stress-testing. Manual backend uses a model the user chooses — it must be a recognized model from a different family (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, DeepSeek, Moonshot/Kimi, Qwen).
• REVIEWER_BACKEND = codex — Default: Codex MCP (xhigh). Override with — reviewer: oracle-pro for Oracle MCP, or — reviewer: manual for Manual Review MCP. If manual-review MCP is unavailable, stop and print the install command; do not fall back to Codex. See shared-references/reviewer-routing.md.
• MAX_INTERNAL_DRAFT_ROUNDS = 2 — draft → lint → revise.
• VENUE_MODE = single_document — single_document for one shared author response, or per_reviewer_thread when each reviewer thread renders independently. Confirm the venue/interface before drafting if unclear. Affects Phase 4/7 output shape.
• STRESS_TEST_ROUNDS_BASE = 1 — One external reviewer critique round on the full response set. Add focused rounds for reviewer_priority: pivotal responses, terminating when the reviewer returns no new substantive issues. Hard cap at 5.
• MAX_FOLLOWUP_ROUNDS = 3 — per reviewer thread.
• AUTO_EXPERIMENT = false — When true, automatically invoke /experiment-bridge to run supplementary experiments when the strategy plan identifies reviewer concerns that require new empirical evidence. When false (default), pause and present the evidence gap to the user for manual handling.
• QUICK_MODE = false — When true, only run Phase 0-3 (parse reviews, atomize concerns, build strategy). Outputs ISSUE_BOARD.md + STRATEGY_PLAN.md and stops — no drafting, no stress test. Useful for quickly understanding what reviewers want before deciding how to respond.
• REBUTTAL_DIR = rebuttal/
• RENDER_HTML = true — When true (default), auto-render rebuttal/REBUTTAL_DRAFT_rich.md (the detailed reviewer-facing draft) to HTML after Phase 6 / Phase 8 finalization. Uses full Codex review gate (final pre-submission deliverable — reviewer-facing content, render fidelity matters). The plain-text PASTE_READY.txt is NOT rendered (it's character-counted plain text by design). Set false to skip, or pass — render html: false.