grounded-citations

Generates numbered inline citations and verified Sources blocks from a URL ledger.

1|Updated Aug 11, 2026
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/Chia1104/agent-air --skill grounded-citations-chia1104
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent▼
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: grounded-citations
Source: https://github.com/Chia1104/agent-air/tree/main/skills/hermes/research/grounded-citations
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/Chia1104/agent-air --skill grounded-citations-chia1104

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

💡 This Skill includes scripts (resource) and references (resource) components.

What problem does it solve? AI-generated answers and documents often contain hallucinated or unverifiable citations because URLs are reconstructed from memory. This Skill eliminates that risk by assigning each retrieved source a stable numeric id in a persistent ledger, so the model only ever emits integers it was handed and the Sources block is rendered mechanically from the ledger. ## Core Features & Use Cases - Citation Ledger: Register URLs at retrieval time with sources.py add or ingest; ids are idempotent, URL-normalized, and stable across multi-turn and multi-subagent work. - Draft Verification: sources.py verify catches unknown citation ids, mismatched Sources blocks, and thin citation coverage via --strict, --min-coverage, and --evidence gates. - Fact-Checking Mode: Attach verbatim quotes to sources (rejected unless they literally appear in the fetched page text), flag model-knowledge claims with [unverified], and render an evidence block showing claim → source → exact supporting text. - Use Case: While writing a market research report, register every page from web_search and web_extract, cite sentences inline as [1][2], then run render --cited-in report.md and verify report.md --min-coverage 0.5 before delivering. ## Quick Start Ask the agent to research a topic across the web and write a report where every factual claim carries an inline numbered citation and a verified Sources list at the end.

Frequently Asked Questions about grounded-citations

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I add verifiable citations to AI-generated answers?▼

Register each retrieved URL with the citation ledger script at fetch time, which returns a stable numeric id. Cite sentences inline with those ids, then render the Sources block mechanically from the ledger so URLs are never typed from memory.

How to fact-check an AI-written research report?▼

Attach verbatim quotes from each fetched page to its ledger entry using the quote command, which rejects text not literally present in the page. Then run verify with the evidence flag to fail any draft whose cited sources carry no supporting quote.

Does the citation ledger work with multiple parallel agents?▼

Yes, parallel subagents can share one ledger by pointing them all at the same path via the --ledger flag or HERMES_CITATION_LEDGER environment variable. A cross-process lockfile prevents concurrent adds from assigning duplicate ids.

What output formats does the Sources block support?▼

The render command supports markdown, plain, footnotes, bibtex, and evidence styles. This covers chat replies, LaTeX reports, Word documents, slide decks, and wiki pages, with placement guidance in the citation-formats reference.

When should inline citations be skipped?▼

Skip citations when retrieval is incidental to another task, such as a quick syntax lookup mid-coding, casual conversation, or creative writing. The skill targets answers and artifacts that rest on fetched information the reader may want to check.