curriculum-planner

Curriculum Planner

Plans the shape of a course: which modules exist, what order they go in, what each module's learning goals are, and how they depend on each other. Output is a curriculum plan, not lesson content.

When to use this skill vs. others

• Plan the whole course or a major redesign → this skill
• Find authoritative docs/links for a planned module → lesson-researcher
• Generate the actual lesson.md / exercise / solution files → lesson-builder
• Get a draft plan reviewed before committing → lesson-review-board
• Deliver the lessons interactively → professor

Inputs to gather before planning

Ask the user (concisely — don't interrogate):

1. Topic and end-state: "By the end, the learner can ___" (one sentence).
2. Learner profile: existing skills, gaps, language preferences, comfort with math/systems.
3. Constraints: language, runtime, target depth (overview vs. deep mastery), time budget per week.
4. Style preferences: hint level, pen-and-paper component, build-from-scratch vs. SDK-driven, preferred file layout.

If the user already has prior courses with a similar structure, mirror those conventions rather than inventing new ones. Read one of their existing PROGRESS.md and README.md files to calibrate.

The conventions this pipeline assumes by default are documented in CONVENTIONS.md.

Planning workflow

Phase 1 — End-state & spine

Write the terminal capability in one sentence ("Build a working CLI coding agent from scratch"). Then list 5–20 capabilities a learner must have to reach it. Group related capabilities into candidate modules.

Phase 2 — Module sequencing

Order modules so each only depends on earlier ones. For each module, record:

• Number + title
• Prerequisites (specific earlier modules, not "general programming")
• Learning objectives (3–6 bullets, each starting with a verb the learner can demonstrate: implement, explain, trace, debug, derive)
• Key concepts introduced
• Concrete exercise idea (one line — what they'll build)
• Estimated time (a range — "3–5 hours")
• Notes (e.g., "needs Python generators refresher first" if the learner profile flags a gap)

Phase 3 — Identify mini-courses / prereq inserts

Look for objectives that assume background knowledge the learner doesn't have. Promote those to a short prerequisite mini-course rather than burying them inside another module. Common examples: a generators refresher before async/streaming modules, a subprocess refresher before tool-running modules.

Phase 4 — Capstone

End with an integration project that forces the learner to use most prior modules together. The capstone is the proof the course delivered the terminal capability.

Phase 5 — Output the plan

Produce a single markdown plan file with:

# [Course Name] — Curriculum Plan

**Terminal capability**: <one sentence>
**Learner profile**: <summary>
**Total modules**: N
**Estimated total time**: X–Y hours

## Module Map
1. <Module 1 title> — <one-line purpose>
2. ...

## Module Details
### Module 01 — <Title>
- Prereqs: <list>
- Objectives:
  - <verb> ...
- Concepts: ...
- Exercise: ...
- Estimated time: ...

[repeat per module]

## Prerequisite mini-courses
- <Name> — inserted before Module XX because <reason>

## Capstone
<description>

## Open questions for the learner
<list — anything you couldn't decide alone>

Save the plan to the course directory as CURRICULUM_PLAN.md (or update an existing one). Do not generate lesson files yet — the plan is the deliverable.

Anti-patterns to avoid

• Module sprawl: 30+ tiny modules. Combine adjacent objectives if they share an exercise.
• Hidden prerequisites: a module that secretly assumes a concept never taught. Walk the prereq chain explicitly.
• Overlapping objectives across modules: each concept should have a single home; later modules apply it, not re-teach it.
• Time estimates without ranges: always use a range; learners vary.
• Designing for a hypothetical advanced learner when the actual learner is at a different level — calibrate to this learner.
• Skipping the capstone: without it, the course has no ending.

After the plan exists

Recommend the next step explicitly: "Plan ready at CURRICULUM_PLAN.md. Next: run lesson-researcher per module to gather authoritative refs, then lesson-review-board on the plan before building any files."