I wanted an AI tutor that would notice when I didn't actually get something, so I built one

A developer has built Vectra, an early-stage AI tutoring system that diagnoses gaps in a learner's prerequisite knowledge and adapts the teaching route rather than simply re-explaining the original question. The project includes a companion tool called "What Am I Missing?" and is being released for user feedback on whether it correctly identifies missing concepts and adapts its teaching approach.

I've been working on something called Vectra, and I've been thinking about this problem for a while: What if getting stuck while learning something isn't a problem with the explanation, but a problem with the route or pathway you're being taught? A lot of AI tutoring right now is basically: "I don't understand this." "Okay, here's another explanation." They answer questions. Not teach. Even most of the big shot AI's with learning mode. Just ground you in source material. And sometimes that works. But sometimes the thing you're struggling with isn't actually the thing you asked about. You might be trying to understand calculus but realize you don't have strong fundamentals in algebra. You might be trying to understand a programming concept but be missing something much more basic underneath it. And if that's the case, giving you another 1,000-word explanation of the original thing probably isn't going to magically fix it and Grounding yourself in source material is only the beginning for an ideal learning experience. That's the idea behind Vectra. I wanted to build something that treats learning as less of a straight line and more like a map. Most AI execute tasks linearly. From your specific problem or prompt models output answers with the solution. But human learning has never been linear or straight one shot answer. It's dynamic more like a curve or a graph. If you have a problem. the solution may be a combination shaky fundamentals and concepts that need resolution before or a certain level of comfortability before even beginning to grasp the main issue. Vectra tries to figure out where the gap in your understanding is, trace the concepts that lead up to it, and then change the learning route based on what you actually need. And importantly, I don't expect you to understand something perfectly the first time. The system can change the way it explains something, try a different teaching approach, move further back into the prerequisite concepts, and then actually check whether you can use what you learned rather than just asking if you understood it. Because there's a pretty big difference between: "Yeah, that makes sense." and "I can actually do this myself." Understanding is just the beginning. Application and retention are the ideal ways a learner can truly said they have mastered a concept. I also built a smaller tool called What Am I Missing? https://vectra-lazy-tutor.netlify.app/tools/what-am-i-missing based around the prerequisite system. It's probably the easiest place to poke at the idea without committing to the whole thing. I also made a slightly ridiculous cinematic teaser for Vectra because apparently building an educational tool wasn't enough, so I had to add a bit of lore and build hype around it. You should check it out it's kinda cool https://streamable.com/9s8hkb 😂. And here's the actual thing: It's still very early. There are bugs, things I'm still figuring out, and probably things that make perfect sense in my head but absolutely do not make sense to another human being 👁️👄👁️ That's actually why I'm posting it here. I'm looking for people to use it properly and tell me where my thinking falls apart. In particular: Did it actually identify something you were missing? Did the learning route make sense? Did you understand why it sent you down that route? Did the teaching approach feel like it was adapting to you? Where did you get confused, bored, or annoyed? And did it actually help you understand/apply the thing you were trying to learn? You don't need to be nice about it. If something feels stupid or broken, tell me. That's much more useful to me right now. If something feels pointless, confusing, slow, broken, or just plain stupid, please tell me. That's honestly much more useful to me right now than compliments. I'm actively building and pushing updates, so I'll be around the comments and fixing things as I find them. If you have 5–10 minutes to try it, I'd genuinely love to hear what you think. Thanks for giving it a shot. TL;DR: I built an AI learning engine that tries to figure out what you're actually missing instead of just explaining the same thing again. It's early, it's probably a little broken, and I'd really like people to test it.