Next Action Assessment Skill

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 |

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:

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

DEVELOPMENT Phase Priorities:

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

ANALYSIS Phase Priorities:

exploratory-data-analysis - Understand your data first
statistical-analysis - Formal testing
scientific-visualization - Publication figures

WRITING Phase Priorities:

write-methods - Document what you did
write-results - Describe what you found
scientific-writing - Polish and format

REVIEW Phase Priorities:

peer-review - Self-assessment
review-script - Code quality check
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

---

**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

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 |

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

Response Format

Always structure /next responses as:

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

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

Agent Skills: Next Action Assessment

Install this agent skill to your local

Skill Files