research-question
Use when the user has a vague topic or area of interest and wants it sharpened into a few strong, novel, feasible research questions. Drafts candidate questions, scores each against a fixed rubric (Specific, Answerable, Novel, Feasible, Significant) with a light literature/web novelty check, and revises the weakest axis until enough questions clear the bar. Not for grading a full written proposal (use the research-proposal loop), and not for turning a question into testable predictions (use the hypothesis-generation loop).
Profile →npx skills add gaasher/Agent-Loop-Skills --skill research-question --agent claude-code
Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.
Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.
# Research Question Loop A **sharpen → score → revise** loop for the *framing* stage of research. The artifact is a small set of research questions; the feedback signal is how many **clear the bar** — each scored 0-5 on five fixed axes (Specific, Answerable, Novel, Feasible, Significant). You start from a vague topic, draft candidates, score each against the rubric (with a light novelty check against the literature), and rewrite the weakest axis of the promising ones until enough are strong. A good research question is the hard part of research: too broad and it cannot be answered; too narrow and it does not matter; already settled and there is no point. The goal is **a few excellent questions**, not many mediocre ones — this loop drives toward the narrow band that is answerable, novel, and worth answering. ## Scope & limitations This loop produces and refines **questions**, grounded by a *light* novelty check (a few searches), not a full survey — for an exhaustive map use the literature-survey loop, and to turn a question into testable predictions use the hypothesis-generation loop. The novelty check needs web or literature access; without it (`novelty_check: none`), novelty is th
- Scope & limitations
- When to use
- Setup
- The loop
- Ledger
- Constraints
What does the research-question skill do?
Use when the user has a vague topic or area of interest and wants it sharpened into a few strong, novel, feasible research questions. Drafts candidate questions, scores each against a fixed rubric (Specific, Answerable, Novel, Feasible, Significant) with a light literature/web novelty check, and revises the weakest axis until enough questions clear the bar. Not for grading a full written proposal (use the research-proposal loop), and not for turning a question into testable predictions (use the hypothesis-generation loop).
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add gaasher/Agent-Loop-Skills --skill research-question --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.
Where does this skill come from?
From gaasher/Agent-Loop-Skills, a repository with 146 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.
Is a popular skill a good skill?
Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.