Exam Tutor

exam-tutor — chapter teaching

Purpose

Teach exactly one current wiki chapter, using metaphors and formula dissection. In zero-basic mode, explain every linked key question with the fixed seven-step walkthrough. Run algorithms before rendering diagrams. This skill teaches; exam-quiz alone quizzes and scores.

Activation

Use when exam-cram routes the current phase to teaching, or the student asks to learn the current chapter, derive a formula, or explain a key question.

Inputs

• In processing_mode=lightweight: one schema-3 visually accepted current-page batch

from .lightweight/session.json plus its original pages and declared-scope

prompt/answer component assets; no compiled wiki is required.

• references/wiki/chN_*.md: the one current chapter; never read the whole wiki.
• references/teaching_examples.json: optional examples, read only through the chapter-filtering CLI below; never an answer source.
• study_state.json: progress source of truth when present; otherwise the generated study_progress.md compatibility view.

Workflow

• Load one slice. Read study_state.json.processing_mode first. In

lightweight, call lightweight_session.py status, plan only the current

source/page range if it is not already planned, visually inspect those pages,

and import the generic item/component manifest with record-visual; teach only a

schema-3 visual_ready batch. A schema-2 visual_ready receipt is quarantined

read-only: auditably abandon it and plan a new attempt, never teach from or

silently upgrade it. While still planned, keep register-answer-dependency

additive; use set-answer-dependency --reason to replace/narrow exact answer

pages and remove-answer-dependency --reason to remove them. Do not call

ingestion/OCR, preload later pages, or require a

wiki. In full, read exactly one current references/wiki/chN_*.md. A missing

full-mode file means abstain, name it, and never improvise. If full-mode teaching

examples exist, run `python "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/list_teaching_examples.py"

--workspace <ws> --chapter <N> --json` and use only its returned slice. When the

full-mode effective cadence below is step_by_step, use --next-pending instead

of loading the whole chapter example slice. A nonzero

exit is an invalid/unreadable inventory, not “no examples”; report it.

• Teach reproducibly. Give each concept one concrete metaphor. For STEM, state every formula symbol and unit, then one small hand-computable example. Persist math as $...$ or $$...$$; never leave raw \frac, \sum, or other TeX as the final reading view.

• Use every walkthrough block in order for every stored/teacher-flagged question and every linked question in zero-basic mode.

Full-mode pacing: read the stored preference plus its reported effective and

dormant state. study_state.json.preferences.interaction_style stores only

batch|step_by_step; missing legacy state means batch. This optional preference

is independent from processing_mode, artifact_mode, and

answer_explanation_mode, and is not a fourth required startup choice. Persist an

explicit change only with `update_progress.py --workspace <ws> set

--interaction-style <batch|step_by_step>` (or the strictly validated canonical

--pref interaction_style=...). It never changes the lightweight page-batch route.

This option applies only to full-mode teaching_examples.json items. It does not

claim coverage of the chapter bank, typed question units, or the lightweight

page-batch route.

• Effective batch: use the normal full-mode flow. A true

preferences.no_questions=true or any non-full processing mode makes a stored

step_by_step choice dormant without overwriting it. A stored batch choice

remains ordinary batch cadence.

• Effective step_by_step: call `list_teaching_examples.py --workspace <ws>

--chapter <N> --next-pending --json. It requires processing_mode=full`,

no_questions=false, exact current_phase, and valid scoped manifest/state data.

It reads the manifest, state, notebook bindings, and baseline within one

consistent workspace lock, then returns the first manifest-ordered pending item.

A missing manifest, malformed state, or nonzero selector exit blocks the pacing

decision; report it and do not guess another item. Two bindings may not share one

notebook_ref. Only a missing notebook entry or anchor/marker/hash/revision drift

may return to pending with bounded stable diagnostics. Link/reparse topology,

non-directory/non-regular targets, path escape, invalid UTF-8, an unterminated

fence, parse/block corruption, schema/scope/baseline damage, duplicate evidence,

and unexpected_evidence are fatal.

Unbound IDs already present in phase_evidence[N].teaching_examples are legal

batch/legacy history rather than corrupt step evidence; any ID with a

teaching_example_bindings record must pass its live notebook-block and

manifest-item hash checks regardless of the currently selected cadence. Teach

exactly that one item this turn, but complete all seven blocks below; never split

one walkthrough across turns. Do not infer progress from notebook presence,

language-specific prose, or “I understand” / Continue. If next=null,

teaching_example_roster_exhausted=true means only that this full teaching roster

has no pending item, including an empty roster; it never completes the chapter or

bypasses Guide, bank, typed-unit, asset, checkpoint, or phase gates.

A structurally sound current roster with either a stale manifest/notebook binding

or an append-only newly added item is a named usable_with_gaps mount warning so

manifest-order re-teaching remains legal. Structural/scope/baseline corruption

stays blocked; the old Guide/completion receipt remains ineligible. Teaching IDs

use the shared 1–200-character Guide-safe Unicode contract; keep an incompatible

source-facing label in source/title metadata instead of changing a stable ID. If

the ID alone produces an empty Markdown slug, the notebook entry needs a

descriptive title. Every retained baseline ID must have a current teaching

snapshot in the same canonical chapter under exact policy=append_only; a

quiz-only copy cannot substitute.

For each active question to be explained:

• ① 题面图: satisfy the visual gate in step 4 first; without a figure say 「本题无图，直接看题干条件」.
• ② 这题在问什么: explain the ask and 考点 in plain language. Never jump from the prompt to ④.
• ③ 图里要读的量: name each condition/quantity and its location; humanities variant: 「材料里要读的关键句/概念」.
• ④ 核心公式: formula/theorem plus symbol meanings and units; humanities: 「核心概念/理论框架」.
• ⑤ 逐步演算: substitute and derive without skipped algebra; humanities: 「逐点展开论证」. If no teacher/material answer exists, the title must be ⑤ 逐步演算（⚠️ AI生成答案，非老师/教材提供）.
• ⑥ 为什么这个答案成立: use the current item as the only course-item context and explain the supplied answer for a zero-prerequisite student—connect the ask to each quantity/concept, define every symbol/rule, show substitutions/reasoning, cover every subquestion, and state what the result means. If the prompt/answer is insufficient or inconsistent, say so instead of inventing facts. Do not add a generic answer-self-check panel.
• ⑦ 知识点溯源: chapter, wiki path, and clickable original location from source fields. Unknown location must say 「来源页未知」; never invent it. Humanities may append one 「可能考点：…」 line.

Immediately after ⑦, end with one source line in the active language: 题目来源：<文件/页/source_type>｜答案来源：<材料位置/老师·教材提供/AI 推导（无教材答案）>｜<canonical label> or Question source: <file/page/source_type> | Answer source: <...> | <label>. Missing metadata says 「来源未知」 / Source unknown. The label is exactly one canonical sentence from docs/language-policy.md: 🟢 来自资料; 🟡 AI补充，可能与你老师讲的不完全一致; or ⚠️ AI生成答案，非老师/教材提供 (and its English counterpart). With no material answer, both ⑤ and this line carry the full ⚠️ sentence.

The seven blocks plus source line are the complete default. 易错点 / 3分钟速记 / 现在轮到你 appear only when requested or stored in 讲解模板; legacy 【考点拆解】 and 【标准答题模板/步骤】 are already covered by ② and ④⑤ and must not be duplicated.

Honor a stored 讲解模板 preference. If absent and the tier is not ≤1天, ask once for 七步精讲 (STEM default) or 文科变体, then persist it with python "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/update_progress.py" --workspace <ws> set --pref 讲解模板=<七步精讲|文科变体>. In the ≤1天 tier, asking is forbidden: immediately use 七步精讲 for STEM or 文科变体 for clear non-STEM and persist that inferred default silently. Neither variant may remove a block or source line. If state is absent and Python works, initialize it first; only a true no-Python fallback may write the generated view.

Persist before replying: pipe the complete walkthrough to python "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/notebook.py" --workspace <ws> add-entry --chapter <N> --type walkthrough --id <qid> --title <gist>. Omit --lang to inherit the canonical zh|en|bilingual value from study_state.json, or pass that same value explicitly; never store a bilingual body under a fake zh override. Quiz/teaching/notebook/Guide IDs share the safe-Unicode 1–200-character contract; if the ID alone generates an empty Markdown slug, supply a descriptive title. The same chapter/id replaces in place and rebuilds notebook/index.md. For effective full-mode step_by_step, add --teaching-example; this writes a reserved ID-bound marker. After that succeeds, use only update_progress.py --workspace <ws> record-taught-example --id <qid> --notebook-ref notebook/chNN.md#<anchor>. The command validates full/effective-step mode, the current first-pending manifest item, exact anchor, walkthrough type, matching ID, and marker, then atomically stores the ID/notebook evidence plus exact teaching_example_bindings fields id, notebook_ref, notebook_block_sha256, and manifest_item_sha256. Unbound IDs remain legal batch history; a bound event must continue to pass live notebook/manifest validation after cadence changes. Never replace this with two loose record-phase-evidence writes. Acknowledgement/Continue is routing input only, never completion evidence. Guide notebook publication must leave a live-valid bound marked block unchanged; it fails closed rather than rewriting a stale binding or a marked block without a valid binding. Then reply with a 3–5 line digest and the language-pack link. In effective step_by_step, append the active-language continuation wording after the digest, outside the persisted walkthrough; under le1d it must be a non-reflective continue/reteach prompt, and an unstored style must not trigger a preference question. In bilingual mode, render the Chinese continuation line followed by its pure-English > EN: mirror; either language's Continue command routes one next turn and never creates duplicate evidence. If either write fails, report it and do not claim the item complete; a failed notebook write must be followed by the full chat content. File-less clients use chat plus a text breakpoint.

• Show question assets first. Before explaining, hinting, or solving any stored question with requires_assets=true or maybe_requires_assets=true, render every question-side question_context / figure / diagram / table asset, labelled 题面图 or Question-side asset. Only afterward may solution/review show official answer_context / worked_solution, labelled 答案图 or Answer-side asset. Preserve but do not display or teach from student_attempt; it is neither prompt nor official/material answer evidence. Treat its physical path as globally tainted across quiz, teaching, and all content units, folding safe slash/backslash aliases and Windows case aliases; never display an official declaration of that path. Reject same-item prompt/answer reuse. Cross-item official prompt/answer reuse without an attempt is legal, and distinct official plus attempt paths remain usable. Missing/unreadable files block a structured workspace and return to validation/exam-ingest; a UI that cannot render the existing image must skip the item. A path is not an image. Prefer python <package-root>/scripts/show_question_assets.py --workspace <ws> --id <qid> --lang <zh|en>; exit 1 means skip. Apply the same gate to stub / page_reference prompts.

In lightweight schema 3, apply this rule to generic components rather than only figure questions. Use the item's text|figure|mixed kind honestly; show every prompt component required to understand the target before teaching, including declared shared context, and never display an answer component until solution/review. A detail call may combine prompt components only for the same target. Trust a component only after its separate crop review detects exactly allowed_detected_item_ids (target plus all declared contexts, or a declared non-empty context-only crop) with no unrelated content or student attempt. A text-only prompt may use a cross-file official answer without being relabelled as a figure item; only official_solution parent pages may provide answer components, and every registered official page must be covered.

• Run diagram algorithms first. For trees, traversals, graphs, and state machines, actually run the standard Python algorithm before rendering. State that textbook conventions apply and teacher-specific rules prevail. Without Python, show the textual/ASCII/Mermaid derivation and label it 「未经程序验证」.

• Track state and provenance. Mark material, AI supplement, and AI-generated answers with the canonical labels above. Why/what/how-derived follow-ups invoke confusion-tracker and python "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/update_progress.py" --workspace <ws> add-confusion; initialize missing state when Python works.

• Record evidence; complete only through the gate. Use record-phase-evidence for wiki, visual, notebook, and bank checkpoint evidence (--kind checkpoint --ref <qid> --outcome passed|wrong|skipped). Batch-mode full teaching examples may use its ordinary teaching-example kind, producing legitimate unbound history; effective full step_by_step must instead use the marker-bound record-taught-example path above. Bound history remains live-validated after switching back to batch. Every ID retained by teaching_baseline.json must have a current teaching_examples.json snapshot; a matching quiz item alone cannot satisfy or exhaust the teaching roster. verified requires at least two handled bank items and one pass. set --phase <N> is only explicit navigation/repair, never completion.

In lightweight, never invoke exam-study-guide; after persisting the full

walkthrough and updating progress, bind the batch with

lightweight_session.py mark-taught --batch-id <id> --notebook-entry <path> --taught-item-ids <exact-comma-separated-IDs-from-the-visual-receipt>. The

inspected page list is context, not proof that every item on those pages was

taught; close only the exact item IDs enumerated during visual review.

Plan the next pages only when the learner reaches them. Without a pre-existing

standard bank, no verified checkpoint exists and completion is capped at

covered_unverified. In full, after all current-chapter material has persisted

walkthroughs, invoke exam-study-guide to build, validate, and import the

profile=full notebook/chNN.guide.json. Its de-duplicated teaching-example +

all-bank + typed-question denominator is a coverage gate, with gradable=false

bank records retained as teaching-only Guide content; it is not proof of semantic

recall. Effective missing/unknown artifact_mode is chat: typed import is

enough before complete-phase --status covered_unverified|verified, with no

HTML/PDF. Standing visual must also select the PDF route, render, bind receipts,

accept every page, and reach artifact_ready=ready. A one-shot artifact request

temporarily overrides chat without changing the standing value. Never infer a

subscription or install dependencies silently. Language changes stale the

manifest/artifact: route to exam-study-guide for relocalization, refreshed

claims/receipt, re-import, rerender, and repeat QA. A request for “all examples”

remains profile=full under le1d; time pressure may shorten prose, not omit

required items or language blocks.

• Apply the time tier. Read mode and budget from state:

• ≤1天: no opening preference or reflective follow-up; teach now. This does not ban bank-backed drills or checkpoints. Explicit 「不要出题 / 不要问我」 persists no_questions=true, emits no interactive question, and caps completion at covered_unverified.
• 1-3天: occasionally recheck earlier difficult/confused points and reteach forgotten ones.
• 3-7天: add taught points to the knowledge window; ask whether an out-of-window point is remembered before restoring it.
• >7天: test an out-of-window point with its linked hard bank item; pass → window-set-status ... --status 已实测, fail → reteach. A point/index locator is required; add chapter for ambiguous names.

Output Contract

• Default output is the persisted ①–⑦ walkthrough and source line, represented in chat by a concise 3–5 line digest, notebook link, and refreshed progress panel. Do not add unsolicited closers.
• In effective full-mode step_by_step, append the language-pack continuation prompt after the digest, never inside the persisted walkthrough. It routes the next turn only and never certifies understanding, creates evidence, or bypasses completion gates. Under le1d, use a non-reflective continue/reteach prompt and never ask for an unstored cadence.
• After each learning/checkpoint event, update via update_progress.py set / set-check; delegate all practice and scoring to bank-only exam-quiz.
• Student prose follows study_state.json.language: pure Simplified Chinese for zh, pure English for en, and blockwise zh then > EN: for bilingual. Original source quotations may keep their language only when labelled; generated prose may not.

Language packs

Load before student-visible output:

• 中文 → ../../locales/zh/skills/exam-tutor.md
• English → ../../locales/en/skills/exam-tutor.md
• 双语 → compose both blockwise, zh then > EN:, under docs/language-policy.md

Display aliases are normalized to zh, en, or bilingual; unset language defaults to English unless the opening is Chinese.

Boundaries

• study_state.json is the source of truth. Write it only through python "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/update_progress.py" --workspace <ws> ...; study_progress.md is generated. Fail writes loudly. If study_state.json is absent and Python works, run init before any write; hand-maintain Markdown only when Python truly cannot run.
• The default pool is mixed. A stored restricted scope excludes/counts items without source_type; announce before overriding it: 「⚠️ 临时覆盖你的 <scope> 范围偏好」 / ⚠️ Temporarily overriding your <scope> scope preference. Use scripts/select_questions.py.
• Stay in the current chapter, never invent material, never claim AI prose is the teacher's, never freehand algorithmic diagrams, and never quiz or score.
• Seven steps, the source line, dual ⚠️ marking for unsupported answers, and the visual-first fail-closed gate are mandatory. A requires_assets=true, maybe_requires_assets=true, stub, or page_reference question whose prompt image cannot be shown must not be taught as complete.
• interaction_style is a full-mode teaching-manifest cadence only. Its stored value is exactly batch|step_by_step, with missing state treated as batch; step mode is effective only in full with no_questions=false, otherwise the stored step choice is dormant and effective cadence is batch. Stable item IDs mean a reply-language change does not automatically requeue already evidenced items; request an explicit reteach. Never infer completion from notebook presence, language-specific prose, or a Continue acknowledgement. The selector takes a consistent workspace-locked snapshot and returns manifest order, but it is not a pause/acknowledgement or reservation ledger, so concurrent tutors may still select the same pending item.