Integrations Engine

Integrations Engine

This skill manages detection and integration with optional external plugins from the claude-scientific-writer ecosystem. All integrations are optional — the scientific-paper-writer plugin is fully functional without any external plugins.

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1. Design Principles

Never Required

No external plugin is required for any feature. Every capability has a built-in fallback. If a plugin is absent, the built-in path activates silently.

Silent Detection

Plugin detection happens automatically on first command invocation. The user is never prompted to install plugins. Detection results are cached for the session.

No Hard Coupling

This plugin never imports, requires, or depends on external plugin code. It only checks for the presence of plugin SKILL.md files and uses their advertised capabilities if found.

User Override

The user can explicitly disable integrations via PAPER_CONTEXT.md:

Integrations: none

or selectively enable/disable specific integrations:

Integrations:
  research-lookup: enabled
  scientific-schematics: disabled

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2. Detection Mechanism

On first command invocation, the integrations engine runs the following sequence:

Step 1 — Check PAPER_CONTEXT.md

Read PAPER_CONTEXT.md (if it exists) and check the Integrations field:

• If Integrations: none → skip all detection, use built-in fallbacks for everything
• If Integrations lists specific skills → only detect those
• If Integrations is absent or empty → proceed to full detection

Step 2 — Scan for Plugin Files

Use Glob to search for installed plugin skills:

Pattern: ~/.claude/plugins/cache/claude-plugins-official/claude-scientific-writer/*/skills/*/SKILL.md

This pattern matches the standard Claude plugin cache directory structure where official plugins are stored.

Step 3 — Parse Detected Skills

For each matched SKILL.md file:

1. Extract the directory name (skill name) from the file path
2. Read the frontmatter to get name, description, version, and triggers
3. Record the skill as available

Step 4 — Cache Results

Store the detection results in memory for the current session. Detection is not re-run unless the user explicitly requests it (e.g., "check integrations").

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3. Integration Routing

When a writing command is invoked, the integrations engine checks whether a detected plugin can enhance the operation. The routing logic is:

1. Determine which built-in skill is handling the command
2. Check the integration map (see references/detected-plugins.md) for applicable plugins
3. If a matching plugin is detected and not disabled:
   • Route the sub-task to the external plugin
   • Validate the result before incorporating it
4. If no matching plugin is detected:
   • Use the built-in fallback silently
   • No warning or notification to the user

Validation of External Results

Results from external plugins are validated before use:

• Citation data: verified against the same pipeline as built-in citations
• Figure output: checked for file existence and format
• Prose output: checked against core engine conventions (tense, voice, no fabrication)
• Search results: deduplicated against built-in search results

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4. Session Status Report

When the user invokes "check integrations" or "integration status":

Output Format

Integration Status
==================

Detected plugins: [N] / Possible: 8
Session: active / PAPER_CONTEXT override: [none/partial/full]

| Plugin | Status | Version | Fallback |
|--------|--------|---------|----------|
| research-lookup | detected / not found | 1.x.x | Built-in PubMed + WebSearch |
| literature-review | detected / not found | 1.x.x | Manual PubMed search |
| citation-management | detected / not found | 1.x.x | Built-in citation pipeline |
| scientific-schematics | detected / not found | 1.x.x | Code SVGs / [FIGURE NEEDED] |
| generate-image | detected / not found | 1.x.x | [FIGURE NEEDED] |
| venue-templates | detected / not found | 1.x.x | Built-in templates |
| scientific-writing | detected / not found | 1.x.x | Built-in workflow |
| parallel-web | detected / not found | 1.x.x | WebSearch / WebFetch |

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5. Error Handling

Error Condition	Action
Glob pattern returns no matches	Treat all plugins as absent; use built-in fallbacks silently
SKILL.md file found but unreadable	Skip that plugin; log as unavailable
Plugin returns malformed output	Fall back to built-in capability; do not surface error to user
Plugin version incompatible	Skip that plugin; use built-in fallback
PAPER_CONTEXT.md has invalid Integrations field	Treat as "no override"; proceed with full detection
Plugin cache directory does not exist	Treat all plugins as absent; use built-in fallbacks silently

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References

• references/detected-plugins.md — Full integration map with fallback details