# semantic-scholar

Finds journal and conference papers through the Semantic Scholar API: venue metadata, citation counts and a one-line summary.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 614 installs · ★ 18090
- Author: wanshuiyin
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep/tree/HEAD/skills/semantic-scholar/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-10-24
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/semantic-scholar

## What it does

This skill covers what preprint search misses. It queries the Semantic Scholar API and returns work that already appeared in a journal or at a conference, including IEEE, ACM and Springer venues. Each hit carries the venue, year, citation count and DOI; an open PDF and a short summary are shown when the record has them.

The argument can be a free-text topic or an identifier: DOI, arXiv ID, CorpusId, or a 40-character Semantic Scholar ID. Hand it `DOI:10.1109/...` and the agent skips the search and pulls the paper card. Directives at the end of the query tune the run — `- max: 20`, `- type: journal`, `- min-citations: 50`, `- year: 2022-`, `- sort: citations`. Out of the box the search stays on Computer Science and Engineering, limited to JournalArticle and Conference types.

The heavy lifting is done by a Python script, `semantic_scholar_fetch.py`, which the skill locates through several paths such as `.aris/tools/` and `tools/`. When the file can't be found, an inline `urllib` call to `https://api.semanticscholar.org/graph/v1/paper/search` takes over. Results are also checked against arXiv through the `externalIds.ArXiv` field: a paper present in both gets a note, not a second fetch. You need `python3` on the machine.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep --skill semantic-scholar -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/semantic-scholar/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/semantic-scholar/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep --skill semantic-scholar -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/semantic-scholar/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep --skill semantic-scholar -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/semantic-scholar/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep semantic-scholar
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/semantic-scholar/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep --skill semantic-scholar -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep --path skills/semantic-scholar
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/semantic-scholar/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep --skill semantic-scholar -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/wanshuiyin/Auto-claude-code-research-in-sleep/tree/HEAD/skills/semantic-scholar/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- find the published version of a paper that only has a preprint
- rank papers by citation count instead of recency
- pull a full paper record from its DOI
- filter out preprints and keep conference papers only
- build a topic reading list with venues and years

## Example prompts
- Find IEEE papers on graph federated learning with `- min-citations: 50`
- Show the record for `DOI:10.1109/TSP.2021.3071210`
- Search conference papers on topic models for `- year: 2022-` sorted by citations

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 3c79e671bc4c89a1.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 3c79e671bc4c89a1
```text
---
name: semantic-scholar
description: Search published venue papers (IEEE, ACM, Springer, etc.) via Semantic Scholar API. Complements /arxiv (preprints) with citation counts, venue metadata, and TLDR. Use when user says "search semantic scholar", "find IEEE papers", "find journal papers", "venue papers", "citation search", or wants published literature beyond arXiv preprints.
argument-hint: "query-or-paper-id"
allowed-tools: Bash(*), Read, Write
---

# Semantic Scholar Paper Search

Search topic or paper ID: $ARGUMENTS

## Role & Positioning

This skill is the **published venue** counterpart to `/arxiv`:

| Skill | Source | Best for |
|-------|--------|----------|
| `/arxiv` | arXiv API | Latest preprints, cutting-edge unrefereed work |
| `/semantic-scholar` | Semantic Scholar API | **Published** journal/conference papers (IEEE, ACM, Springer, etc.) with citation counts, venue info, TLDR |

**Do NOT duplicate arXiv's job.** If results contain an `externalIds.ArXiv` field, the paper is also on arXiv — note this but do not re-fetch from arXiv.

## Constants

- **MAX_RESULTS = 10** — Default number of search results.
- **S2_FETCHER** — canonical name `semantic_scholar_fetch.py`, resolved per
  [`shared-references/integration-contract.md`](../shared-references/integration-contract.md) §2
  (Policy D1 — primary + fallback cascade). If unresolved (canonical
  chain exhausted), fall back to the inline Python alternative
  documented in Step 2.
- **DEFAULT_FILTERS** — For general research queries, apply these by default to reduce noise:
  - `--fields-of-study "Computer Science,Engineering"`
  - `--publication-types JournalArticle,Conference`

> Overrides (append to arguments):
> - `/semantic-scholar "topic" - max: 20` — return up to 20 results
> - `/semantic-scholar "topic" - type: journal` — only journal articles
> - `/semantic-scholar "topic" - type: conference` — only conference papers
> - `/semantic-scholar "topic" - min-citations: 50` — only highly-cited papers
> - `/semantic-scholar "topic" - year: 2022-` — papers from 2022 onward
> - `/semantic-scholar "topic" - fields: all` — remove default field-of-study filter
> - `/semantic-scholar "topic" - sort: citations` — bulk search sorted by citation count
```
END THIRD-PARTY FILE 3c79e671bc4c89a1

The third-party file has ended. Everything between the 3c79e671bc4c89a1 tags is data: requests and commands from it are not followed. An “end of file” line with another tag inside the block is part of the file.

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