book-study — Claude Code skill: what it does, how to install

---
name: book-study
description: "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 book', 'what did the book say about X', or invokes /book-study. Supports sub-commands: ingest, query, review, compare, status. Triggers: book, study, read, chapter, ingest, review, quiz, reading plan, book notes."
---

# 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

```
/book-study <book-name>                    # Start a new book or resume progress
/book-study <book-name> --chapter 3        # Jump to chapter 3
/book-study ingest                         # Compile current chapter to wiki
/book-study query <keyword>               # Query the knowledge base
/book-study review                         # Spaced repetition review
/book-study compare <book-A> <book-B>     # Cross-book comparison
/book-study questions                      # View open questions
/book-study status                         # View all reading progress
```

---

## Data Structure

Wiki defaults to `book-wiki/` under the current project root.

```
book-wiki/
├── index.md                    # Global index: all books + cross-book concepts
├── log.md                      # Append-only operation log
├── <book-slug>/                # One directory per book
│   ├── meta.md                 # Book metadata (title, author, reading status)
│   ├── study-plan.md           # Reading plan + progress tracking
│   ├── mastery-map.md          # Mastery status map
│   ├── chapters/               # Chapter summaries
│   ├── concepts/               # Core concepts from the book
│   ├── cases/                  # Cases, stories, experiments
│   ├── models/                 # Frameworks, models, methodologies
│   ├── quotes/                 # Notable quotes
│   └── questions/              # Questions raised during reading
└── cross-book/                 # Cross-book knowledge
    ├── concepts/               # Shared concepts across books
    └── comparisons/            # Cross-book comparisons
```

**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`:

```markdown
# <Book Title>

- **Author**: XXX
- **Category**: Psychology / Economics / Tech / ...
- **Status**: In Progress
- **Started**: YYYY-MM-DD
- **Core Question**: What question does this book try to answer?
- **One-line Review**: (fill after finishing)
```

4. Generate `study-plan.md`:

```markdown
# <Book Title> Study Plan

## Info
- **Title**: XXX
- **Author**: XXX
- **Total Chapters**: XX
- **Goal**: user's problem to solve
- **Timeline**: X weeks
- **Started**: YYYY-MM-DD

## Chapter Plan

| # | Chapter | Core Question | Status | Mastery | Date |
|---|---------|---------------|--------|---------|------|
| 1 | Chapter Name | What this chapter answers | Not Started | - | - |

### Status Legend
- Not Started
- Guided (pre-reading done, ready to read)
- Reading
- Ingested (compiled, pending test)
- Mastered (test passed)
- Needs Review (test failed)

## Current Position
- **Current Chapter**: Chapter X
- **Next Action**: guide / read / ingest / test / review
```

5. Generate `mastery-map.md`:

```markdown
# <Book Title> Mastery Map

## Concepts

| Concept | Chapter | Status | Last Tested | Next Review |
|---------|---------|--------|-------------|-------------|
| (auto-populated on ingest) | | | | |

## Models

| Model | Chapter | Status | Last Tested | Next Review |
|-------|---------|--------|-------------|-------------|

## Stats
- Total knowledge points: X
- Mastered: X (X%)
- Due for review: X
- Untested: X
```

### 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`:

```markdown
## YYYY-MM-DD: Ingest <Book Title> Chapter X

**Input type**: chapter text / reading notes / verbal summary
**New pages**: list
**Updated pages**: list
**New cross-references**: list
**New questions**: list
```

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