Skill v1.0.0
currentAutomated scan100/100name: Cleaning Up Research Sessions description: Safely remove intermediate files from completed research sessions while preserving important data when_to_use: After research session is complete and consolidated. When research folder has accumulated temporary files. Before archiving or sharing research session. version: 1.0.0
Cleaning Up Research Sessions
Overview
Remove intermediate files created during research workflow while preserving all important data.
Core principle: Conservative cleanup with user confirmation. Never delete anything important.
When to Use
Use this skill when:
- Research session is complete and consolidated
- Preparing to archive or share research session folder
- Research folder has accumulated temporary/intermediate files
- User explicitly asks to clean up
When NOT to use:
- Research is still in progress
- User hasn't reviewed final outputs yet
- Unsure what files are safe to delete
Files That Are ALWAYS KEPT
NEVER delete these (protected list):
Core outputs:
SUMMARY.md- Enhanced findings with methodologyrelevant-papers.json- Filtered relevant paperspapers-reviewed.json- Complete screening historypapers/directory - All PDFs and supplementary filescitations/citation-graph.json- Citation relationships
Methodology documentation:
screening-criteria.json- Rubric definition (if exists)test-set.json- Rubric validation papers (if exists)abstracts-cache.json- Cached abstracts for re-screening (if exists)rubric-changelog.md- Rubric version history (if exists)
Auxiliary documentation (if exists):
README.md- Project overviewTOP_PRIORITY_PAPERS.md- Curated priority listevaluated-papers.json- Rich structured data
Project configuration:
.claude/directory - Permissions and settings*.pyhelper scripts that were created - Keep for reproducibility
Files That May Be Cleaned Up
Candidates for removal (with confirmation):
Intermediate search results:
initial-search-results.json- Raw PubMed results before screening- Safe to delete: Data is in papers-reviewed.json
- Reason to keep: Shows raw search results for reproducibility
Temporary files:
*.tmpfiles*.swpfiles (vim swap files).DS_Store(macOS)__pycache__/(Python cache)*.pyc(Python compiled)
Log files:
*.logfilesdebug-*.txtfiles
Cleanup Workflow
Step 1: Analyze Research Session
cd research-sessions/YYYY-MM-DD-description/# List all files with sizesfind . -type f -exec ls -lh {} \; | awk '{print $5, $9}' | sort -rh
Identify files by category:
- Core outputs (MUST keep)
- Methodology files (SHOULD keep)
- Intermediate files (candidates for cleanup)
- Temporary files (safe to delete)
Step 2: Present Cleanup Plan to User
Show what will be deleted:
🧹 Cleanup Analysis for: research-sessions/2025-10-11-btk-selectivity/Files to KEEP (protected):✅ SUMMARY.md (45 KB)✅ relevant-papers.json (12 KB)✅ papers-reviewed.json (28 KB)✅ papers/ (14 PDFs, 32 MB)✅ citations/citation-graph.json (5 KB)✅ screening-criteria.json (2 KB)✅ abstracts-cache.json (156 KB)Files that CAN be removed (intermediate):🗑️ initial-search-results.json (8 KB) - Raw PubMed results🗑️ .DS_Store (6 KB) - macOS metadataTotal space to recover: 14 KBProceed with cleanup? (y/n/review)
Options:
y- Delete intermediate filesn- Cancel cleanup, keep everythingreview- Show contents of each file before deciding
Step 3: Confirm Deletions
Before deleting ANY file:
- Verify it's not in protected list
- Check file isn't referenced in SUMMARY.md
- Confirm with user one more time
Example confirmation:
About to delete:- initial-search-results.json (8 KB)This file contains raw PubMed search results. The data is preserved inpapers-reviewed.json, so this is safe to delete.Confirm deletion? (y/n)
Step 4: Perform Cleanup
Delete confirmed files:
# Move to trash instead of rm (safer)# On macOS:mv initial-search-results.json ~/.Trash/# On Linux:mv initial-search-results.json ~/.local/share/Trash/files/# Or use rm if user confirmsrm initial-search-results.json
Report results:
✅ Cleanup complete!Removed:- initial-search-results.json (8 KB)- .DS_Store (6 KB)Space recovered: 14 KBProtected files preserved:- All 8 core files kept- All 14 PDFs kept- All methodology documentation kept
Step 5: Verify Integrity
After cleanup, verify critical files:
# Check core files existtest -f SUMMARY.md && echo "✓ SUMMARY.md"test -f relevant-papers.json && echo "✓ relevant-papers.json"test -f papers-reviewed.json && echo "✓ papers-reviewed.json"test -d papers && echo "✓ papers/ directory"# Verify JSON files are validjq empty relevant-papers.json && echo "✓ relevant-papers.json valid JSON"jq empty papers-reviewed.json && echo "✓ papers-reviewed.json valid JSON"
Report to user:
✅ Integrity check passed- All core files present- All JSON files valid- All PDFs intact
Special Cases
Case 1: Large abstracts-cache.json
If abstracts-cache.json is very large (>100 MB):
⚠️ abstracts-cache.json is 256 MBThis file enables re-screening if you update the rubric. Options:1. Keep (recommended if you might refine rubric)2. Compress (gzip to ~50 MB, can decompress later)3. Delete (only if research is final and won't be updated)Choice? (1/2/3)
If user chooses compress:
gzip abstracts-cache.json# Creates abstracts-cache.json.gzecho "Compressed abstracts-cache.json to $(du -h abstracts-cache.json.gz | cut -f1)"
Case 2: Helper Scripts
If user created helper scripts during research:
📝 Found helper scripts:- screen_papers.py (created for batch screening)- deep_dive_papers.py (created for data extraction)These scripts document your methodology. Recommendations:- Keep for reproducibility- Add comments if not already documented- Reference in SUMMARY.md under "Reproducibility" sectionKeep scripts? (y/n)
Case 3: Multiple Research Sessions
If cleaning up multiple sessions:
# Find all research sessionsfind research-sessions/ -maxdepth 1 -type d# For each session:for session in research-sessions/*/; doecho "Analyzing: $session"# Run cleanup analysisdone
Ask user:
Found 5 completed research sessions.Clean up all sessions? (y/n/select)- y: Analyze and clean all sessions- n: Cancel- select: Choose which sessions to clean
Safety Mechanisms
Protected File List
Maintain hardcoded list of patterns to NEVER delete:
PROTECTED_PATTERNS = ['SUMMARY.md','relevant-papers.json','papers-reviewed.json','papers/*.pdf','papers/*.zip','citations/citation-graph.json','screening-criteria.json','test-set.json','abstracts-cache.json','rubric-changelog.md','README.md','TOP_PRIORITY_PAPERS.md','evaluated-papers.json','*.py', # Helper scripts'.claude/*', # Project settings]
Before deleting any file:
def is_protected(filepath):"""Check if file matches any protected pattern"""for pattern in PROTECTED_PATTERNS:if fnmatch(filepath, pattern):return Truereturn False# Never delete protected filesif is_protected(file_to_delete):print(f"⚠️ ERROR: {file_to_delete} is protected and cannot be deleted")return
Dry Run Mode
Always show what will be deleted before doing it:
# Dry run (show only, don't delete)echo "DRY RUN - No files will be deleted"for file in $candidate_files; doif is_safe_to_delete "$file"; thenecho "Would delete: $file ($(du -h $file | cut -f1))"fidoneecho ""echo "Proceed with actual deletion? (y/n)"
Integration with Other Skills
After answering-research-questions workflow:
- Complete Phase 8 (consolidation)
- User reviews SUMMARY.md and relevant-papers.json
- Optionally: Run cleaning-up-research-sessions
- Archive or share research folder
Add to answering-research-questions Phase 8:
### Optional: CleanupAfter reviewing outputs, optionally clean up intermediate files:"Research session is complete. Would you like me to clean up intermediate files?I'll show you what will be deleted before removing anything."If yes: Use `cleaning-up-research-sessions` skill
Common Mistakes
Deleting papers-reviewed.json: This is the deduplication database - NEVER delete → Always protect with hardcoded list Deleting abstracts-cache.json: Needed for re-screening → Ask user, default to keep Deleting helper scripts: Important for reproducibility → Keep by default, ask if user wants to remove Not showing user what will be deleted: User needs to see the plan → Always show dry run first Deleting without confirmation: Too risky → Always ask for final confirmation Not verifying after cleanup: Files could be corrupted → Run integrity check after deletion
Quick Reference
| Action | Command | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| List all files with sizes | `find . -type f -exec ls -lh {} \; \ | sort -rh` | |
| Check if JSON valid | jq empty file.json | ||
| Move to trash (macOS) | mv file ~/.Trash/ | ||
| Move to trash (Linux) | mv file ~/.local/share/Trash/files/ | ||
| Compress large file | gzip file | ||
| Calculate folder size | du -sh . |
Success Criteria
Cleanup successful when:
- All protected files still exist and are valid
- Only confirmed intermediate files deleted
- User knows what was deleted and why
- Space recovered is reported
- Integrity check passed
- Research session is still fully functional
Example Session
User: "Can you clean up the research session folder?"Agent: "I'll analyze the research session and show you what can be safely cleaned up."[Analyzes folder]Agent: "🧹 Cleanup Analysis for: research-sessions/2025-10-11-btk-selectivity/Files to KEEP (protected):✅ SUMMARY.md (45 KB) - Final findings✅ relevant-papers.json (12 KB) - Filtered results✅ papers-reviewed.json (28 KB) - Complete history✅ papers/ (14 PDFs, 32 MB) - Downloaded papers✅ citations/citation-graph.json (5 KB) - Citation network✅ screening-criteria.json (2 KB) - Rubric definition✅ abstracts-cache.json (156 KB) - Cached abstractsFiles that CAN be removed:🗑️ initial-search-results.json (8 KB) - Raw PubMed results→ Data is preserved in papers-reviewed.json🗑️ .DS_Store (6 KB) - macOS metadata→ Not neededTotal space to recover: 14 KBProceed with cleanup? (y/n/review)"User: "y"Agent: "Final confirmation - About to delete:- initial-search-results.json (8 KB)- .DS_Store (6 KB)All protected files will be preserved. Confirm? (y/n)"User: "y"Agent: [Deletes files]"✅ Cleanup complete!Removed:- initial-search-results.json (8 KB)- .DS_Store (6 KB)Space recovered: 14 KBRunning integrity check...✅ All core files intact✅ All JSON files valid✅ All 14 PDFs presentResearch session is ready for archiving or sharing."
Next Steps
After cleanup:
- Research folder is clean and ready to archive
- Share folder with collaborators
- Move to long-term storage
- Continue with follow-up research if needed