Opendraft AI Agent

OpenDraft: open-source research paper and thesis writer with verified citations

The open-source agent system that writes research papers with verified citations.

OpenDraft drafts research papers, literature reviews and thesis chapters from one topic, and keeps a citation only if at least two of Crossref, OpenAlex and Semantic Scholar hold its DOI. An open-source alternative to Jenni and ThesisAI: MIT licensed, runs on your own model key.

Website: opendraft.xyz · Docs · Sample PDF · Hosted version (OpenPaper)

Use OpenDraft as a skill in your own agent (Claude, ChatGPT), free → getedge.cc/skills/autonomous-research

<p align="center"> <a href="examples/Why_Academic_Thesis_AI_Saves_The_World.pdf"><img src="assets/readme/sample-draft.gif" width="900" alt="Pages from a real OpenDraft sample draft: title page, table of contents, introduction, results and a DOI-linked reference list"></a> <br>_{Real output: pages from the <a href="examples/Why_Academic_Thesis_AI_Saves_The_World.pdf">sample draft</a> (60 pages, 40+ citations).} </p>

Cited in research

• Talukder et al. (2026), Discourse2Draft: an AI-powered structured document writing tool, Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence. Peer-reviewed NIH paper, next to Stanford's STORM (comparison).
• Kong et al. (2026), AI for Auto-Research: Roadmap & User Guide, arXiv:2605.18661. NUS survey of research agents.

24k+ downloads: 20,289 on PyPI (pepy.tech) and 4,200 on npm, as of November 2026.

Quickstart

Requires Python 3.10+ and a Gemini API key (Claude and OpenAI also work).

pip install opendraft
opendraft setup                      # enter your Gemini API key
opendraft "Remote work and team productivity"

Command	What it does
opendraft	Interactive mode
opendraft "Topic" --level phd --lang de	Draft at a level (research_paper, bachelor, master, phd) and language
opendraft "Topic" --expose	Outline and sources only, faster
opendraft revise ./output "make the intro longer"	Revise a draft
opendraft tldr paper.pdf	5-bullet summary of any paper

Use it as a skill

In Claude Code, Codex or any agent that reads skills:

npx skills add federicodeponte/opendraft --skill autonomous-research

Then ask: Write a paper on <topic>. The skill lives in skills/autonomous-research/; it runs inside your agent and does not call this Python engine.

Run the engine yourself

git clone https://github.com/federicodeponte/opendraft.git
cd opendraft
pip install -e ./engine
cp .env.example engine/.env          # add your key
opendraft "Your topic"

Variable	Required	Purpose
GOOGLE_API_KEY	One key required	Gemini (default provider)
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY / OPENAI_API_KEY	Optional	Claude or OpenAI, with AI_PROVIDER=claude or openai
ENABLE_SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR	Optional	Set false if Semantic Scholar rate-limits you

All settings are listed in .env.example.

How it works

19 agents work in six phases: research, structure, compose, validate, refine, enhance. A source stays only if at least two of Crossref, OpenAlex and Semantic Scholar hold its DOI. That proves the work exists, not that every claim about it is right, so a second check judges whether each source fits its claim. Details: citation verification · pipeline · methodology.

FAQ

What is OpenDraft? An open-source agent system that researches and writes papers with verified citations. MIT licensed.

Is OpenDraft free? Yes. You pay only your model provider, about $0.35 to $3 per draft.

How are citations verified? A source stays only if at least two of Crossref, OpenAlex and Semantic Scholar hold its DOI. That proves it exists, not that every claim about it is right.

How long does a draft take, and in what formats? Usually 10 to 20 minutes. Export to PDF, Word and LaTeX.

Who has cited OpenDraft? A peer-reviewed NIH paper (Talukder et al., 2026), next to Stanford's STORM, and the NUS survey AI for Auto-Research (Kong et al., 2026).

Are the drafts ready to submit? No. They are starting points: review and edit before use, and follow your institution's policy on disclosure.

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md, ask in Discussions, and read the changelog.

License

MIT, see LICENSE. To cite OpenDraft, use CITATION.cff ("Cite this repository" on GitHub).