Content Research Writer skill review: verdict, safety and alternatives
Content Research Writer is a one-file Claude skill from ComposioHQ's awesome-claude-skills list. It outlines, critiques and polishes long-form articles. We rate it Conditional, 58/100: useful for structure and feedback, unsafe for citations you do not check.
- Skill
- Content Research Writer (ComposioHQ/awesome-claude-skills)
- Verdict
- Conditional
- Score
- 58/100
- Confidence
- Low
- Safety grade
- A
- Best for
- Writers who supply their own sources and want outline, hook and section feedback
- Poor fit
- Fact-heavy or academic work where every citation must be real and checkable
- Reviewed version
- no version · commit be2a406
- Review date
- 2026-09-30
- Works in (verified)
- none
- Works in (claimed)
- Claude Code
- Status
- No change to the skill file since review (checked 2026-10-21)
Get the skill: content-research-writer folder on GitHub · SKILL.md at the reviewed commit · skills.sh listing
What is the Content Research Writer skill?
The Content Research Writer skill is a single Markdown file in ComposioHQ's awesome-claude-skills list. It turns Claude into a co-writer for long articles: outlines, research, hooks, section feedback and a final review.
An Agent Skill is a folder of instructions that an AI agent loads when a task matches it. Read our primer on what Agent Skills are for the format. ComposioHQ curates the awesome-claude-skills list on GitHub; Anthropic did not publish this skill.
The SKILL.md file names seven capabilities:
- Collaborative Outlining: builds a structured outline with you.
- Research Assistance: finds facts and adds citations.
- Hook Improvement: rewrites your opening in several styles.
- Section Feedback: reviews each section as you draft it.
- Voice Preservation: keeps your tone and phrasing.
- Citation Management: formats references in one style.
- Iterative Refinement: improves the draft over several rounds.
| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Publisher | ComposioHQ (community list, not Anthropic) |
| Type | Agent Skill (one SKILL.md file) |
| File size | 14,244 bytes, about 3,561 tokens |
| Version | None published |
| Licence | None (GitHub reports no licence) |
| skills.sh installs | 7.7K |
| Repository stars | 77,512 (GitHub, 2026-10-21) |
| Install | npx skills add https://github.com/composiohq/awesome-claude-skills --skill content-research-writer |
Which Content Research Writer skill is this page about?
This page reviews the original Content Research Writer skill in ComposioHQ's awesome-claude-skills repository. Most directories host copies from davila7, Jst-Well-Dan or skillcreatorai. GitHub code search finds 547 copies of the same SKILL.md file, the original included.
| Listing | What it hosts | Relation to this review |
|---|---|---|
| ComposioHQ/awesome-claude-skills | The original SKILL.md | This page |
| awesomeskill.ai | Copy from davila7/claude-code-templates (17,665-star repo) | Same file, other repo |
| mcpmarket | Copy from Jst-Well-Dan/skill-box (10 stars) | Same file, other repo |
| skillshubmcp | ZIP download copy (228 downloads) | Same file, other host |
| explainx.ai | Copy from skillcreatorai | Same file, other repo |
| buildwithclaude | academic-research-writer | A different skill |
Is the Content Research Writer skill worth installing?
No, except for structure and feedback. The Content Research Writer skill scores 58/100, Conditional, at Low confidence. Its outline and feedback templates are solid, but its research examples model invented statistics and sources.
Our score leans toward the worst failure: a fake statistic or quote published as sourced fact. Safety and setup score high but carry little weight, and stale maintenance lowers the score. The evidence is thin, so confidence is Low. See how we rate evidence for the confidence rules.
| Criterion | Score | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Effectiveness | 62 | Good templates; no measured result exists |
| Reliability | 50 | Citation accuracy depends on the host's search |
| Safety | 85 | No code, network or credentials |
| Efficiency | 55 | About 3.6K tokens; Tessl conciseness 2/5 |
| Compatibility | 75 | Plain SKILL.md; Tessl validation 15/16 |
| Maintainability | 40 | Fix PRs #886 and #1957 sit unmerged |
| Setup friction | 90 | One file, no dependencies |
| Citation integrity | 35 | Examples show invented figures and quotes |
| Feedback and structure quality | 72 | Eight well-ordered steps |
| Voice preservation | 65 | Sample rewrites invent first-person anecdotes |
| Research tooling fit | 45 | No search tool or source format |
| Instruction weight vs value | 50 | Mostly fill-in templates and repeated lists |
| Cost of adoption | 90 | One command, no credentials |
Compare it with the best Claude writing skills, ranked by verdict score.
How many tokens does Content Research Writer use?
Content Research Writer loads about 3,561 tokens each time it triggers. Our estimate for a 1,500-word article is 60,000 input and 10,000 output tokens. Each feedback turn re-sends the draft.
| What | Input tokens | Output tokens |
|---|---|---|
| Skill file, loaded each time the skill triggers | 3,561 | n/a |
| Typical call, task plus skill file | 64,561 | 10,000 |
| Typical task, a 1,500-word article, our estimate, run 2 times a week | 60,000 | 10,000 |
Can Content Research Writer do research writing with real citations?
No, not on its own. Content Research Writer names no search tool and adds no check that sources exist. Its research examples show a fictional MIT quote and placeholder citations as finished output.
The research step tells Claude to search but names no tool. Results depend on your host agent's web search. It suggests a research.md file but no source-capture format. These lines appear verbatim in SKILL.md at commit be2a406:
"AI augments rather than replaces human creativity" - Dr. Jane Smith, MIT [3]
Gartner: 80% of PMs will use AI tools by 2025 [1]
Source: [citation]
One best-practice line tells the writer to verify sources. No step enforces it before a citation goes in. Two copies advertise the opposite. Mcpmarket promises "real-time research with citations", and skillshubmcp promises "consistent results". Both are marketing for copies, not independently reproduced. One arXiv study (2605.07723) estimates about 147K hallucinated citations in 2025 papers, a risk class beyond this skill.
Check each citation the skill adds:
- Open every link it cites.
- Match each quote to the exact source text.
- Check the date of every statistic.
- Delete any claim you cannot verify.
Is the Content Research Writer skill safe to install?
Yes, the Content Research Writer skill carries safety grade A. It is one 14 KB Markdown file with no scripts, network calls or credentials. Its risk is content accuracy, not the safety of your system.
Our review of the file at commit be2a406 found six facts about its behaviour:
- Contains only SKILL.md, with no scripts, hooks, MCP configs or agent manifests.
- References no network endpoints or environment variables.
- Relies on the host agent's web search for research.
- Suggests a ~/writing/
folder and versioned draft files, with no destructive commands. - Gives no prompt-injection guidance for content pulled from the web.
- Passes the Gen Agent Trust Hub, Socket and Snyk audits listed on skills.sh.
Read how we grade skill safety for the full checklist.
What does the community report about Content Research Writer?
The community reports little about Content Research Writer: 8 dated reports, 2 of them strong. Tessl scores it 51/100, mostly for verbosity. One marketer roundup ranks it second for research-bound posts without testing it.
Tessl is a public registry that grades Agent Skills files for quality.
| Source | Date | Finding | Strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tessl quality page | 2026-09 | 51/100; conciseness 2/5, actionability 3/5, workflow 4/5 | Strong |
| SKILL.md at be2a406 | 2026-07 | Invented stats, fictional MIT quote, placeholder citations | Strong |
| Tessl evals page | 2026-09 | No eval scenarios run | Weak |
| skills.sh | 2026-09 | 7.7K installs; three audits pass | Weak |
| rabinarayanpatra.com roundup | 2026-07 | Ranked second for research-bound posts, untested | Weak |
| GitHub PR #886 | 2026-05 | Safeguards PR for sibling skills, no maintainer response | Weak |
| GitHub PR #1957 | 2026-09 | Fix for seven broken README links, unmerged | Weak |
| arXiv 2605.07723 | 2026-05 | About 147K hallucinated citations in 2025 papers | Weak |
What are the Content Research Writer skill's known failures?
The Content Research Writer skill's known failures are about facts. Its examples present invented statistics, a fictional MIT quote and placeholder citations as finished work. Sample rewrites invent first-person anecdotes.
- Invented research: sample outputs show confident figures with fake or placeholder sources.
- No verification gate: no tool or step forces a real URL before a citation.
- Invented anecdotes: one sample rewrite claims the author analysed 500 interviews.
- Verbosity: Tessl rates the file 51/100 and conciseness 2/5.
- Slow maintenance: fix PRs #886 and #1957 sit unmerged, and the repository has no licence.
How do you install the Content Research Writer skill?
Install the Content Research Writer skill with npx skills add, pointing at ComposioHQ's awesome-claude-skills and the content-research-writer skill. Or copy the folder into your skills directory. It needs no keys.
Run this command:
npx skills add https://github.com/composiohq/awesome-claude-skills --skill content-research-writerFor a manual install, copy the folder to ~/.claude/skills/content-research-writer/. Our guide shows how to add skills to Claude Code step by step.
Claude Code is Anthropic's coding agent that loads Agent Skills. The publisher claims Claude Code support; we verified it in no agent. Any Agent Skills host loads a plain SKILL.md, but research depends on the host's web search. Browse Claude Code skills by verdict for reviewed options.
How do you use the Content Research Writer skill?
Use the Content Research Writer skill on a long post in eight steps, from brief to final polish. Ask for an outline, hook options and feedback section by section. Supply your own sources.
- Describe the writing project: topic, reader, length and goal.
- Build the outline together, then approve its structure.
- Conduct research, and paste in the sources you trust.
- Improve the hook by choosing one of several openings.
- Request feedback on each section as you draft it.
- Preserve your voice by rejecting rewrites that sound unlike you.
- Manage citations in one consistent format.
- Review and polish the full draft against the checklist.
Test the research half before you rely on it. Paste these prompt lines:
- Research five statistics on a niche topic.
- Cite a source for each one.
- Then open every cited source yourself.
- Count how many exist and say what is claimed.
What are the best Claude skills for content writing?
The best Claude skills for content writing in our reviews are Humanizer at 72 and Beautiful Prose at 62. Corey Haines Marketing Skills is a marketing pack. Content Research Writer scores 58.
The criterion is our verdict score out of 100.
| Skill | Our verdict | Score | Job |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corey Haines Marketing Skills | Not rated here | n/a | Marketing copy and strategy pack |
| Humanizer | Recommended with caveats | 72 | Rewrites text to remove AI patterns |
| Beautiful Prose | Conditional | 62 | Bans AI tics in fresh drafts |
| Content Research Writer | Conditional | 58 | Outlines and critiques long articles |
| AgriciDaniel/claude-blog | No verdict | n/a | Blog writing workflow |
Humanizer suits rewrites, and our Humanizer review covers its fact-changing examples. The Beautiful Prose verdict explains its fresh-draft focus.
How our ranking differs: aiskill.market ranks 15 content-writing skills by install signal. Its list includes neither Content Research Writer, Humanizer nor Beautiful Prose.
Where is the Content Research Writer skill on GitHub?
The Content Research Writer skill is on GitHub in ComposioHQ/awesome-claude-skills at content-research-writer/SKILL.md. We reviewed commit be2a406. The file has one commit in its GitHub history, from October 2025, and no licence.
- Path: content-research-writer/SKILL.md in ComposioHQ/awesome-claude-skills.
- Reviewed commit: be2a406, a repository commit dated 2026-07-24.
- Path history: one commit, 044d48b, on 2025-10-17.
- Popularity: 76,196 stars at review and 77,512 on 2026-10-21.
- Repository: 28 contributors, 0 releases and no licence.
Common questions
Is there a writing skill for Claude?
Yes, several exist. Our hub lists every reviewed writing skill with its score.
Is Claude good for content writing?
Yes, Claude drafts well on its own. This skill adds structure and feedback, and you supply the facts.
Does Content Research Writer suit research papers or academic writing?
No. Fact-heavy or academic work, where every citation must be real, is its first poor fit.
Is Content Research Writer from Anthropic?
No. It sits in ComposioHQ's community list on GitHub.
Is Content Research Writer free?
Yes, it is free to install. The repository has no licence file, so reuse rights are unclear.
Does Content Research Writer keep my voice?
Yes, mostly, through explicit voice-preservation rules in step 6. Sample rewrites still invent first-person anecdotes, so voice preservation scores 65.