feynman/skills/research/reading-list/SKILL.md

name, description

name	description
reading-list	Use this when the user wants a curated reading sequence, paper shortlist, or tiered set of papers for learning or project onboarding.

Reading List

When To Use

Use this skill for:

• getting up to speed on a topic
• onboarding into a research area
• choosing which papers to read first
• constructing a project-specific reading order

Procedure

1. Start with source discovery that matches the topic.
2. For academic topics, use alpha_search in all mode.
3. For current, product-oriented, or market-facing topics, use web_search and fetch_content first, then use alpha_search for background literature if needed.
4. Inspect the strongest candidates directly before recommending them.
5. Use alpha_ask_paper for fit questions like:
   • what problem does this really solve
   • what assumptions does it rely on
   • what prior work does it build on
6. Classify papers or sources into roles:
   • foundational
   • key recent advances
   • evaluation or benchmark references
   • critiques or limitations
   • likely replication targets
7. Order the list intentionally:
   • start with orientation
   • move to strongest methods
   • finish with edges, critiques, or adjacent work
8. Write the final list as a durable markdown artifact in outputs/.
9. For every source, include a direct URL.

Pitfalls

• Do not sort purely by citations.
• Do not over-index on recency when fundamentals matter.
• Do not include papers you have not inspected at all.
• Do not force everything into papers when the user actually needs current docs, products, or market sources.

Deliverable

For each paper include:

• title
• year
• why it matters
• when to read it in the sequence
• one caveat or limitation