Agent Setup¶

ScholarAIO can be used in two different ways:

Open this repository directly with your coding agent.
Register ScholarAIO skills or tools so they are available from another project.

The right setup depends on which agent you use and whether it supports native skills or plugins.

Start Here¶

If you want to...	Recommended path
Try ScholarAIO, inspect the codebase, or contribute	Open this repository directly
Use ScholarAIO from any project in Claude Code	Install the Claude Code plugin
Reuse ScholarAIO skills in Codex / OpenClaw	Clone the repo once, then symlink the skills into `~/.agents/skills/`

Open This Repository Directly¶

This is the simplest and most complete experience. You get the bundled instructions and local skills exactly as maintained in this repo.

git clone https://github.com/ZimoLiao/scholaraio.git
cd scholaraio
pip install -e ".[full]"
scholaraio setup

scholaraio setup check is the companion diagnostic command. It reports both the core setup state and optional advanced items such as Semantic Scholar / Zotero API keys. Current setup guidance prefers MinerU first whenever a MinerU path is available.

Then start your agent in the repository root:

Agent	What happens in this repo
Claude Code	Reads `CLAUDE.md` and loads `.claude/skills/`
Codex / OpenClaw	Reads `AGENTS.md` and discovers `.agents/skills/`
Cline	Reads `.clinerules` and can use `.claude/skills/`
Cursor	Reads `.cursorrules`
Windsurf	Reads `.windsurfrules`
GitHub Copilot	Reads `.github/copilot-instructions.md`

This mode is best when you want the full project context, not just the ScholarAIO skills.

Claude Code Plugin¶

Claude Code has the cleanest cross-project install path because ScholarAIO ships as a plugin and marketplace entry.

Install into any project¶

Run these commands inside Claude Code as slash-commands, not in your system shell:

/plugin marketplace add ZimoLiao/scholaraio
/plugin install scholaraio@scholaraio-marketplace

After installation, start a new Claude Code session in your target project. ScholarAIO skills will be available with the /scholaraio:* namespace, for example:

/scholaraio:search
/scholaraio:show
/scholaraio:workspace

What the plugin sets up¶

Installs the scholaraio Python package on first session
Creates ~/.scholaraio/config.yaml
Creates ~/.scholaraio/data/ and related workspace directories

This is the recommended way to make ScholarAIO available outside this repository.

Codex / OpenClaw Skill Registration¶

Codex-style agents can use ScholarAIO outside this repository through native skill discovery.

One-time setup¶

Clone ScholarAIO somewhere stable:

git clone https://github.com/ZimoLiao/scholaraio.git ~/.codex/scholaraio
cd ~/.codex/scholaraio
pip install -e ".[full]"
scholaraio setup

Create a global skills symlink:

mkdir -p ~/.agents/skills
ln -s ~/.codex/scholaraio/.claude/skills ~/.agents/skills/scholaraio

Make config discovery explicit for cross-project use:

# Option A: keep ScholarAIO data rooted in the cloned repo
export SCHOLARAIO_CONFIG="$HOME/.codex/scholaraio/config.yaml"

# Option B: move/copy the config into the global fallback location
mkdir -p ~/.scholaraio
cp ~/.codex/scholaraio/config.yaml ~/.scholaraio/config.yaml

Without one of those two options, running scholaraio from another project may fall back to defaults rooted in that current project and create data/ plus workspace/ there.

Restart Codex or OpenClaw after creating the symlink.

Windows¶

Clone the repo somewhere stable first, for example:

git clone https://github.com/ZimoLiao/scholaraio.git "$env:USERPROFILE\.codex\scholaraio"
cd "$env:USERPROFILE\.codex\scholaraio"
pip install -e ".[full]"
scholaraio setup

Then use a junction instead of a symlink:

$repoRoot = "$env:USERPROFILE\.codex\scholaraio"

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.agents\skills"
cmd /c mklink /J "$env:USERPROFILE\.agents\skills\scholaraio" "$repoRoot\.claude\skills"

For cross-project use on Windows, either set SCHOLARAIO_CONFIG to "$repoRoot\config.yaml" or copy that config to $env:USERPROFILE\.scholaraio\config.yaml.

What this gives you¶

Global access to the ScholarAIO skill library
Native discovery through ~/.agents/skills/
A setup path similar to other Codex skill packs

Important limitation¶

This registers the skills, not the full repository instructions. If you want the agent to also read ScholarAIO's bundled project guidance, open this repository directly instead of only linking the skills.

Which Path Should I Choose?¶

Situation	Best choice
You are evaluating ScholarAIO itself	Open this repository directly
You want ScholarAIO in Claude Code across projects	Claude Code plugin
You want ScholarAIO skills in Codex / OpenClaw across projects	Global skill symlink

Verify the Setup¶

Use one of these checks after installation:

In this repository: ask your agent to search or show a paper and confirm it can see ScholarAIO instructions or skills.
In Claude Code plugin mode: verify /scholaraio:search appears.
In Codex / OpenClaw: restart the agent and ask it to use the search or show skill.