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.

study-notes-generator