literature-sweep

# literature-sweep

Search, fetch, and organize academic literature for theoretical pattern extraction (Stage 2 Phase 1, Stream A). Implements graceful degradation based on available MCP servers.

## When to Use

Use this skill when:
- User needs to gather foundational literature
- User mentions "literature review", "theoretical patterns", "Stream A"
- User wants to search for academic papers
- Starting Stage 2 Phase 1 theoretical stream

## MCP Dependencies

This skill can operate at three capability tiers based on available MCPs:

### Tier 1: Full (Requires Exa + Jina API keys)
- **Search:** Exa semantic academic search
- **Fetch:** Jina web content extraction
- **Process:** Full literature workflow

### Tier 2: Manual Search (Requires Jina API key only)
- **Search:** User provides URLs manually
- **Fetch:** Jina extracts content
- **Process:** Fetch and organize workflow

### Tier 3: Basic (No API keys required)
- **Search:** User provides URLs manually
- **Fetch:** Built-in WebFetch tool or manual download
- **Process:** Basic content retrieval with manual conversion

## Checking Tier Availability

Before invoking, check environment:
```bash
# Check for Exa
[ -n "$EXA_API_KEY" ] && echo "Exa available"

# Check for Jina
[ -n "$JINA_API_KEY" ] && echo "Jina available"
```

Or attempt the tool call - if it fails, fall back to next tier.

## Workflow by Tier

### Tier 1: Full Literature Sweep

```
1. User provides research question/keywords
2. Exa searches academic sources (papers, journals)
3. Select top 10-15 relevant results
4. Jina fetches full content for each
5. Organize in stage2-collaboration/stream-a-theoretical/
6. Create literature-inventory.json tracking sources
```

### Tier 2: Manual Search + Fetch

```
1. User searches manually (Google Scholar, JSTOR, etc.)
2. User provides list of URLs to relevant papers
3. Jina fetches content for each URL
4. Organize in stage2-collaboration/stream-a-theoretical/
5. Track in literature-inventory.json
```

### Tier