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name: next description: Assess current project state and suggest the most valuable next action. The primary entry point for users who aren't sure what to do. Analyzes context, checks for issues, and recommends specific skills or actions.

Next Action Assessment

The intelligent dispatcher that knows your full toolkit and recommends the right action at the right time.

When to Use

• Starting a work session
• Feeling stuck or unsure what to do next
• After completing a task
• Want AI to assess project state and priorities

Skill Registry

By Research Phase

Phase	Primary Skills	Supporting Skills
SETUP	-	review-script
PLANNING	hypothesis-generation, literature-review, deep-research	note, task
DEVELOPMENT	review-script, statistical-analysis	note, task
ANALYSIS	exploratory-data-analysis, statistical-analysis, scientific-visualization	note, task
WRITING	write-background, write-methods, write-results, scientific-writing	literature-review
REVIEW	peer-review, review-script	scientific-writing

By Detected Condition

Condition	Recommended Skill	Trigger
New data file in data/	exploratory-data-analysis	Unanalyzed data files detected
Empty background.md	literature-review or write-background	No background content
Empty methods.md	write-methods	Scripts exist but no methods doc
Figures without results text	write-results	Figures in manuscript/figures/ not in results.md
New audio in meetings/	transcribe → summarize-meeting	Audio without transcript
Scripts without docstrings	review-script	Undocumented code
No hypothesis documented	hypothesis-generation	PLANNING phase, no hypothesis in project_telos.md
Data quality issues noted	statistical-analysis	After EDA identifies issues
Ready for figures	scientific-visualization	Analysis complete, no pub-quality figures
Draft complete	peer-review	All manuscript sections have content
Monday detected	plan-week	Start of work week
Friday/End of day	wrap-up	End of work session
Week boundary	weekly-review	7+ days since last weekly review
Month boundary	monthly-review	30+ days since last monthly review

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Execution Steps

1. Load Context (REQUIRED)

Read these files to understand current state:

~/.researchAssistant/researcher_telos.md  (user profile)
.research/project_telos.md                (project state, current phase)
.research/phase_checklist.md              (what's done/remaining)
.research/logs/activity.md                (recent activity)
tasks.md                                  (pending tasks)

Extract:

• Current phase: SETUP | PLANNING | DEVELOPMENT | ANALYSIS | WRITING | REVIEW
• Recent activity: What did they work on last?
• Pending tasks: What's marked as TODO or in-progress?
• Blockers: Any noted blockers or uncertainties?

2. First-Time Setup Check

Check for researcher profile:

IF ~/.researchAssistant/researcher_telos.md does NOT exist:
  - Move ./researcher_telos_template.md to ~/.researchAssistant/researcher_telos.md
  - Ask onboarding questions to populate it
  - Create ~/.researchAssistant/ directory if needed
ELSE:
  - Delete ./researcher_telos_template.md if it still exists
  - Load preferences from existing profile

Check for project setup:

IF .research/project_telos.md is mostly empty (mission not defined):
  - Start project onboarding flow
  - Ask: "What's this project about in 1-2 sentences?"
  - Ask: "Is this part of a larger grant?"
  - Ask: "What's your target output?"

3. Scan for Conditions

Check each condition in order of priority:

Critical (Check First)

• Phase gate violations: e.g., trying DEVELOPMENT with empty background
• First-time setup needed: Profile or project not configured

High Priority

• Uncommitted git changes > 3 days old
• New data files not yet explored (→ exploratory-data-analysis)
• New meeting recordings (→ transcribe)
• High-priority tasks in tasks.md
• Stale activity (>7 days since last log)

Medium Priority

• Scripts without documentation (→ review-script)
• Figures without captions (→ scientific-visualization)
• Weekly review due (→ weekly-review)
• Empty manuscript sections appropriate to current phase

Low Priority

• Monday morning (→ plan-week)
• Orphan files or incomplete sections
• End of day (→ wrap-up)

4. Consider Phase-Appropriate Skills

Based on current phase, identify which skills are most relevant:

PLANNING Phase Priorities:

1. hypothesis-generation - Do you have a clear hypothesis?
2. literature-review / deep-research - Have you surveyed the field?
3. write-background - Can you articulate the problem?

DEVELOPMENT Phase Priorities:

1. review-script - Document as you build
2. statistical-analysis - Plan your analysis approach

ANALYSIS Phase Priorities:

1. exploratory-data-analysis - Understand your data first
2. statistical-analysis - Formal testing
3. scientific-visualization - Publication figures

WRITING Phase Priorities:

1. write-methods - Document what you did
2. write-results - Describe what you found
3. scientific-writing - Polish and format

REVIEW Phase Priorities:

1. peer-review - Self-assessment
2. review-script - Code quality check
3. Final scientific-writing pass

5. Generate Recommendations

Present 2-4 options ranked by value:

## 🎯 Recommended Next Steps

Based on your project state (Phase: ANALYSIS, Last active: 2 days ago):

### A) [High Priority] Explore your new dataset
   I noticed `data/raw/experiment_results.csv` was added recently.
   → Run `/exploratory_data_analysis data/raw/experiment_results.csv`
   
   This will help you:
   - Understand data structure and quality
   - Identify any issues before formal analysis
   - Generate summary statistics

### B) [Medium Priority] Document your preprocessing script
   `scripts/preprocess.py` lacks docstrings.
   → Run `/review_script scripts/preprocess.py`
   
   Good documentation now saves time during methods writing.

### C) [Routine] Weekly review
   Last weekly review was 8 days ago.
   → Run `/weekly_review`

### D) [Continue] Resume from last session
   You were working on: "correlation analysis for Figure 2"
   → Continue where you left off

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**Quick actions:** `/note` | `/task` | `/wrap_up`

What would you like to focus on?

Priority indicators:

• 🔴 Critical - Blocking progress
• 🟡 High priority - Should do soon
• 🔵 Recommended - Good practice
• ⚪ Optional - Nice to have

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Skill Quick Reference

For user awareness, here's the full toolkit organized by purpose:

📊 Data & Analysis

Skill	Command	Use When
Exploratory Data Analysis	/exploratory_data_analysis [file]	First look at any dataset
Statistical Analysis	/statistical_analysis	Formal hypothesis testing
Scientific Visualization	/scientific_visualization	Publication-quality figures

📚 Literature & Research

Skill	Command	Use When
Literature Review	/literature_review [topic]	Systematic literature search
Deep Research	/deep_research [topic]	Quick literature lookup
Hypothesis Generation	/hypothesis_generation	Formulating research questions

✍️ Writing & Documentation

Skill	Command	Use When
Write Background	/write_background	Draft introduction/background
Write Methods	/write_methods	Document methodology
Write Results	/write_results	Describe findings
Scientific Writing	/scientific_writing	Polish any section

🔍 Review & Quality

Skill	Command	Use When
Peer Review	/peer_review	Self-assess before submission
Review Script	/review_script [path]	Code quality check

📅 Planning & Tracking

Skill	Command	Use When
Plan Week	/plan_week	Monday planning session
Weekly Review	/weekly_review	End of week reflection
Monthly Review	/monthly_review	Monthly alignment check
Quarterly Review	/quarterly_review	Research mission review
Wrap Up	/wrap_up	End of work session

⚡ Quick Capture

Skill	Command	Use When
Note	/note [text]	Quick thought capture
Task	/task [text]	Add a todo item
Transcribe	/transcribe [file]	Convert audio to text
Summarize Meeting	/summarize_meeting [file]	Extract action items

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Example Outputs by Phase

PLANNING Phase /next

You're in the PLANNING phase. Key priorities:

A) 🟡 Generate your hypothesis
   Your project_telos.md has aims but no formal hypothesis.
   → Run `/hypothesis_generation`
   
B) 🟡 Literature review on [detected topic]
   Background.md is empty. Let's build your foundation.
   → Run `/literature_review [topic]`

C) ⚪ Quick win - capture your current thinking
   → Run `/note` to log where your head is at

ANALYSIS Phase /next

You're in the ANALYSIS phase with new data. Priorities:

A) 🔴 Explore experiment_results.csv
   New data file detected - understand it before analyzing.
   → Run `/exploratory_data_analysis data/raw/experiment_results.csv`

B) 🟡 After EDA: Statistical analysis
   Once you understand the data, run formal tests.
   → Run `/statistical_analysis`

C) 🔵 Parallel: Document your analysis scripts
   preprocess.py and analyze.py need docstrings.
   → Run `/review_script scripts/preprocess.py`

WRITING Phase /next

You're in the WRITING phase. Current status:
- ✅ Background: Draft complete
- ⚠️ Methods: Partially written
- ❌ Results: Empty (but you have 3 figures!)

A) 🔴 Write your results section
   You have figures ready but no results text.
   → Run `/write_results`

B) 🟡 Complete methods documentation
   → Run `/write_methods`

C) 🔵 Scientific writing review
   → Run `/scientific_writing` on completed sections

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Response Format

Always structure /next responses as:

1. Context summary (1-2 lines: phase, last activity, any alerts)
2. Prioritized options (A/B/C/D format with clear commands)
3. Quick actions footer (remind of /note, /task, /wrap_up)
4. Invitation to choose or explain their own priority

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Notes

• Always be encouraging, never judgmental
• If user seems stuck, offer to break down the next step
• Remember: user may not know what commands exist - suggest them explicitly
• Update activity.md after significant interactions