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What is science-superpowers?

k-dense-ai/science-superpowers — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

140ShellAudience · researcherComplexity · 2/5Setup · easy

In one sentence

A set of 15 installable skills that make an AI research agent follow rigorous scientific practice, like pre-registering hypotheses before seeing results.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((Science Superpowers))
    What it does
      Structures agent workflow
      Prevents result tweaking
      Auto triggers at right moments
    Workflow stages
      Frame hypothesis
      Review prior work
      Pre register analysis
      Investigate anomalies
      Skeptical review
    Tech stack
      Shell scripts
      15 skills
    Use cases
      Rigorous data analysis
      Reproducible research
      Root cause investigation

Code map

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filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Install the skills into an AI research agent so it pre-registers hypotheses before running an analysis.

USE CASE 2

Have an agent run data analysis in a reproducible workspace with pinned versions and fixed seeds.

USE CASE 3

Get an automatic skeptical review of an agent's conclusions before accepting them.

USE CASE 4

Add a structured, staged research process to any existing agent setup without extra dependencies.

What is it built with?

Shell

How does it compare?

k-dense-ai/science-superpowersitsinseong/value-for-fablecodecrafters-io/build-your-own-sqlite
Stars140136134
LanguageShellShellShell
Setup difficultyeasyeasymoderate
Complexity2/52/51/5
Audienceresearcherdeveloperdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 30min

Only needs a POSIX shell and an existing AI agent setup, no third-party dependencies.

The README does not state a license.

So what is it?

Science Superpowers is a set of instructions and reusable workflow scripts, called skills, that you install into an AI research agent to make it follow rigorous scientific practice automatically. The idea is that when you ask an AI agent to analyze data, a default agent often jumps straight to running code. This toolkit intercepts that habit and makes the agent follow a structured process instead, without you having to ask. The workflow mirrors how careful scientists work. Before touching any data, the agent first turns your question into a precise, testable hypothesis. It then reviews what is already known about the topic, designs the analysis, and commits its predictions and decision rules to a locked document. This locking step, called pre-registration, happens before any outcomes are seen. That discipline protects against a common pitfall in data analysis where a researcher tweaks the method until the data looks good, then claims the result was the original plan. The agent also runs the analysis in a reproducible workspace with pinned software versions and fixed random seeds, investigates anomalies by root cause rather than silently discarding them, and asks a separate skeptical reviewer to look for flaws before accepting any conclusion. The toolkit has 15 individual skills, each covering one stage of the research lifecycle: framing the question, reviewing prior work, designing the analysis, pre-registering it, executing it, investigating surprises, verifying results, reviewing critically, and archiving everything. The skills trigger automatically at the right moments in a session, so the user does not need to invoke them manually. Installation requires only a POSIX shell and the user's existing agent setup. There are no third-party software dependencies. The project is a reimplementation of a software-development methodology called Superpowers, adapted for data and science work rather than code.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Walk me through installing Science Superpowers into my AI agent setup.
Prompt 2
Explain how the pre-registration skill in this toolkit prevents tweaking an analysis after seeing the data.
Prompt 3
What are the 15 skills in this toolkit and what stage of research does each one cover?
Prompt 4
How do I set up a reproducible workspace with pinned versions using this toolkit?

Frequently asked questions

What is science-superpowers?

A set of 15 installable skills that make an AI research agent follow rigorous scientific practice, like pre-registering hypotheses before seeing results.

What language is science-superpowers written in?

Mainly Shell. The stack also includes Shell.

What license does science-superpowers use?

The README does not state a license.

How hard is science-superpowers to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is science-superpowers for?

Mainly researcher.

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