WRITE Stage Modes in the ARS Pipeline: Plan vs Full Guide

The WRITE stage in the ARS (Academic Research Skills) pipeline supports two execution modes—plan for iterative outline generation and full for comprehensive draft production through all seven writing phases.

The Imbad0202/academic-research-skills repository implements a structured academic writing workflow where Stage 2 (WRITE) dispatches the academic-paper skill. Understanding these WRITE stage modes helps researchers select between structured planning assistance and complete manuscript generation.

Understanding the WRITE Stage Architecture

In the ARS pipeline architecture, Stage 2 — WRITE serves as the core writing phase that orchestrates the academic-paper skill. According to academic-pipeline/SKILL.md, this stage acts as a controlled gateway that exposes only specific operational modes from the broader skill set.

The pipeline orchestrator defined in academic-pipeline/agents/pipeline_orchestrator_agent.md handles the dispatch logic, ensuring that only approved modes execute within the standardized research workflow.

Available WRITE Stage Modes

The ARS pipeline constrains the academic-paper skill to two primary execution modes. While the underlying skill supports additional variants—including outline-only, lit-review, revision-coach, and abstract-only—the pipeline specifically exposes only plan and full for Stage 2 operations.

Plan Mode

Plan mode generates a structured paper outline and chapter-by-chapter development plan through a guided, Socratic dialogue process. This mode focuses exclusively on architectural planning without producing manuscript content.

Key characteristics include:

• Structured outline generation with hierarchical section planning
• Interactive Socratic methodology for refining research scope
• Detailed chapter-by-chapter roadmap creation
• No actual draft text production

Full Mode

Full mode executes the complete academic writing pipeline across Phases 0 through 7, delivering a comprehensive paper draft with full scholarly apparatus.

This mode encompasses:

• Phase execution: Runs through Phases 0‑7, including literature-strategist analysis, argument-builder logic, and draft-writer composition
• Citation compliance: Automated verification against academic formatting standards
• Abstract generation: Automated synthesis of the complete manuscript
• Optional visualization: Integration of figures and data representations when required

How to Execute Each Mode

Trigger the WRITE stage using the dedicated CLI commands defined in the repository's commands directory. Each command invokes the academic-pipeline orchestrator, which internally routes to the appropriate mode.

To launch plan mode, execute:

ars-plan

This command references the specification in commands/ars-plan.md and initializes the Socratic planning dialogue.

To launch full mode, execute:

ars-full

As defined in commands/ars-full.md, this command triggers the complete seven-phase writing process and generates the full manuscript draft.

Technical Implementation Details

Mode selection occurs at the pipeline orchestration layer. The academic-pipeline/agents/pipeline_orchestrator_agent.md file contains the dispatch logic that maps CLI invocations to specific academic-paper skill configurations.

The constraint to only plan and full modes represents an intentional architectural decision in the ARS pipeline. While academic-paper/SKILL.md defines eight distinct operational modes for the skill itself, the pipeline's Stage 2 WRITE specification deliberately limits exposure to these two production-ready variants. This ensures workflow consistency while preventing intermediate skill modes from disrupting the standardized research pipeline.

Summary

• The ARS pipeline WRITE stage supports two primary modes: plan for outline generation and full for complete draft production.
• Plan mode uses Socratic dialogue to create chapter-by-chapter roadmaps without generating draft text.
• Full mode executes Phases 0‑7 including literature strategy, argument building, citation compliance, and abstract generation.
• Execute modes via ars-plan and ars-full commands, which route through the pipeline orchestrator.
• The pipeline intentionally limits available modes despite the underlying academic-paper skill supporting additional variants.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between plan and full modes in the ARS pipeline?

Plan mode produces structural outlines and research roadmaps through interactive dialogue without generating manuscript content. Full mode executes the complete seven-phase writing workflow to produce a full paper draft including citations, abstracts, and optional visualizations.

Can I use other academic-paper skill modes within the ARS pipeline?

No. While the academic-paper skill defined in academic-paper/SKILL.md supports modes like lit-review, revision-coach, and abstract-only, the ARS pipeline's Stage 2 WRITE specifically limits dispatch to only plan and full modes. This constraint ensures workflow standardization.

How does the pipeline orchestrator handle mode selection?

The orchestrator logic in academic-pipeline/agents/pipeline_orchestrator_agent.md receives CLI inputs from ars-plan or ars-full commands and maps these to the corresponding mode parameter when dispatching the academic-paper skill. This abstraction layer prevents direct skill invocation outside the defined pipeline constraints.

Which WRITE stage mode should I choose for my research project?

Select plan mode when you need to establish paper structure, scope, and chapter organization before writing. Select full mode when you have completed your research and require a complete draft manuscript with full academic formatting and citation management.

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