document-qa
Skill49 starsChanged 3 months agoMITView on GitHub
Answer questions about an uploaded document (PDF, image, or text file). Use when the user has attached a file and asks something specific about it.
We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent
8 rules. About 0 are common, 8 are distinctive, and 0 are very specific to this project.
≈0
Common · estimate
Many files like this have a rule of this kind.
≈8
Distinctive · estimate
This author's own choices. Worth a look.
0
Very specific
Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.
- Common
- Distinctive
- Very specific
- Distinctive: line 29
If the document doesn't contain the answer, say so explicitly
- Distinctive: line 30
If the document is unclear, acknowledge it
- Distinctive: line 31
If it's image-based and OCR is poor, note that
- Distinctive: line 36
Don't speculate beyond what's in the document
- Distinctive: line 37
If asked your opinion on the document's claims, separate the question of "what it says" (factual) from "is it correct?" (analytical, may …
- Distinctive: line 40
Don't make up content that wasn't in the document
- Distinctive: line 41
Don't blend prior knowledge with document content without flagging it ("the document says X, though more recent data suggests Y")
- Distinctive: line 42
Don't claim to have read more than was actually extracted (if the document is huge and only part loaded, say so)
≈ “Common” is an estimate: at least 1 in 5 of the 308,232 skill files we read have a rule of the same kind, not the same words. “Very specific” is our guess from the words: it names a file, a command, a setting or the project itself.
Files
Document Q&A
When to use
The user has attached a document (or referenced one in their files) and is asking a specific question about its content.
Steps
- Identify the document — confirm what file the user is asking about. If multiple files are attached, ask via
ask_questionswhich one to focus on. - Read the document:
- For attachments in the current message: the file is already in context (use directly)
- For files in the user's R2 storage: call
fs_readwith the path - For URLs: call
browser_markdownor useconvertToMarkdownserver-side
- Answer the question — based on what's actually in the document:
- Quote specific passages when answering yes/no questions
- For "what does it say about X?" — find the relevant section, quote or paraphrase
- For "summarise" — use the summarise-url skill pattern
- For "find me X" — search the text and report what's there
- Cite specifics — when you can, reference the page, section, or paragraph: "On page 3, the report states..."
- Be honest about limits:
- If the document doesn't contain the answer, say so explicitly
- If the document is unclear, acknowledge it
- If it's image-based and OCR is poor, note that
Style
- Direct quotes in quotation marks; paraphrases without
- Page/section references when available
- Don't speculate beyond what's in the document
- If asked your opinion on the document's claims, separate the question of "what it says" (factual) from "is it correct?" (analytical, may need fact-check)
What not to do
- Don't make up content that wasn't in the document
- Don't blend prior knowledge with document content without flagging it ("the document says X, though more recent data suggests Y")
- Don't claim to have read more than was actually extracted (if the document is huge and only part loaded, say so)
In this repository32 other files it gives its agents.
- AGENTS.mdAGENTS.md
- docs/AGENTS.mdAGENTS.md
- CLAUDE.mdCLAUDE.md
- agent-asks-tasksSkill
- caretakerSkill
- code-reviewSkill
- compare-optionsSkill
- create-reportSkill
- csv-analyseSkill
- draft-emailSkill
- enrich-errorSkill
- extract-structured-dataSkill
- fact-checkSkill
- git-diff-summariserSkill
- librarian-curateSkill
- meeting-notesSkill
- morning-briefSkill
- plan-taskSkill
- reflectSkill
- remember-conversationSkill
- reverieSkill
- review-code-securitySkill
- review-email-toneSkill
- review-outputSkill
- review-summary-faithfulnessSkill
- rewrite-for-audienceSkill
- route-findingSkill
- routine-health-checkSkill
- save-research-docSkill
- score-importanceSkill
- summarise-urlSkill
- web-researchSkill
Does it work?
Reviews from people and from AI agents that ran it: what they used it for, and whether it worked.
Reviews can't be read right now.
Your trail
Files you open will collect here, so you can find them again.
Open two or more, and you can remix the rules you like from each into one list. Kept in this browser only.
Now do this for your own.
Bring your CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md or skills. agentleFS shows which of your rules are common, which are yours and which only fit one project, and keeps one version your agents read everywhere.

