Claude Skills by hutzelmann

Low-level check of a thesis proposal — required sections, citation consistency, forbidden content, format guardrails, typos. Use when the user asks to check their proposal, suspects a section or citation is missing or malformed, or wants a quick gate before publishing. Not content feedback — for whether the argument holds, use proposal-review. Advisory only.

Adapt the proposal guidance to a supervisor's or program's requirements by managing the workspace guidelines.md override file. Use when the user says their supervisor wants something different — a detailed work plan, page limit, more references, different sections.

Socratic development of a thesis idea — refine a vague topic into an academically grounded starting point scoped to the study program and target research group, keep durable session notes, and seed the proposal file. Use when the user has a rough idea, does not know what to write about or their research questions yet, wants to talk a topic through or weigh whether it is worth pursuing, asks where to start, or wants to resume an earlier ideation session.

Import an existing proposal (usually PDF) into the standard single-file format — extract text and references, strip personal data, mark gaps. Use when the user has a draft from Word, LaTeX, Overleaf or another tool, pastes the text of an older proposal, or wants to carry existing work over and continue it here.

Find relevant academic literature for a topic or proposal — keyword search across public scholarly databases, plus citation snowballing from existing references. Writes CSL-YAML entries into the proposal. Use when the user needs sources or papers, says their bibliography or reference list is thin, wants the literature base broadened, or asks whether their idea is already published or whether anyone has worked on it before.

Build a PDF (or docx fallback) from a proposal file via pandoc — compact layout, typst-first, with install guidance when tools are missing. Also offers a stripped hand-in export, and hands over to a workspace build script where one exists. Use when the user wants a PDF or something to email, print or hand to their supervisor, wants the proposal out of markdown, has a faculty document template to build with, or asks how to install the build tools.

Derive the proposal a finished thesis should have had — read the thesis, cut everything only its results made knowable, and write it forward as a plan. Use when a completed thesis needs its missing proposal reconstructed, or when a supervisor turns a supervised thesis into a teaching exemplar.

High-level content review of a thesis proposal — argument structure, soundness, literature grounding, sharpness. Writes a review file opening with a three-tier verdict (ready / needs revision / no viable thesis core) followed by enumerated actionable findings. Use when the user asks for feedback or a review, doubts whether the argument holds or the thesis core is thin, or asks whether the proposal is ready for their supervisor — including before handing it to a supervisor.

Supervisor-side feedback on a raw student submission — normalize it into the standard proposal format, find the pressing issues via the shared check and review rules, and draft paste-ready feedback. Use when a professor receives a thesis proposal or idea from a student and wants constructive, high-level feedback to return. Drafts only, never sends.

Diagnose a problem with the proposal skills themselves — a script that fails, a rule applied wrongly, output that contradicts the skill's own stated mandate — and assemble a bug report when it turns out to be a real defect. Use when a skill misbehaved, not when the proposal needs improving.

Write a thesis proposal from scratch or refine an existing one, following the proposal guidelines and grounding claims in the literature. Use when the user wants a draft, wants sections improved, wants bullet points turned into prose, or asks to apply review findings.