What it does

Scientific Writer is a Python package and Claude Code plugin that generates academic documents—papers, posters, grant proposals, literature reviews—by first doing real-time literature search, then writing. It hooks into Perplexity Sonar Pro Search via OpenRouter for live research, then produces PDFs with proper citations, figure integration, and formatting for specific venues (Nature, NSF, NIH, etc.). You can use it as a CLI tool, a Python async API, or a Claude Code plugin with 19+ specialized skills.

The interesting bit

The plugin angle is the real hook: instead of copy-pasting between ChatGPT and Overleaf, you drop your CSVs and PNGs into a data/ folder and ask Claude to “create a Nature paper on CRISPR.” It auto-sorts files into figures and data, streams progress updates, and outputs a finished PDF with BibTeX references. The research lookup skill means it can find and cite actual 2022–2024 papers on mRNA vaccines, not hallucinate them.

Key highlights

• Three interfaces: Claude Code plugin (recommended), CLI, or async Python API with progress streaming
• Live research: Perplexity Sonar Pro Search integration for real-time literature lookup and verified citations
• Document types: IMRaD papers, NSF/NIH/DARPA grants, LaTeX conference posters, clinical case reports, literature reviews, market research reports
• Figure handling: Auto-organizes images and data files; AI diagram generation via Nano Banana Pro for CONSORT diagrams, neural nets, pathways
• Peer review skill: Quantitative 8-dimension ScholarEval framework for manuscript feedback

Caveats

• Requires both Anthropic and (optionally) OpenRouter API keys; the research lookup is gated behind the latter
• Python version pinned to 3.10–3.12, which may complicate integration with newer environments
• README is heavy on marketing language toward the parent company K-Dense; the open-source tool’s exact relationship to the commercial offering is unclear

Verdict

Worth a look if you’re a researcher who already lives in Claude Code and wants to automate the grunt work of formatting, citing, and structuring papers. Skip it if you need fine-grained LaTeX control or don’t want to route research queries through OpenRouter.