create-exercise

Create Exercise

Generate exercises appropriate to the topic type. Does NOT create fake labs -- links to real practice platforms for hands-on work.

ARGUMENTS

Receives a concept the user just learned, and the topic type/context.

Process

Step 1: Determine exercise type

Based on the topic category, choose the appropriate exercise format:

Architecture / Design topics (e.g., secure AI architecture, cloud security design):

• Threat modeling scenarios
• Architecture review exercises
• "What would you do if..." decision-making questions
• Trade-off analysis (security vs. usability vs. cost)

Certification / Offensive topics (e.g., OSCP, OSEP, pentesting):

• Link to specific online lab challenges (HackTheBox, TryHackMe, PortSwigger)
• Use WebSearch to find relevant labs matching the concept
• Suggest specific machines/rooms/labs by name
• DO NOT create fake challenges -- always link to real platforms

Operations topics (e.g., SIEM/SOAR, incident response, monitoring):

• Scenario-based incident response exercises
• Log analysis questions (present a log snippet, ask what happened)
• Runbook/playbook writing exercises
• Configuration review (spot the misconfiguration)

Compliance / Governance topics (e.g., risk assessment, policy):

• Case study analysis
• Policy gap identification exercises
• Risk scoring exercises

Step 2: Generate exercise

Create the exercise with:

## Exercise: <title>

**Concept:** <what this reinforces>
**Type:** <critical-thinking | threat-model | online-lab | scenario | config-review>
**Estimated time:** <rough estimate>

### Scenario
<description of the exercise>

### Your Task
<specific instructions -- what the user needs to do/answer>

### Hints (if needed)
<progressive hints, revealed one at a time when user asks>

For online lab exercises:

## Exercise: <title>

**Concept:** <what this reinforces>
**Type:** online-lab
**Platform:** <HackTheBox | TryHackMe | PortSwigger | OffSec>

### Recommended Lab
- [Lab Name](url) -- difficulty, what you'll practice
- [Alternative Lab](url) -- if the first isn't available

### What to Focus On
<specific things to pay attention to during the lab>

### After Completing
<questions to reflect on after finishing the lab>

Step 3: Save exercise

Save to topics/<current-topic>/exercises/<slug>.md if a topic is active.

Step 4: Review mode

When the user completes the exercise and shares their answer:

• Evaluate their response
• Point out what they got right
• Identify gaps or missed considerations
• Suggest what to study next based on performance
• Update knowledge state if warranted

Guidelines

• Exercises should be challenging but achievable at the user's current level
• Always connect the exercise to a real-world scenario
• For critical thinking questions: there's rarely one right answer -- evaluate the quality of reasoning
• For online labs: verify the lab URL exists via WebSearch before recommending
• Keep exercises focused on one concept at a time