Reference-First Template

Reference-First Template is an AI Engineering skill for Claude Code, published by WILLOSCAR in research-units-pipeline-skills.

499 stars39 forkson WILLOSCAR/research-units-pipeline-skillsAdded 2026/08/26Repository updated 2026/08/26

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claudeclaude-codecodexgptpipelineresearchresearch-paperresearch-projectresearch-toolskillstoolsunitsvibevibe-codingvibecoding

Install in seconds

Install Reference-First Template

Copy Reference-First Template into your Claude Code skills folder. Run the command in your terminal, or review the source on GitHub before installing.

terminal

npx degit https://github.com/WILLOSCAR/research-units-pipeline-skills/tree/main/.codex/skills/_template_reference_first ~/.claude/skills/_template_reference_first

Requires Node.js. Downloads this skill only — not the rest of the repository — into your Claude Code skills folder.

Without Node.js

git clone https://github.com/WILLOSCAR/research-units-pipeline-skills.git

Clones the whole repository, then copy the skill’s own directory into your skills folder yourself.

In this catalog

Source file: .codex/skills/_template_reference_first/SKILL.md in WILLOSCAR/research-units-pipeline-skills
Installs to: ~/.claude/skills/_template_reference_first
Collection: One of 25 skills cataloged from this repository
Category: AI Engineering — 2451 skills

What Reference-First Template does

Reference-First Template provides a reusable shape for skills built around a lean router, reference files, machine-readable assets, and a deterministic script. Use it when creating or refactoring a skill into this repository's reference-first structure.

Reference-First Template is cataloged under AI Engineering on DirSkills. Reference-First Template comes from a repository tagged claude, claude-code, codex, gpt and pipeline.

Documentation

README

Excerpt

Reference-First Skill Template

Why this exists

This package is the default starting point for new or refactored skills in this repo.

It demonstrates the intended split of responsibilities:

SKILL.md routes the workflow
references/ holds method, judgment, and exemplars
assets/ holds machine-readable contracts
scripts/ handles deterministic execution only

Use it as a shape to copy and customize, not as a domain-specific skill.

Inputs

the job the skill should encode
the expected inputs and outputs for that job
acceptance criteria and failure conditions
any domain packs, schemas, or existing artifacts that must be reused

Outputs

This is the opening of the README. Read the full README on GitHub.

Frequently asked about Reference-First Template

What else does WILLOSCAR publish alongside Reference-First Template?
Reference-First Template is one of 25 skills that DirSkills catalogs from WILLOSCAR/research-units-pipeline-skills, the repository it ships in. Its siblings there include Agent Survey Corpus, Anchor Sheet and Appendix Table Writer. Each one is a separate skill with its own page in this directory, installs the same way Reference-First Template does, and is maintained by WILLOSCAR in that same repository. The rest of the collection is listed on the WILLOSCAR/research-units-pipeline-skills page.
How does Reference-First Template compare to other AI Engineering skills?
Reference-First Template ranks #2177 by stars among the 2451 AI Engineering skills in this catalog. The most-starred ones next to it are Architecture Decision Records, AI-First Engineering and Agentic OS. DirSkills ranks by the star count of the repository each skill ships in, so that order reflects how popular those repositories are rather than any review of Reference-First Template against them. Open each page to compare what they document and how they install.