An Agent Skill Built for True Understanding
daniel_mac8 · x · 2026-07-17
The author created a skill called /explain-this designed to explain any material in a way that "suits you best." Its goal isn't simply to generate summaries, but to help users genuinely understand the content.
How it works
- First, it spends about 10 minutes interviewing the user to understand their knowledge background, learning habits, and goals, generating a LEARNER.md file.
- Then, you feed papers, PDFs, or blogs into the agent and input explain this.
- The system outputs an explanation document directly into note-taking apps (like Obsidian or OpenKnowledge), explaining concepts based on what the user already knows.
- Each explanation ends with a quiz, and the answers are scored.
- Incorrect answers are converted into spaced repetition cards for future review.
Key Points
- Design philosophy: AI can now generate infinite code and content, but "people who truly understand" are the scarce resource.
- This feature can be used in Claude Code or other agents that support skills.
- The project is free and open-source, with a GitHub link provided.
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