Guides AI-assisted research across three sub-flows, Vibe Coding, Vibe Figure, and Vibe Writing, with behavioural rules that keep the user in charge of academic judgment while delegating mechanical work to AI. Recommends the right tool (Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, Figma, Gemini) for the current stage

Vibe Research Workflow Overview Vibe Research is the modern research workflow where large language models and AI coding tools handle mechanical tasks (implementation, figure rendering, language polish) while the researcher retains full ownership of research direction, problem framing, experimental design, and factual accuracy. The goal is a two to five times productivity gain on routine tasks without compromising academic integrity. The skill has three sub flows: Vibe Coding (AI assisted code), Vibe Figure (AI assisted figure production), Vibe Writing (AI assisted prose polish). Each is governed by six behavioural rules that draw a hard line between acceptable use (mechanical acceleration, auxiliary suggestions, style correction) and academic misconduct (fabricated citations, outsourced scientific judgment, hidden AI authorship). This skill is a meta skill that orchestrates tool selection, flow design, and integrity enforcement across a research session. It consolidates the the curriculum's Vibe Research section into a single invocable procedure. When to use this skill Starting a new AI assisted work block (a morning of coding, a figure day, a writing session). The user asks 'how to use AI for research', 'Vibe Coding tips', 'AI assisted writing workflow', 'which AI tool for this'. The user is choosing between Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, Figma, Gemini, or other tools. The user wants a workflow plan for a multi day project involving AI. The user suspects AI output has drifted into unacceptable territory (fabricated citations, outsourced reasoning). When NOT to use this skill The user wants paper prose drafted. That is legitimate under this plugin's evidence discipline and belongs to the drafting skills: route to paper writer (any section) or intro drafter (Introductions), whose rules forbid fabricated substance (every factual claim traces to the user's materials, verified retrieval, or field common knowledge). Remind the user that venue and school AI disclosure policies still apply, and that they remain responsible for verifying every drafted passage against their actual research. What stays forbidden is fabrication, not drafting. The user wants a code implementation done. This skill guides the process; it does not replace the implementation itself. The user wants to evaluate research direction. Use idea evaluator (see handbook 2.3 for disruptive innovation deep dive). Core procedure Step 1: Phase classification Decide which phase the user is in: coding, figure, writing, or mixed. Step 2: Behavioural rules recap See: references/behavior guidelines.md for the full six rule set. State the six rules succinctly at the start of the session: 1. AI assisted work is permitted for literature search and organisation, code and debugging support, language and expression polish. 2. Research ideas, problems, designs, technical paths, experimental plans, core conclusions, and novelty must be the user's own and fully understood. Drafting assistance is legitimate within that boundary: the substance belongs to the user; the linguistic realization may be AI assisted; the verification duty (rule 3) is unchanged. 3. Every AI generated or AI assisted passage is verified by the user against the actual research process, experimental results, and facts. 4. No fabricated citations; references come from the user's own reading and confirmation. 5. No academic misconduct, including fabricated data, experimental results, or plagiarism concealment. 6. Venue or school AI disclosure requirements are honoured. These rules are non negotiable and enforced in the integrity gate. Step 3: Phase specific procedure For Vibe Coding, see: references/vibe coding.md. For Vibe Figure, see: references/vibe figure.md. For Vibe Writing, see: references/vibe writing.md. Each phase has its own core techniques (Plan Mode, Small Steps, Clear Requirements for coding; four step figure workflow; red line rules for writing). Step 4: Tool selection See: references/tool selection.md for the tool matrix. Match tool to phase: Coding: Cursor (IDE native) or Claude Code (agentic CLI) or Codex. Figure: PowerPoint plus Figma for static figures; Matplotlib plus Seaborn for experimental results; Gemini for first draft sketches. Writing: Claude or ChatGPT for language polish; Grammarly for grammar; Overleaf for LaTeX. Step 5: Integrity gate Before closing the session, run the checks in the Integrity gate section below. Step 6: Output Emit the workflow plan in the Output format below. Integrity gate This skill is a behavioural nudge, not a verification engine. Most bullets are tagged [user attest] because the LLM cannot actually observe the user's private verification work. [inspection] tags apply only to checks the LLM can confirm from its own outputs and the user's session history. Before ending the session: 1. [inspection] The six behavioural rules have been stated at the start of the session. 2. [user attest] No fabricated citation has been introduced or accepted. (The LLM cannot verify citations without web access; the user confirms via DBLP or arXiv.) 3. [user attest] The user's research direction, framing, and contributions are owned by the user, not by AI. 4. [user attest] Every AI generated code block has been reviewed and tested by the user. 5. [user attest] Every AI drafted paragraph has been rewritten or at minimum sentence by sentence verified by the user. 6. [attestation] Venue or school AI disclosure rules have been checked. The skill asks the user to name the venue and surfaces known policy types; the user confirms compliance. 7. [user attest] The user's own expertise is still driving the project; AI is an accelerator, not a replacement. Any red line violation (rules 1 6) stops the session. The user should fix the violation or consult an advisor before continuing. Because most bullets are [user attest], the skill's effective value is the reminder at session start, not a runtime block. Output format 1. Phase Primary phase: <coding or figure or writing or mixed Secondary phases: <list 2. Behavioural rules recap Rule 1 6 (see references/behavior guidelines.md): acknowledged 3. Workflow plan Time block Phase Activity Tool User check ... ... ... ... ... 4. Tool recommendations Phase Primary tool Alternative Reason Coding ... ... ... Figure ... ... ... Writing ... ... ... 5. Red line reminders ... (from references/vibe writing.md) 6. Integrity gate plan Verification points: ... AI disclosure requirements for the target venue: ...

vibe-research-workflow