Paper Prerequisite Finder Skill

Paper Prerequisite Finder

Analyze an academic paper from arXiv to identify the essential prerequisite papers you should read first.

Usage

/paper-prereq-analysis https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.07372

Input Validation

The input must be a valid arXiv URL in one of these formats:

https://arxiv.org/abs/XXXX.XXXXX
https://arxiv.org/pdf/XXXX.XXXXX
https://www.arxiv.org/abs/XXXX.XXXXX
arxiv.org/abs/XXXX.XXXXX
Just the paper ID: 2601.07372

Extract the paper ID (e.g., 2601.07372) from the input URL.

If the input is not a valid arXiv URL or paper ID, respond with:

Invalid input. Please provide an arXiv URL (e.g., https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.07372) or paper ID.

Pipeline Execution

Execute the following pipeline in sequence:

Stage 1: Read Paper Content

Status message: "Reading paper from arXiv..."

Use the paper-reader subagent with the arXiv URL to extract:

Paper title and abstract
Section structure
Complete references list
Key topics (3-5 main concepts)

If paper-reader fails, report the error and stop.

Stage 2: Analyze References

Status message: "Analyzing references and classifying importance..."

Use the ref-analyzer subagent with the extracted content to:

Classify each reference as High/Medium/Low importance
Categorize references by topic (e.g., Memory Networks, Knowledge Storage)
Identify papers cited in methodology sections

Stage 3: Search for Related Papers

Status message: "Searching for related papers via PASA..."

Use the paper-finder subagent to:

Search pasa-agent.ai with 2-3 key topic queries
Find relevant papers NOT in the original references
Extract 3-5 additional recommended papers

Note: PASA search may take 30-60 seconds. If it times out or fails, continue with references-only analysis.

Stage 4: Generate Report

Status message: "Generating prerequisite report..."

Use the report-generator subagent to create a Markdown file with:

High priority prerequisites organized by topic
Medium priority background papers
Extended reading from PASA search
Suggested reading order
Summary statistics

Save the report to: ./prereq-report-{paper-id}.md

Output

When complete, respond with:

✅ Prerequisite analysis complete!

Report saved to: ./prereq-report-{paper-id}.md

Summary:
- Target paper: {title}
- High priority prerequisites: {count}
- Extended reading suggestions: {count}

Open the report to see the full analysis and recommended reading order.

Error Handling

arXiv Access Error

If arXiv is unavailable:

❌ Could not access arXiv. Please check the URL and try again.

No References Found

If no references are extracted:

⚠️ Could not extract references from this paper. The HTML version may not be available. Try accessing the PDF directly: https://arxiv.org/pdf/{paper-id}

PASA Search Failure

If PASA search fails, continue without extended reading:

⚠️ PASA search timed out. Generating report with reference analysis only.

Example

User: /paper-prereq https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.07372

Reading paper from arXiv...
Analyzing references and classifying importance...
Searching for related papers via PASA...
Generating prerequisite report...

✅ Prerequisite analysis complete!

Report saved to: ./prereq-report-2601.07372.md

Summary:
- Target paper: Conditional Memory via Scalable Lookup
- High priority prerequisites: 5
- Extended reading suggestions: 3

Agent Skills: Paper Prerequisite Finder

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