git:20260201.0665adb to git:20260201.8145d0e

---

name: literature-sweep

description: "This skill should be used when users need to gather foundational literature, mentions 'literature review', 'theoretical patterns', 'Stream A', wants to search for academic papers, or is starting Stage 2 Phase 1 theoretical stream."

---

# 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

## 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 3: Basic Fetch

```

1. User provides list of URLs

2. WebFetch retrieves content (may be limited by paywalls)

5. Organize manually

```

## Scripts

### search-and-fetch.js

Orchestrates the literature gathering process.

```bash

node skills/literature-sweep/scripts/search-and-fetch.js \

--project-path /path/to/project \

--query "sensemaking organizational change middle managers" \

--max-results 15

```

**Automatic tier detection:** Script checks for API keys and operates at highest available tier.

## Output Structure

```

stage2-collaboration/stream-a-theoretical/

├── literature-inventory.json # Tracks all sources

├── papers/

│ ├── weick-1995-sensemaking.md

│ ├── gioia-2013-seeking.md

│ └── ...

└── theoretical-patterns.md # YOUR analysis notes

```

### literature-inventory.json

```json

{

"sources": [

{

"id": "L001",

"title": "Sensemaking in Organizations",

"authors": ["Weick, K."],

"year": 1995,

"url": "https://...",

"local_file": "papers/weick-1995-sensemaking.md",

"fetch_tier": "tier1",

"relevance_notes": "Core sensemaking framework"

}

],

"search_queries": ["sensemaking organizational change"],

"last_updated": "2025-01-15"

}

```

## Integration with Stream A Analysis

After gathering literature:

1. **Extract Theoretical Patterns**

- Use @scholarly-companion for Socratic dialogue

- Identify core constructs and relationships

- Note how phenomena are conceptualized

2. **Document in theoretical-patterns.md**

- Key constructs from literature

- How your phenomenon relates

- Gaps or tensions in existing theory

3. **Prepare for Synthesis (Phase 2)**

- Theoretical patterns ready for comparison with empirical patterns

## Fallback Guidance

If API keys unavailable:

1. **Manual Literature Search**

- Google Scholar: scholar.google.com

- Semantic Scholar: semanticscholar.org

- JSTOR: jstor.org

- PubMed: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

2. **Getting Full Text**

- Check institutional access

- Use Unpaywall browser extension

- Contact authors directly

- Check preprint servers (SSRN, arXiv)

3. **Converting to Markdown**

## Related

- **Agents:** @scholarly-companion for analysis

- **Skills:** document-conversion for PDF handling