Study Notes Generator

Transform documents from slides/ into feature-rich HTML study notes saved to notes/ .

Workflow

• Read the source document from slides/ (see PDF Handling below for large files)

• Extract and organize content into learning-focused sections

• Generate HTML using the template structure from assets/template.html

• Save to notes/ with filename {original-name}-notes.html

PDF Handling (CRITICAL)

The Claude API has a hard limit of 100 images/documents per conversation. PDF pages are converted to images when read, so any PDF over ~90 pages will fail.

For PDFs over 50 pages:

• Always extract text first using pdftotext : /opt/homebrew/bin/pdftotext "slides/filename.pdf" "slides/filename.txt"

• Generate notes from the .txt file only

• Do NOT read the PDF file directly — only read the extracted .txt

For PDFs under 50 pages:

• Read the PDF directly with the Read tool (using pages parameter for 10+ pages)

Parallel Processing (Multiple Documents)

When processing multiple documents at once:

Validate with one agent first: Spawn 1 background Task agent, wait for it to succeed, then spawn the rest. This avoids wasting tokens on a batch of agents that all fail the same way.

Use Task tool with run_in_background: true for independent per-file agents. Do NOT use TeamCreate — team agents require message-driven coordination and will idle without producing output when tasks are independent.

Batch size: Spawn at most 4 agents in parallel to avoid rate limits. If more files remain, wait for the first batch to complete before launching the next.

Strong negative constraints in agent prompts: When instructing agents, use explicit prohibitions:

• GOOD: "Do NOT read any PDF files. ONLY read the .txt file."

• BAD: "Prefer reading the text file over the PDF." Agents ignore weak preferences but obey strong negations.

Content Extraction Guidelines

When analyzing the document, identify and extract:

Key Concepts & Definitions

• Core terminology and their meanings

• Fundamental principles being taught

• Mark with <div class="concept"><strong>Term</strong>Definition...</div>

Problem-Solution Pairs

• What problem/challenge does each concept address?

• How does the method/technique solve it?

• Mark with:

<div class="problem-solution"> <div class="problem">Problem: What challenge exists?</div> <div class="solution">Solution: How this concept/method addresses it</div> </div>

Examples & Applications

• Concrete examples from the document

• Real-world applications mentioned

• Mark with <div class="example">...</div>

Important Notes

• Warnings, common mistakes, or critical points

• Mark with <div class="important">...</div>

CRITICAL: Mandatory Examples Rule

For ANY content that is NOT a pure definition, you MUST provide at least one concrete example.

What requires examples:

Content Type Example Required? Reason

Pure definition (e.g., "X is defined as Y") Optional Definition is self-contained

Properties/Characteristics YES Need to show how property manifests

Theorems/Claims YES Need to illustrate what theorem means

Comparisons (X vs Y) YES Need concrete case showing difference

Security properties YES Need attack scenario or counterexample

Algorithms/Procedures YES Need step-by-step walkthrough

"Why" questions YES Need counterexample or motivation case

Example format:

<div class="concept"> <strong>Collision Resistance (抗碰撞性)</strong> Nobody can find x and y such that x ≠ y and H(x) = H(y). </div>

<div class="example"> <strong>Why this matters:</strong> Consider H(x) = last 4 bits of x. <br>Finding collision is trivial: H("00001010") = H("11111010") = "1010" <br>This H is NOT collision resistant - bad for security! </div>

Counterexample pattern for "Why not X?" questions:

When explaining why a definition/property is formulated a certain way, ALWAYS provide a counterexample showing what goes wrong with the alternative:

<div class="problem-solution"> <div class="problem">Why require H(x₁)=Y rather than x₁=x in one-wayness?</div> <div class="solution"> <strong>Counterexample:</strong> Let H(x) = LSB(x) (last n bits). <ul> <li>Given Y, can you find the original x? NO (2^n possibilities)</li> <li>Given Y, can you find ANY x' with H(x')=Y? YES, trivially!</li> </ul> If we used x₁=x, this insecure function would be called "one-way"! </div> </div>

HTML Structure

Generate HTML following this structure:

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"> <title>{Document Title} - Study Notes</title> <!-- Copy full <style> block from assets/template.html --> </head> <body> <h1>{Document Title}</h1>

<nav class="toc">
    <h2>Table of Contents</h2>
    <ul>
        <li><a href="#section-1">Section 1 Title</a></li>
        <!-- ... more sections -->
    </ul>
</nav>

<section id="section-1">
    <h2>Section 1 Title</h2>
    <!-- Content with concepts, problem-solutions, examples -->
</section>

<!-- More sections -->

<!-- End with summary and quiz -->
<div class="summary">
    <h3>Key Takeaways</h3>
    <ul>
        <li>Main point 1</li>
        <li>Main point 2</li>
    </ul>
</div>

<section>
    <h2>Self-Check Quiz</h2>
    <!-- Quiz questions -->
</section>

</body> </html>

Collapsible Sections

Use <details> for content that benefits from progressive disclosure:

<details> <summary>Detailed Explanation of X</summary> <div> Extended content here... </div> </details>

Self-Quiz Questions

End each major topic or the document with quiz questions:

<div class="quiz"> <div class="quiz-question">What is the main purpose of X?</div> <details> <summary>Show Answer</summary> <div>The answer explanation here...</div> </details> </div>

Generate 3-5 quiz questions per major section covering:

• Definitions (What is...?)

• Application (When would you use...?)

• Comparison (How does X differ from Y?)

• Problem-solving (Given scenario Z, what approach...?)

Quiz answers should also include examples when explaining non-trivial concepts.

Output Checklist

Before saving, verify the notes include:

• Clear title and table of contents

• All major topics from source document

• Key concepts highlighted with definitions

• Concrete examples for ALL non-definition content (MANDATORY)

• Problem-solution pairs explaining the "why"

• Counterexamples for "why not X?" type questions

• Collapsible sections for detailed content

• Summary of key takeaways

• Self-quiz questions with hidden answers (including examples in answers)

Resources

assets/

• template.html
• Full HTML template with CSS styles. Copy the <style> block into generated notes.