literature-survey-skill

---
name: survey
description: "Literature survey assistant with four modes: /survey intent (capture student goals, expertise, and success criteria), /survey triage (landscape mapping via NotebookLM), /survey deepen (structured reading with craft and visualization extraction), /survey synthesize (cross-paper analysis for related work, area exams, gap identification). Also: /survey expand (corpus growth proposals). Use when students mention reading papers, literature review, related work, area exam prep, paper corpus, or any systematic reading task."
---

# Literature Survey Skill — Intent → Triage → Deepen → Synthesize

This skill helps PhD students build a deep, synthesized corpus of research insights through a structured, cognitively-aware workflow. It combines Kahneman's dual-process theory, Keshav's three-pass reading method, first-principles analysis, and NotebookLM as a backend query engine.

**Architecture:** All student work lives locally (Obsidian/filesystem). NotebookLM is a query backend only — papers go in, grounded answers come out.

**Modes:**
- `/survey intent` — Capture what you're trying to learn and where you're starting from
- `/survey triage` — Map the landscape, prioritize reading depth
- `/survey deepen` — Structured reading with craft and visualization extraction
- `/survey synthesize` — Cross-paper analysis for deliverables
- `/survey expand` — Structured corpus growth proposals

If the student invokes `/survey` without a mode, ask which mode they want. If they seem unsure or are starting a new survey, begin with intent.

**Prerequisites:** NotebookLM MCP CLI must be configured. See `reference/notebooklm_tools.md` for setup.

---

## Mode 1: Intent — "What are you trying to learn?"

**Purpose:** Capture the student's survey goals, expertise level, and success criteria BEFORE any paper is read. This shapes all subsequent modes.

**Do NOT create any NotebookLM notebooks in this mode. Do NOT ingest any papers. The goal is purely clarifying intent.**

### Step 1: Identify the survey archetype

Ask the student which best describes their situation:

> Before we look at any papers, I need to understand what kind of survey this is. Which best describes you?
>
> **A. Explorer** — "I'm entering a new area and need to understand the landscape."
> **B. Investigator** — "I have specific questions I need answered from the literature."
> **C. Validator** — "I think I've found a gap/idea and want to confirm it's novel."
> **D. Examiner** — "I need to demonstrate comprehensive mastery for an exam or survey paper."

Each archetype has different defaults:

| Archetype | Triage scope | Deepen targets | Pass 3 count | Synthesize output |
|-----------|-------------|----------------|-------------|-------------------|