grant-proposal-assistant — Claude Code skill: grant proposal review
Guides writing and review of NIH R01/R21/K, NSF and foundation grant proposals by reading them the way a reviewer would.
npx skills add lyndonkl/claude --skill grant-proposal-assistant -a claude-codeWhat grant-proposal-assistant does
The skill walks a proposal through eight steps: pin down the mechanism and its constraints, audit the four core questions, review the one-page Specific Aims, then the Significance, Innovation and Approach sections, check alignment with a reviewer's view, and verify compliance. Each section has its own framework. The Aims page follows a fixed shape: hook, gap, hypothesis, aims, impact. In Approach, every aim gets a rationale, a strategy, expected outcomes, pitfalls and alternatives.
The guiding idea is to read the proposal as a non-expert reviewer would. So the skill checks whether significance lands without deep domain knowledge and whether impact statements are prominent. It also flags weak spots: an unclear hypothesis, a missing gap statement, vague claims about what changes if the work succeeds.
Supporting files live in resources/methodology.md, resources/template.md and the scoring rubric resources/evaluators/rubric_grant_proposal.json. The rubric sets a minimum average score of 3.5. This is not the skill for manuscripts, fellowship personal statements or recommendation letters — those have their own entries in the set. Check page limits early, because they differ by mechanism: R01 runs 12 pages, R21 only 6, and K is 12 pages plus a career development component.
What it helps with
- turn a vague study plan into a testable, falsifiable hypothesis
- state the knowledge gap and why it matters now
- draft the Specific Aims page from hook through impact
- replace generic claims in the Innovation section with specifics
- break each aim into rationale, strategy, pitfalls and alternatives
Example prompts for the agent
- Audit my R01 proposal against the four core questions and flag where the hypothesis is vague
- Review my Specific Aims page: is the hook, gap and impact clear enough?
- Read the Approach section as a reviewer and point out where alternatives are missing
How to install grant-proposal-assistant
1Skills CLI (Vercel)
npx skills add lyndonkl/claude --skill grant-proposal-assistant -a claude-code2Manually: put the files in place
~/.claude/skills/grant-proposal-assistant/SKILL.mdCopy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/grant-proposal-assistant/
1Skills CLI (Vercel)
npx skills add lyndonkl/claude --skill grant-proposal-assistant -a codex2Manually: put the files in place
.agents/skills/grant-proposal-assistant/SKILL.mdFor all projects use ~/.agents/skills/
1Skills CLI (Vercel)
npx skills add lyndonkl/claude --skill grant-proposal-assistant -a cursor2Manually: put the files in place
.cursor/skills/grant-proposal-assistant/SKILL.mdCursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/
1GitHub CLI
gh skill install lyndonkl/claude grant-proposal-assistant2Manually: put the files in place
.github/skills/grant-proposal-assistant/SKILL.md1Skills CLI (Vercel)
npx skills add lyndonkl/claude --skill grant-proposal-assistant -a gemini-cli2Platform CLI
gemini skills install https://github.com/lyndonkl/claude --path skills/grant-proposal-assistantManually: put the files in place
.devin/skills/grant-proposal-assistant/SKILL.mdThe legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works
Skills CLI (Vercel)
npx skills add lyndonkl/claude --skill grant-proposal-assistant -a opencodeClaude.ai
Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills
Step by step, with commands for each platform: How to install skills in Claude Code: five ways
Questions about grant-proposal-assistant
How do I install grant-proposal-assistant in Claude?
Run npx skills add lyndonkl/claude --skill grant-proposal-assistant -a claude-code. The skill file then sits at ~/.claude/skills/grant-proposal-assistant/SKILL.md.
What does grant-proposal-assistant do?
It takes a proposal through the steps from mechanism selection to compliance checks and evaluates it from a reviewer's perspective. Specific Aims, Significance, Innovation and Approach each get their own review.
How is it different from the manuscript skill?
It works on grant proposals, not papers. Manuscripts, fellowship personal statements and recommendation letters are covered by separate skills in the same set.
