Hypothesis Formulation
Turns observations into testable hypotheses, competing explanations, and experimental predictions
- Repository
- aiming-lab/AutoResearchClaw
- Stars
- 14,802
- Licence
- MIT
- Files
- 1 file
What it does
When installed, this skill guides the agent through a structured scientific reasoning process: starting from an observation, reviewing what is already known, and writing clear null and alternative hypotheses. It pushes the agent to propose several competing explanations, state what each one predicts, and suggest experiments that could tell them apart, including controls for confounding variables and planning for null results. It is a set of written method guidelines only; it does not run any code or fetch data.
Great for
- Students writing a thesis or lab report who need help structuring hypotheses and predictions
- Researchers planning experiments who want competing explanations considered systematically
- Data analysts who want to define falsifiable claims before testing them
Skip it if
- Getting definitive scientific answers: the skill only structures reasoning, and the agent's proposed mechanisms still need expert and empirical validation
- Medical, safety-critical or regulatory decisions, where generated hypotheses should not stand in for qualified expert review
Try asking
- “Here are my plant growth observations under two light conditions. Help me formulate null and alternative hypotheses.”
- “Propose three competing explanations for why our app's churn rose last month, and what each one predicts.”
- “Design predictions and controls for testing whether a new fertilizer increases yield.”
Install in 3 steps
- 1
Download the skill
The ZIP contains the 1 original files, the MIT licence and an attribution note.
hypothesis-formulation.zip - 2
Add it to your agent
Claude Code (all projects)
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && unzip hypothesis-formulation.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/Claude Code / Agent SDK (this project only)
mkdir -p .claude/skills && unzip hypothesis-formulation.zip -d .claude/skills/Claude apps (web/desktop): Settings → Capabilities → Skills → Upload skill, and choose the ZIP.
- 3
Ask for the task
No special command needed — the agent reads the skill's description and loads it when your request matches. Try one of the prompts above.
Get better results
- Give the agent concrete observations and any data you already have so hypotheses are grounded in your specifics.
- Ask for competing hypotheses and their discriminating predictions, not just one answer.
- Review the suggested power analysis and controls with a domain expert before running experiments.
What's inside
- SKILL.md
Redistributed unmodified from aiming-lab/AutoResearchClaw under the MIT licence. The assessment was drafted with AI from the skill's files on 2026-10-29. Skills can instruct your agent to run code — read SKILL.md and any scripts before installing.