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