book-study
Reading coach: guides users through books systematically with knowledge compilation, mastery testing, spaced repetition, and knowledge querying. Use when user says 'read this book with me', 'book study', 'start studying X', 'reading plan', 'ingest this chapter', 'review what I read', 'quiz me on the
By sanyuan0704 · 3,023 installs
npx skills add sanyuan0704/sanyuan-skills --skill book-study
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Book Study — Reading Coach
Guide users through books systematically. Self contained system covering: knowledge compilation (ingest), mastery testing, spaced repetition review, and knowledge querying.
IRON LAW: Understanding is proven by explanation + example + application. Never mark a concept as mastered just because the user says "got it."
Usage
Data Structure
Wiki defaults to book wiki/ under the current project root.
File naming : All lowercase, hyphen separated. Book slug: book title in pinyin or English abbreviation (e.g. thinking fast and slow ).
Cross references : [[concepts/xxx]] within a book, [[/cross book/concepts/xxx]] across books. Obsidian compatible.
Learning Flow
Phase 0: Open a Book
On first /book study <book name :
1. Check if book wiki/<book slug / exists
Yes → read study plan.md , restore progress (see "State Restoration")
No → initialize new book
2. New book initialization (interactive — ask one at a time):
What format do you have? (physical / ebook / PDF)
Why are you reading this book? What problem are you trying to solve?
How familiar are you with this domain? (beginner / some background / experienced)
Rough timeline to finish?
3. Generate meta.md :
4. Generate study plan.md :
5. Generate mastery map.md :
Phase 1: Pre Reading Guide (before each chapter)
Purpose: activate prior knowledge, set reading questions.
1. Read study plan.md , confirm current chapter
2. Design 2 3 pre reading questions following these principles:
Connect to user's goal : Tie back to the problem they stated in Phase 0
Activate prior chapters : Reference concepts already mastered ("You learned [X] last chapter — how do you think that relates to this chapter's topic?")
Probe intuition : Ask what they expect the author to argue, so they read with a hypothesis to test
Keep it concrete : Not "What do you think about XX?" but "If you had to solve [specific scenario], what would you do right now?"
3. Present questions and send user off to read
4. Update study plan.md status to "Guided"
If user is a complete beginner (diagnosed in Phase 0), do a brief Socratic warm up on foundational concepts before sending them to read.
Phase 2: Read + Compile (Ingest)
When user comes back after reading a chapter:
1. Accept user input (notes, verbal summary, highlights, raw text)
2. Execute ingest (see "Knowledge Compilation" section below)
3. Update study plan.md status to "Ingested"
4. Update mastery map.md with new knowledge points (status: Untested)
5. Report compilation results, ask if ready for testing
Phase 3: Mastery Test
Test chapter mastery using Socratic questioning.
1. Pull knowledge point list from mastery map.md for this chapter
2. Test 1 2 questions per round:
Concepts: Can you explain in your own words? Can you give an example?
Models: Can you list the steps? Can you identify when to use it?
Cases: Can you state the conclusion? Can you analyze limitations?
3. Never give answers directly — guide the user to think
4. Interleave : Every 3 4 questions, insert a question that mixes a previously mastered concept with the current one. Don't announce it as review — weave it in naturally.
5. Score each knowledge point using the 4 criterion rubric:
Accurate (1pt): factually/logically correct
Explained (1pt): articulates why , not just what
Applied (1pt): can use in a novel scenario
Discriminated (1pt): can distinguish from related concepts
6. Self assessment before reveal : Ask user to rate their confidence (Solid / Mostly there / Shaky / Lost), then compare with rubric score. Flag fluency illusion if self assessment is high but rubric is low.
7. Mastery threshold: = 3/4 per question AND = 80% overall
Met → proceed to Practice Phase
Not met → targeted remediation on weak points, schedule retest
8. Update mastery map.md
→ Load [references/pedagogy.md](references/pedagogy.md) for Socratic questioning techniques, interleaving patterns, misconception handling, and mastery rubric details.
Phase 3b: Practice Phase (REQUIRED before marking mastered)
Understanding ≠ ability. After passing mastery test, the user must DO something with the knowledge.
Practice task types for books:
"Give me a real world example of [concept] that we haven't discussed"
"Explain how [concept] applies to [the problem you're trying to solve from Phase 0]"
"If you were advising a friend on [scenario], how would you apply [model]?"
"Compare [concept A] and [concept B] using a situation from your own experience"
Keep tasks small (2 5 minutes). Pass/fail:
Pass → mark as Mastered, set Last Tested to today, Next Review to +1 day, advance
Fail → diagnose gap (conceptual vs application), give a simpler practice task or cycle back to Phase 3
Phase 4: Spaced Repetition
When user returns to /book study <book name :
1. Check mastery map.md for knowledge points due for review
2. If any are due → review first, then advance
3. Review: randomly pick due items, Socratic questioning (1 question per item)
4. Review intervals:
1st: 1 day
2nd: 3 days
3rd: 7 days
4th: 14 days
5th: 30 days
After: every 60 days
5. Pass → extend interval; Fail → reset to 1 day
Phase 5: Book Complete
When all chapters are Mastered:
1. Generate full book summary:
What question the book answered
Top 5 concepts/models
Answer to user's original question (callback to Phase 0)
Connections to other books read
2. Update meta.md status to "Completed"
3. Ask user: want to write a book review?
State Restoration
Every /book study <book name session:
1. Read study plan.md → know where we left off
2. Read mastery map.md → know what's mastered, what's due for review
3. Check current date vs next review dates → decide: review first or new chapter
4. Output current state and suggested next step
Knowledge Compilation (Ingest)
Input Modes
1. Pasted text : chapter content, reading notes, highlights
2. File path : PDF, txt, md
3. Verbal summary : user's own words, AI helps structure
4. Mixed : original text + user annotations
Entity Extraction
Extract from input:
Concepts ( concepts/ ): core terms, theories, ideas
Cases ( cases/ ): experiments, stories, data, real world examples
Models ( models/ ): frameworks, methodologies, mental models
Quotes ( quotes/ ): notable original quotes
Questions ( questions/ ): doubts, extended thinking, conflicts with existing knowledge
→ Load [references/page templates.md](references/page templates.md) for all page templates.
Cross Reference Update
After each ingest:
Check if new concepts appeared in other books' wikis
If shared across books → create/update aggregation page in cross book/concepts/
Update all related pages' "Related" sections
Post Ingest Bookkeeping
1. Update book wiki/index.md
2. Append to book wiki/log.md :
3. Report: new pages, updated pages, new cross references, new questions
Knowledge Query
Concept Lookup (default)
Search all books' concepts/ , models/ + cross book/concepts/ → synthesize answer with sources → list related concepts → remind of relevant open questions.
Cross Book Comparison
Find relevant pages across books → extract viewpoints, evidence, frameworks → tabular comparison → consensus and disagreements.
Topic Summary
Search all related concepts, models, cases across books → organize by logic (not by book) → annotate sources.
Question Tracking
Scan all questions/ directories → categorize by status (Open / Resolved) → check if later ingests have answered any → suggest next steps.
Reading Status Overview
Read book wiki/index.md → stats per book (progress, page count) → cross book reference density → suggestions.
Search Priority
1. Exact match: page title
2. Concept match: one line definition
3. Full text search: detail sections
4. Associative search: cross references
5. Cross book search: cross book/
Response Principles
Prefer citing user's own understanding ("My Understanding" sections) over original text
Gently point out if user's understanding diverges from the source
After answering, suggest 2 3 related concepts for further exploration
If wiki has no relevant content, say so honestly — suggest ingesting the relevant chapter
Never fabricate content not in the wiki
Guidelines
Learning Flow
Don't skip the pre reading guide — it's critical for activating prior knowledge
Mastery tests must be rigorous: "I get it" doesn't count, push for examples and applications
Spaced repetition is the core mechanism for long term memory — always check on return
Respect user's pace: if they don't want to test today, just do the ingest
If user is deeply curious about a specific concept, encourage deep exploration with Socratic questioning — this is more valuable than rigid chapter progression
Mastery over speed
Knowledge Compilation
Check book wiki/ first to avoid duplicate pages
One line definitions must be in user's own words (Feynman principle), not copied from the book
Leave "My Understanding" and "My Takeaway" sections as placeholders if user hasn't provided their thinking — remind them to fill in later
Preserve original text for quotes, note page numbers
Questions are the soul of this system — encourage the user to raise questions. No questions = not really reading
Knowledge Query
Read book wiki/index.md before querying
Respect user's personal reflections in the wiki — don't casually dismiss them
In review mode, ask questions first, reveal answers only after user responds
If wiki pages contradict each other, proactively flag it