WTF-P

Write The F***ing Paper.

Also: Proposal. Presentation. Poster.

npx wtf-p

Academic writing commands for Claude Code, Gemini CLI, and OpenCode.

What This Does

WTF-P installs structured commands into your AI coding assistant that turn it into an academic writing system. You get spec-driven workflows, citation grounding, section isolation, and quality verification — not just "write me a paper." Every section is planned before it's written, verified after, and grounded in your actual BibTeX sources.

Quick Start

npx wtf-p                  # Install commands (Claude Code by default)

Then in your AI assistant:

/wtfp:new-paper            # Guided interview about your research
/wtfp:create-outline       # Build section structure + word budgets
/wtfp:plan-section 1       # Plan first section
/wtfp:write-section        # Write the section

Run /wtfp:help for the full command list.

Runtime Support

| Runtime | Commands | Agents | Extras | |---------|----------|--------|--------| | Claude Code | 36 | 11 | Skills, MCP server, plugin manifest | | Gemini CLI | 36 | 11 | — | | OpenCode | 36 | 11 | — |

npx wtf-p --global              # Claude Code (default)
npx wtf-p --global --gemini     # Gemini CLI
npx wtf-p --global --opencode   # OpenCode

Installation

# Default: install to Claude Code
npx wtf-p

# Global install (recommended — persists across projects)
npx wtf-p --global

# Local to current project only
npx wtf-p --local

# Specify a custom config directory
npx wtf-p --global --config-dir ~/research/.claude

# Check what's installed
npx wtf-p status

# Diagnose issues
npx wtf-p doctor

Upgrading

npx wtf-p update                    # Check for newer version
npx wtf-p --global                  # Reinstall (prompts on conflicts)
npx wtf-p --global --force          # Overwrite everything
npx wtf-p --global --backup-all    # Backup before overwriting

Uninstalling

npx wtf-p-uninstall --global
npx wtf-p-uninstall --global --dry-run   # Preview what would be removed

Only WTF-P files are removed. Your config files and other tools stay intact.

Command Reference

Setup

| Command | Purpose | |---------|---------| | /wtfp:new-paper | Guided interview to define your paper's vision and requirements | | /wtfp:create-outline | Build section structure, argument map, and word budgets | | /wtfp:map-project | Index existing drafts, data, and references | | /wtfp:analyze-bib | Analyze bibliography and map citations to sections |

Planning

| Command | Purpose | |---------|---------| | /wtfp:discuss-section [N] | Discuss your vision for a section before planning | | /wtfp:plan-section [N] | Create detailed writing plan with quality validation | | /wtfp:list-assumptions [N] | Preview intended approach before writing | | /wtfp:research-gap [N] | Research literature for a section (tiered: Semantic Scholar, Google Scholar, CrossRef) |

Writing

| Command | Purpose | |---------|---------| | /wtfp:write-section | Execute a section plan with agent-based writing | | /wtfp:execute-outline | Write all sections in parallel, then check coherence | | /wtfp:quick | Minimal-ceremony writing for quick tasks | | /wtfp:progress | Show writing progress and suggest next step | | /wtfp:pause-writing | Save current progress for later | | /wtfp:resume-writing | Resume from a previous session |

Review

| Command | Purpose | |---------|---------| | /wtfp:review-section [N] | Review for citations, coherence, and venue requirements | | /wtfp:verify-work [N] | Acceptance-test a section against its plan | | /wtfp:plan-revision [N] | Create revision plan from review issues | | /wtfp:polish-prose | Improve clarity, flow, and academic voice | | /wtfp:check-refs | Audit BibTeX for missing, duplicate, or broken references |

Structure

| Command | Purpose | |---------|---------| | /wtfp:create-poster | Full poster creation workflow | | /wtfp:create-slides | Presentation deck workflow | | /wtfp:insert-section | Add a new section to the outline | | /wtfp:remove-section | Remove a section from the outline |

Export & Submission

| Command | Purpose | |---------|---------| | /wtfp:export-latex | Export to LaTeX with bibliography and formatting | | /wtfp:audit-milestone | Pre-submission checks on sections, citations, and word counts | | /wtfp:plan-milestone-gaps | Create fix plans for gaps found by audit | | /wtfp:submit-milestone | Archive a completed draft or submission version |

Settings & Productivity

| Command | Purpose | |---------|---------| | /wtfp:settings | View and edit project settings interactively | | /wtfp:checkpoint | Save, restore, and list paper state checkpoints | | /wtfp:add-todo | Capture a quick note or task without breaking flow | | /wtfp:check-todos | Review pending todos (act, defer, dismiss) | | /wtfp:update | Check for updates and install newer version |

Help & Contributing

| Command | Purpose | |---------|---------| | /wtfp:help | Full command reference | | /wtfp:report-bug | Report a bug via GitHub issue | | /wtfp:request-feature | Request a new feature via GitHub issue | | /wtfp:contribute | Walk through contributing code via pull request |

Configuration

WTF-P uses a config.json in your .planning/ directory. Key settings:

{
  "model_profile": "balanced",        // "quality" | "balanced" | "budget"
  "workflow": {
    "research": true,                  // Enable research phase
    "plan_check": true,                // Pre-write plan validation
    "verifier": true                   // Post-write verification
  },
  "parallelization": {
    "enabled": false,                  // Parallel section writing
    "max_concurrent_agents": 3
  }
}

Model profiles route 11 specialized agents to appropriate models:

• quality — best models for all agents (slower, higher cost)
• balanced — strong models for writing, lighter for validation (default)
• budget — fastest models everywhere (good for iteration)

Venue Templates

| Template | Structure | |----------|-----------| | acm-cs | Intro → Background → Approach → Evaluation → Related Work → Conclusion | | ieee-cs | Intro → Background → Design → Implementation → Evaluation → Conclusion | | arxiv-ml | Intro → Related Work → Preliminaries → Method → Experiments → Conclusion | | nature | Intro → Methods → Results → Discussion | | thesis | Flexible chapter structure |

How It Works

WTF-P follows a thin orchestrator → specialized agent → quality loop architecture:

1. Specification first — /wtfp:new-paper interviews you to extract research questions, argument structure, evidence inventory, and venue requirements into a PROJECT.md.
2. Hierarchical planning — Papers break down: Paper Vision → Section Outline → Section Plan → Paragraph Execution. Each level has its own document.
3. Isolated execution — Each section is written in a fresh context containing only the paper vision, that section's plan, relevant citations, and prior sections. No context pollution.
4. Quality loops — Pre-write plan validation (7 dimensions, up to 3 revisions) and post-write goal-backward verification ensure claims match plans and evidence.

WCN Mode (Reduced Tokens)

For smaller models or limited context windows, WTF-P includes compressed workflows with 35-50% token reduction:

./tools/wcn/swap-workflows.sh wcn      # Switch to compressed
./tools/wcn/swap-workflows.sh verbose   # Switch back

Origin

Built at the Gnosis Research Center at Illinois Tech. The problem: research teams with grants to win, papers to publish, and no time for writer's block. The solution: treat your AI coding assistant as a structured writing system — proper context, explicit specs, verification layers.

Links

• Changelog
• Contributing
• Roadmap
• License (MIT)
• GitHub