literature-review agent skill by K-Dense-AI

At a glance

Before you install

Read from the skill's files at the directory's October 22, 2026 snapshot: what ships with it, what its code reads, and the terms it is published under.

• Bundled scripts: 5 script files (5 Python). Your agent may run them, so read them first.
• Commands in SKILL.md: its code blocks run brew install, which fetches or runs software from outside the skill folder.
• Environment variables its scripts read: OPENROUTER_API_KEY. Check SKILL.md for which ones it needs.
• Credential names SKILL.md mentions: PARALLEL_API_KEY.
• Network: its scripts use an HTTP client or a cloud SDK, and name doi.org, api.crossref.org and openrouter.ai.
• Tool permissions requested: Read Write Edit Bash (the allowed-tools field of SKILL.md).
• License: MIT, an open-source or open-content license.

Install literature-review

The skills CLI works with Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and other agents; the other routes copy the folder by hand.

npx skills add https://github.com/K-Dense-AI/claude-scientific-skills/tree/main/skills/literature-review

tmp="$(mktemp -d)"
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/K-Dense-AI/claude-scientific-skills.git "$tmp/repo"
mkdir -p .claude/skills
cp -R "$tmp/repo/"skills/literature-review .claude/skills/
rm -rf "$tmp"

tmp="$(mktemp -d)"
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/K-Dense-AI/claude-scientific-skills.git "$tmp/repo"
mkdir -p .agents/skills
cp -R "$tmp/repo/"skills/literature-review .agents/skills/
rm -rf "$tmp"

For a user-level install, copy the folder to ~/.claude/skills/ (Claude Code) or ~/.agents/skills/ (Codex). Inside Codex, $skill-installer can also fetch a skill from GitHub. New to skills? Read How to install agent skills in Claude Code, Codex and Cursor.

K-Dense-AI/claude-scientific-skills is third-party code. Read SKILL.md and any bundled scripts before you install it.

How the author describes it

Conducts systematic, scoping, and narrative literature reviews using PubMed, arXiv, bioRxiv, Semantic Scholar, and other appropriate sources. Use for research synthesis, reproducible literature searches, screening, citation checking, or preparing Markdown and PDF reviews. Tracks search coverage, records versus studies, and evidence limitations; supports meta-analysis planning but does not supply a meta-analysis engine.

From the description field of SKILL.md. Agents read this line to decide when to load the skill.

Compatibility, from SKILL.md

Sections in SKILL.md

• Overview
• When to Use This Skill
• Figures and PRISMA reporting
• Core Workflow
• Best Practices
• Search Strategy
• Records, Reports, and Studies
• Screening and Selection
• Synthesis
• Quality and Reproducibility
• Writing
• Common Pitfalls to Avoid
• Integration with Other Skills
• Resources
• Bundled Resources
• External Resources

Files in the skill folder

• SKILL.md
• assets/review_template.md
• references/citation_styles.md
• references/core_workflow.md
• references/database_strategies.md
• references/example_workflow.md
• references/search_and_citation.md
• scripts/generate_pdf.py
• scripts/generate_schematic.py
• scripts/generate_schematic_ai.py
• scripts/search_databases.py
• scripts/verify_citations.py

Suede Skill Check: 89/100 · B

literature-review passes the required frontmatter check and all seven graded checks, which cover the SKILL.md format, a declared license and a commit in the last year. Those checks earn 56 of the score’s points; the rest come from description quality, instruction depth, bundled files, maintenance and curated-list citations. How the score works.

Where this skill is cited

K-Dense-AI/claude-scientific-skills appears in 2 curated lists: BehiSecc/awesome-claude-skills, travisvn/awesome-claude-skills.

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