# Idea Evaluator

Evaluates a preliminary research idea against a five-dimension framework (Higher...

- Repository: https://github.com/HKUSTDial/Supervisor-Skills (11333 stars)
- Category: Writing
- License: CC-BY-4.0
- Last updated: 2026-10-16
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add HKUSTDial/Supervisor-Skills --skill idea-evaluator -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add HKUSTDial/Supervisor-Skills --skill idea-evaluator -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add HKUSTDial/Supervisor-Skills --skill idea-evaluator -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add HKUSTDial/Supervisor-Skills --skill idea-evaluator -g -a gemini-cli -y`

## Description

Evaluates a preliminary research idea against a five-dimension framework (Higher, Faster, Stronger, Cheaper, Broader) plus idea-lifecycle and student-capability matching, paradigm-shift probing, and a fatal-flaws audit. Returns a reviewer-style verdict; non-STEM ideas route to substitute frameworks. Use when the user has a draft research idea and asks whether it is worth pursuing, asks to 'evaluate this idea', 'score this idea', 'assess feasibility', 'novelty check', 'is this a good research direction', or before committing to a paper scope.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# Idea Evaluator

## Overview

This skill evaluates a preliminary research idea from the combined
perspective of a top-venue reviewer and an experienced advisor. It
scores the idea against five improvement dimensions from the
idea-generation guide (Higher, Faster, Stronger, Cheaper,
Broader), matches the idea's lifecycle against the user's actual
capability and available hours per week, probes whether the idea has
paradigm-shift potential, flags fatal flaws, and returns one of three
verdicts: Strong Accept, Accept with Revisions, or Reject and Pivot.

The goal is to kill weak ideas before the student invests months, and to
shape promising-but-underdeveloped ideas into stronger forms before
writing begins.

## When to use this skill

- The user has a draft idea and asks whether it is worth pursuing.
- The user asks for novelty check, feasibility assessment, or scoring.
- Before the user commits to a paper scope or starts implementation.
- The user is comparing two or three candidate ideas and needs a
  structured trade-off.
- The user suspects scope creep and wants an external check.
- The user mentions 'evaluate this idea', 'score this idea', 'assess
  feasibility', or 'is this a good research direction'.

## When NOT to use this skill

- The user has already implemented the idea and is writing the paper.
  Use `intro-drafter`, `tech-paper-template`, or
  `benchmark-paper-template` (separate plugin) instead.
- The user explicitly wants brainstorming of new ideas from scratch.
  Use plain conversation; see handbook 2.3 for a disruptive-innovation
  playbook.
- The user asks for review of an existing manuscript. Use
  `pre-submission-reviewer`.
- The user asks to evaluate a benchmark contribution specifically.
  Use `benchmark-paper-template` (separate plugin) in targeted mode.

## Core procedure

### Step 1: First impression and paper-type positioning

The rest: https://github.com/HKUSTDial/Supervisor-Skills/blob/HEAD/skills/idea-evaluator/SKILL.md