How to use the Knowledge, Office and Research Matrix agent skill

What is this skill and what does it make the agent do?

The skill teaches an agent how to choose among many tools for research, notes, writing documents and publishing. Instead of relying on one fixed tool, the agent looks at what you need, such as searching the web, pulling article text, managing citations, or converting a file to PDF.

It then checks which tools are installed or have credentials set, and picks a suitable option. If a better paid or metered service would help, it explains which API key you would need to add, and it does not escalate to paid or metered APIs unless credentials are already present or you explicitly consent.

• Searching: web or literature search, using whichever provider is available.
• Retrieving: fetching article text or scraping pages.
• References: citations, BibTeX and reference lists.
• Notes and outlines: note-taking and outlining in tools such as Obsidian.
• Documents: writing DOCX, XLSX, PPTX and PDF files, and converting between formats.
• PDFs and diagrams: splitting, merging, extracting and OCR for PDFs, plus flowcharts and architecture diagrams.

Install the skill from the ZIP or the Claude apps

Download the ZIP from this page and unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ for your user account, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder to limit it to one project. The package contains a single file, SKILL.md.

Alternatively, upload the skill in the Claude apps under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

The skill's own install instructions use the cli-hub command-line tool to set up the matrix and check it. Run these commands if you have cli-hub installed.

What the skill needs before it runs

The skill depends on the cli-hub command-line tool. Optional Python libraries such as pyzotero, trafilatura, python-docx and pypdf add capabilities. Optional system binaries such as pandoc, LibreOffice, Zotero and Obsidian add others. Each is used only if it is present.

Optional API keys and accounts, such as EXA, Perplexity, Tavily, Notion, Zotero, WordPress or Ghost, are used only when present or when you consent. Without them the agent falls back to local or free providers where the source lists one.

Preflight is an availability report. The skill runs a check of installed libraries, binaries and environment variables, but it does not use that report to pick providers by itself.

• cli-hub command-line tool (cli-hub matrix install)
• Python, with optional libraries such as pyzotero, trafilatura, python-docx, pypdf
• Optional system binaries such as pandoc, LibreOffice, Zotero, Obsidian
• Optional API keys and accounts, used only when present or consented to

How to trigger the skill with natural requests

You do not need special syntax. Describe the research or document task in plain language and mention the outcome you want. The agent decides which capability and provider to use.

If you are working offline, say so. The skill then filters to providers marked as working offline, since many providers need internet or paid accounts.

• Find recent sources on a topic and list them with BibTeX entries.
• Pull the article text from this URL and summarise the main claims.
• Turn my draft notes into a Word document and convert it to PDF.
• Add these references to my Zotero library and format the citations.
• I am offline, so use only tools that work without internet to outline my essay.

Examples of what the agent does

A typical research task moves through several capabilities. The agent might search for sources, retrieve the article text, record the references, and then draft a report. Each step uses whichever provider fits your requirements and what is installed.

If a provider needs a key that you have not set, the skill suggests the key, its cost notes and a fallback. You can reply 'skip' to use the next provider instead.

Safety notes: scripts and network use

This skill runs scripts and uses the network. Many providers send your queries or content to third-party search, scraping or AI services, so the content may leave your machine. Do not send sensitive or confidential material through these providers without checking first.

Do not use the skill for simple one-off questions that need no external tools, because the setup adds overhead. Check the offline column before working without internet, because many providers need internet access or paid accounts.

• Content sent to third-party search, scraping or AI APIs may leave your machine.
• Paid or metered APIs are used only when credentials are present or you consent.
• Check which providers are offline-capable before working offline.

Tips for getting good results

Say what quality you need and whether you are offline, since the agent weighs output quality, offline needs, credential state and install cost when it chooses. Keep only the keys you actually want the agent to use. Install the optional binaries you rely on, such as pandoc for format conversion or Zotero for references, so the agent has local options.

• State offline needs at the start of the request.
• Set only the API keys you are happy to use.
• Install local tools such as pandoc and Zotero to widen offline options.