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Add policy lookup skill for benefit/tax amount questions#62

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add-policy-lookup-skill
Open

Add policy lookup skill for benefit/tax amount questions#62
MaxGhenis wants to merge 1 commit intomainfrom
add-policy-lookup-skill

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@MaxGhenis
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Summary

  • Adds a new policyengine-policy-lookup skill that triggers on factual policy questions like "what is the TANF benefit for a single parent with 2 kids in Arkansas?"
  • Previously these questions fell through to web search because no skill description matched "what is", "how much", "max benefit", etc.
  • The skill teaches the simulation approach: create a household, calculate the variable, get the answer
  • Registered in essential, analysis-tools, and complete plugins

Why a new skill vs modifying existing ones

The existing policyengine-us-skill is about building simulations for analysis. This skill is about answering factual questions — different intent, different trigger words, different patterns. Keeping them separate avoids bloating the calculation skill.

What the skill covers

  • Quick pattern for "what benefit does this household get?"
  • Key program variable name table (TANF, SNAP, EITC, CTC, etc.)
  • Getting maximum benefit amounts (zero-income household)
  • State comparison pattern
  • TANF state coverage list
  • Varying family size
  • Discovering available variables
  • Troubleshooting when results are 0

Test plan

  • Verify skill appears in Claude Code skill list after plugin update
  • Test that asking "what is the TANF benefit for a single parent with 2 kids in CA?" triggers the skill
  • Verify the Python examples in the skill actually work

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

New skill triggers on factual policy questions ("what is the TANF benefit",
"how much SNAP does someone get", "max benefit amount") that previously
fell through to web search. Teaches the simulation-based approach: create
a household, calculate the variable, get the answer from PolicyEngine.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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