Auto Review Loop (Generic LLM): Autonomous Research Improvement
🔒 Do not wrap this skill in
/loop,/schedule, orCronCreate. Like/auto-review-loop, it already loops internally (review → fix → re-review), feeding each round's prior-round summary into the next review prompt (the backend is a stateless per-round API/MCP call, not a shared thread). An external timer re-enters from the top each tick, dropping that accumulated context and firing the verdict on wall-clock time instead of on artifact change — zero new signal, full token cost. Schedule the external wait that precedes it, not the verdict. Seeshared-references/external-cadence.md.
Autonomously iterate: review → implement fixes → re-review, until the external reviewer gives a positive assessment or MAX_ROUNDS is reached.
Context: $ARGUMENTS
Constants
- MAX_ROUNDS = 4
- POSITIVE_THRESHOLD: score >= 6/10 AND verdict ∈ {"ready", "almost"} — both must hold, matching the operative STOP check below. Verdict vocabulary is {"ready", "almost", "not ready"}. (Earlier wording used
orand a stale verdict set; theANDform is authoritative.) - REVIEW_DOC:
review-stage/AUTO_REVIEW.md(cumulative log) (fall back to./AUTO_REVIEW.mdfor legacy projects)
LLM Configuration
This skill uses any OpenAI-compatible API for external review via the llm-chat MCP server.
Configuration via MCP Server (Recommended)
Add to ~/.claude/settings.json:
json{ "mcpServers": { "llm-chat": { "command": "/usr/bin/python3", "args": ["/Users/yourname/.claude/mcp-servers/llm-chat/server.py"], "env": { "LLM_API_KEY": "your-api-key", "LLM_BASE_URL": "https://api.deepseek.com/v1", "LLM_MODEL": "deepseek-chat" } } } }
Supported Providers
| Provider | LLM_BASE_URL | LLM_MODEL |
|---|---|---|
| OpenAI | https://api.openai.com/v1 | gpt-4o, o3 |
| DeepSeek | https://api.deepseek.com/v1 | deepseek-chat, deepseek-reasoner |
| MiniMax | https://api.minimax.io/v1 | MiniMax-M3 |
| Kimi (Moonshot) | https://api.moonshot.cn/v1 | moonshot-v1-8k, moonshot-v1-32k |
| ZhiPu (GLM) | https://open.bigmodel.cn/api/paas/v4 | glm-4, glm-4-plus |
| SiliconFlow | https://api.siliconflow.cn/v1 | Qwen/Qwen2.5-72B-Instruct |
| 阿里云百炼 | https://dashscope.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1 | qwen-max |
| 零一万物 | https://api.lingyiwanwu.com/v1 | yi-large |
API Call Method
Primary: MCP Tool
mcp__llm-chat__chat: prompt: | [Review prompt content] model: "deepseek-chat" system: "You are a senior ML reviewer..."
Fallback: curl
bashcurl -s "${LLM_BASE_URL}/chat/completions" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer ${LLM_API_KEY}" \ -d '{ "model": "${LLM_MODEL}", "messages": [ {"role": "system", "content": "You are a senior ML reviewer..."}, {"role": "user", "content": "[review prompt]"} ], "max_tokens": 4096 }'
State Persistence (Compact Recovery)
Persist state to review-stage/REVIEW_STATE.json after each round:
json{ "round": 2, "status": "in_progress", "last_score": 5.0, "last_verdict": "not ready", "pending_experiments": [], "timestamp": "2026-03-15T10:00:00" }
Write this file at the end of every Phase E (after documenting the round).
On completion, set "status": "completed".
Workflow
Initialization
- Check
review-stage/REVIEW_STATE.jsonfor recovery (fall back to./REVIEW_STATE.jsonif not found — legacy path) - Read project context and prior reviews
- Initialize round counter
Loop (up to MAX_ROUNDS)
Phase A: Review
If MCP available:
mcp__llm-chat__chat: system: "You are a senior ML reviewer (NeurIPS/ICML level)." prompt: | [Round N/MAX_ROUNDS of autonomous review loop] [Full research context: claims, methods, results, known weaknesses] [Changes since last round, if any] 1. Score this work 1-10 for a top venue 2. List remaining critical weaknesses (ranked by severity) 3. For each weakness, specify the MINIMUM fix 4. State clearly: is this READY for submission? Yes/No/Almost Be brutally honest. If the work is ready, say so clearly.
If MCP NOT available:
bashcurl -s "${LLM_BASE_URL}/chat/completions" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer ${LLM_API_KEY}" \ -d '{ "model": "${LLM_MODEL}", "messages": [ {"role": "system", "content": "You are a senior ML reviewer (NeurIPS/ICML level)."}, {"role": "user", "content": "[Full review prompt]"} ], "max_tokens": 4096 }'
Phase B: Parse Assessment
CRITICAL: Save the FULL raw response verbatim. Then extract:
- Score (numeric 1-10)
- Verdict ("ready" / "almost" / "not ready")
- Action items (ranked list of fixes)
STOP: If score >= 6 AND verdict ∈ {"ready", "almost"} (exact — "not ready" does NOT qualify)
Phase C: Implement Fixes
Priority: metric additions > reframing > new experiments
Phase D: Wait for Results
Monitor remote experiments
Phase E: Document Round
Append to review-stage/AUTO_REVIEW.md:
markdown## Round N (timestamp) ### Assessment (Summary) - Score: X/10 - Verdict: [ready/almost/not ready] - Key criticisms: [bullet list] ### Reviewer Raw Response <details> <summary>Click to expand full reviewer response</summary> [Paste the COMPLETE raw response here — verbatim, unedited.] </details> ### Actions Taken - [what was implemented/changed] ### Results - [experiment outcomes, if any] ### Status - [continuing to round N+1 / stopping]
Write review-stage/REVIEW_STATE.json with current state.
Termination
- Set
review-stage/REVIEW_STATE.jsonstatus to "completed" - Write final summary
Key Rules
-
Large file handling: If the Write tool fails due to file size, immediately retry using Bash (
cat << 'EOF' > file) to write in chunks. Do NOT ask the user for permission — just do it silently. -
Anti-hallucination citations: When adding references, NEVER fabricate BibTeX. Use DBLP → CrossRef →
[VERIFY]chain. Do NOT generate BibTeX from memory. -
Be honest about weaknesses
-
Implement fixes BEFORE re-reviewing
-
Document everything
-
Include previous context in round 2+ prompts
-
Prefer MCP tool over curl when available
Prompt Template for Round 2+
mcp__llm-chat__chat: system: "You are a senior ML reviewer (NeurIPS/ICML level)." prompt: | [Round N/MAX_ROUNDS of autonomous review loop] ## Previous Review Summary (Round N-1) - Previous Score: X/10 - Previous Verdict: [ready/almost/not ready] - Previous Key Weaknesses: [list] ## Changes Since Last Review 1. [Action 1]: [result] 2. [Action 2]: [result] ## Updated Results [paste updated metrics/tables] Please re-score and re-assess: 1. Score this work 1-10 for a top venue 2. List remaining critical weaknesses (ranked by severity) 3. For each weakness, specify the MINIMUM fix 4. State clearly: is this READY for submission? Yes/No/Almost Be brutally honest. If the work is ready, say so clearly.
Output Protocols
Follow these shared protocols for all output files:
- Output Versioning Protocol — write timestamped file first, then copy to fixed name
- Output Manifest Protocol — log every output to MANIFEST.md
- Output Language Protocol — respect the project's language setting

