# Ada The AI research agent for your terminal. [![License](https://img.shields.io/badge/license-Apache%202.0-blue?style=flat-square)](LICENSE) [![Node](https://img.shields.io/badge/node-%3E%3D20.18.1-brightgreen?style=flat-square)](https://nodejs.org) [![Skills](https://img.shields.io/badge/skills-197-orange?style=flat-square)](#skills) [![Website](https://img.shields.io/badge/web-thinkwithada.com-0d9668?style=flat-square)](https://thinkwithada.com) Ada is an AI-powered research agent that runs in your terminal. Ask questions, search papers, run experiments, write drafts, and produce cited research artifacts. Built on [Pi](https://github.com/badlogic/pi-mono) with 197 scientific skills across 22 disciplines. --- ## Install ```bash git clone https://github.com/saikrishnabolla/ada.git cd ada npm install npm run build npm run dev ``` On first launch, Ada will install packages and walk you through model setup. Requires Node.js 20.18.1 or newer. --- ## Usage Just ask anything: ``` $ ada "what do we know about scaling laws?" ``` Or use workflows for structured research: ``` $ ada deepresearch "mechanistic interpretability" $ ada litreview "mRNA vaccine efficacy" $ ada audit 2401.12345 $ ada replicate "chain-of-thought improves math" ``` Inside the REPL, type naturally or use `/commands`: ``` /deepresearch thorough multi-source investigation /litreview literature review with citations /review simulated peer review /audit verify paper claims against its codebase /replicate replicate a paper's experiments /compare compare sources on a topic /draft write a paper-style draft /autoresearch autonomous experiment loop /help all commands ``` --- ## What Ada can do **Research** -- Search papers via AlphaXiv and Semantic Scholar, traverse citation graphs, run literature reviews with verified citations, and produce source-grounded briefs. **Write** -- Generate LaTeX papers, conference posters, slide decks (PPTX), Word documents, and publication-quality figures. Every claim is backed by a source. **Experiment** -- Run code locally, in Docker containers, or on cloud GPUs (Modal, RunPod). Replicate paper results with isolated execution environments. **Analyze** -- 197 scientific skills covering genomics, proteomics, drug discovery, clinical research, chemistry, physics, ML, finance, geospatial, and more. 325 pre-built workflow procedures across 22 disciplines. --- ## Agents Four specialized subagents, dispatched automatically for complex tasks: | Agent | Role | |-------|------| | **Researcher** | Gather evidence across papers, web, repos, docs | | **Reviewer** | Simulated peer review with severity-graded feedback | | **Writer** | Structured drafts from research notes | | **Verifier** | Inline citations, source URL verification, dead link cleanup | --- ## Skills Ada ships 197 skills organized into: - **Research tools** -- AlphaXiv paper search/Q&A, Semantic Scholar citation graphs, Crawl4AI web scraping, session search - **Scientific domains** -- Genomics (scanpy, biopython), drug discovery (rdkit, diffdock), clinical (clinvar, pubmed), proteomics, chemistry, physics, materials science, neuroscience, ecology, astronomy - **Databases** -- 250+ scientific databases including PubMed, ChEMBL, UniProt, COSMIC, ClinicalTrials.gov, OpenAlex, arXiv, KEGG, STRING, GnomAD - **Writing & visualization** -- LaTeX papers, posters, PPTX slides, DOCX, PDF manipulation, matplotlib, seaborn, plotly, Mermaid diagrams - **Compute** -- Docker sandbox, Modal (serverless GPU), RunPod (persistent GPU), Python REPL - **Workflow catalog** -- 325 pre-built procedures from data analysis to quantum circuit design --- ## Packages 27 Pi packages provide tools, agents, and integrations: | Category | Packages | |----------|----------| | Research | AlphaXiv, arXiv, Tavily web search, session search | | Agents | Subagents, task tracking, ultrathink review loops | | Documents | Document parser, markdown preview, PowerPoint, Zotero | | Visualization | Charts, Mermaid diagrams, Excalidraw canvas | | Compute | Python REPL, sandbox, process management | | Infrastructure | MCP adapter, command palette, context management | --- ## Configuration On first launch, run `setup` inside Ada to configure services interactively. Or edit `~/.ada/.env` directly: ```env # AI model (required -- at least one provider) ANTHROPIC_API_KEY= OPENAI_API_KEY= # Web search TAVILY_API_KEY= # Scientific databases (optional) S2_API_KEY= # Semantic Scholar OPENALEX_API_KEY= # OpenAlex NCBI_API_KEY= # PubMed/NCBI # Citation management ZOTERO_API_KEY= ZOTERO_LIBRARY_ID= ZOTERO_LIBRARY_TYPE=user # Cloud compute (optional) MODAL_TOKEN_ID= MODAL_TOKEN_SECRET= RUNPOD_API_KEY= OPENROUTER_API_KEY= ``` Global config at `~/.ada/.env` works from any folder. Project-specific `.env` overrides per directory. --- ## Architecture ``` ada/ ├── packages/alpha-hub/ AlphaXiv CLI and library ├── extensions/ Research tools (/help, /init, /outputs) ├── prompts/ Workflow templates (11 orchestrated workflows) ├── skills/ 197 scientific skills (SKILL.md files) ├── .ada/ │ ├── agents/ 4 subagent prompts │ ├── themes/ Ada terminal theme │ ├── settings.json Package configuration │ └── SYSTEM.md Agent personality and rules ├── src/ TypeScript source └── bin/ada.js CLI entry point ``` Built on the Pi agent runtime and Feynman by Companion AI. Scientific skills sourced from Claude Scientific Skills (MIT). --- ## Development ```bash git clone https://github.com/saikrishnabolla/ada.git cd ada npm install npm run dev # Run from source npm run build # Compile TypeScript npm test # Run tests (25 tests) npm run typecheck # Type checking ``` --- ## License Apache 2.0 -- see [LICENSE](LICENSE). [thinkwithada.com](https://thinkwithada.com)