{"slug": "show-hn-personal-ai-tutor-that-builds-and-probes-your-understanding", "title": "Show HN: Personal AI tutor that builds and probes your understanding", "summary": "Suki, a new local-first AI tutor that integrates with coding agents, turns AI into a learning partner that forces users to restate knowledge in their own words, probe for gaps, and schedule spaced repetition, with artifacts compiled into a publication-quality book. The tool, built for Python 3, uses commands like /suki curriculum, /suki probe, and /suki book to design learning paths, test understanding, and render teaching books via pandoc and LaTeX.", "body_md": "Build expertise. Validate it. Own it.\n\n```\n╭────────────────────────────────────────────╮\n│                  s u k i                    │\n│   Build expertise. Validate it. Own it.    │\n╰────────────────────────────────────────────╯\n```\n\nSuki turns an AI coding agent into a learning partner that doesn't trust you. Not in a moral sense. It refuses to believe you know something just because you read it, watched a course, or nodded along with a tutorial.\n\nLearning isn't consuming content. It's being forced to say it back, from your own head, until it holds. Suki makes you do that, then it remembers what you're weak at and brings it back before it fades.\n\n**🔒 Local-first** · **🛡️ Private by default** · **🧩 3 steps, one command** · **🐍 Python 3 + your agent**\n\n```\n        ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┐\n        │                                              │\n        ▼                                              │\n   ┌──────────┐     ┌──────────┐     ┌──────────┐      │\n   │ curriculum│ ──► │  probe   │ ──► │   book   │      │\n   │ build the │     │  test it │     │ publish  │──────┘\n   │  path     │     │  & fix   │     │   it     │\n   └──────────┘     └──────────┘     └──────────┘\n```\n\n— design the definitive learning path: the chapters, the order, what \"mastered\" means for your topic.`/suki curriculum <topic>`\n\n— build and verify understanding chapter by chapter. Force a restatement, test it, repair the cracks, then schedule reviews so it doesn't rot.`/suki probe <topic> [ch]`\n\n— render your curriculum, working models, and probe history into a publication-quality teaching book.`/suki book <topic>`\n\nWork compounds: each step writes an artifact to `~/.suki/topics/<slug>/`\n\nthat the next step reads. Probe again next week, and the book reflects it.\n\n```\n/suki curriculum active-directory\n\n  → tier 1:  The basics (what AD is, how a domain works)\n  → tier 2:  Core mechanics (Kerberos, tickets, trusts)\n  → tier 3:  Attacks (Kerberoasting, golden tickets, delegation)\n  → tier 4:  Defenses + detection\n  → tier 5:  Expert edge (red-team tradecraft, real-world ops)\n\n  + what \"mastered\" means at every chapter\n  + the order that actually builds understanding\n```\n\nSuki designs the path from absolute basics to the deepest expert end of the\nfield, then writes it as chapter-by-chapter markdown plus a\n`curriculum.json`\n\nthat every later step reads.\n\n| Command | What it does |\n|---|---|\n`/suki curriculum <topic>` |\nDesign a definitive learning path: chapters, order, mastery checks |\n`/suki learn <draft>` |\nReview a chapter draft from a serious learner's perspective |\n\n```\n/suki probe active-directory 1.1\n\n  \"Explain Kerberos authentication in your own words.\"\n\n  → you state your picture\n  → suki probes it for cracks\n  → weak spot? a targeted drill fixes it right there\n  → mastered? revisit in 3 → 10 → 30 → 90 days\n```\n\nThe model has to be in **your** words, not the book's. If it doesn't hold\nup, the gap is exposed and repaired inline. What you're weak at is\nremembered and resurfaced before it fades. Nothing is graded against you;\neverything is recorded as an artifact that compounds.\n\n| Command | What it does |\n|---|---|\n`/suki probe <topic> [ch]` |\nBuild + verify understanding chapter by chapter; repair cracks; spaced repetition |\n\n``` php\n/suki book active-directory     # -> ~/.suki/topics/active-directory/book/book.pdf\n\n  → your curriculum, as one part per tier\n  → your working models, persisted\n  → your probe + remediation history\n  → typeset with pandoc + LaTeX (KOMA scrbook, Palatino)\n```\n\nEverything you built and validated becomes a real teaching book: the same material other learners can use, and the proof of what you actually hold.\n\n| Command | What it does |\n|---|---|\n`/suki book <topic>` |\nRender the topic as a publication-quality teaching book |\n\nOne command, `/suki`\n\n, is the status dashboard and the router to everything\nelse. It knows where you left off and what's due next.\n\n```\n╭──────────────────────────────────────────╮\n│                  s u k i                    │\n│   Build expertise. Validate it. Own it.  │\n╰──────────────────────────────────────────╯\n\n📊  Status\n────────────────────────────────────────────\n  Learning  3 topics · 1 due for review\n\n⏳  Due for review\n────────────────────────────────────────────\n  • active-directory 2.1 (Kerberos auth)  due today\n  • python 3.1 (Asyncio)                  due in 2d\n\nNext step\n  → /suki probe active-directory 2.1\n────────────────────────────────────────────\npip install suki\nsuki install --all     # links the skills into opencode, claude, and codex\n```\n\nThat's it. Restart your agent, then:\n\n```\n/suki curriculum python    # build the path\n/suki probe python 1.1     # build + verify understanding\n/suki book python          # publish what you mastered\n```\n\n| Skill | Role |\n|---|---|\n`suki` |\nStatus dashboard + router (single entry point) |\n`curriculum` |\nDesign a definitive learning path |\n`learn` |\nReview material from a learner's perspective |\n`probe` |\nBuild + verify understanding, repair cracks, spaced repetition |\n`book` |\nRender a topic as a teaching book |\n\nEverything lives under `~/.suki/`\n\n, one folder per topic. Current state is\nJSON; history is append-only JSONL. Nothing is ever deleted, so the full\narc of your learning is recoverable.\n\n```\n~/.suki/\n└── topics/<slug>/        # curriculum.json, mastery.json, probes, book/\n```\n\nThe `suki`\n\nCLI manages the stack:\n\n`suki install [--opencode|--claude|--codex|--all]`\n\n— link skills into your agent`suki topics`\n\n— list topics`suki status [topic]`\n\n— progress + spaced-repetition due status`suki book <topic>`\n\n— render a topic as a book\n\n```\npip install suki\nsuki install --all\n```\n\nThat's the whole setup. `pip install suki`\n\ngives you the `suki`\n\ncommand;\n`suki install`\n\nlinks all five skills (`suki`\n\n, `curriculum`\n\n, `learn`\n\n,\n`probe`\n\n, `book`\n\n) into your agent. Default to `--all`\n\n, or pick just your\nagent with `--opencode`\n\n, `--claude`\n\n, or `--codex`\n\n.\n\nRestart your agent after installing, then use `/suki`\n\nas the single entry\npoint. It routes subcommands: `/suki curriculum <topic>`\n\n,\n`/suki learn <draft>`\n\n, `/suki probe <topic> [ch]`\n\n, `/suki book <topic>`\n\n,\nor `/suki`\n\nalone for the status dashboard.\n\n**From source (contributing):**\n\n```\ngit clone <this repo> && cd suki\npip install -e .\n```\n\nThe core skills need nothing beyond the agent and the `suki`\n\nCLI (Python 3).\n\n`/suki book`\n\nalso needs `pandoc`\n\nand a LaTeX distribution with `xelatex`\n\n:\n\n```\nbrew install pandoc\nbrew install --cask mactex-no-gui   # or any TeX Live install\n```\n\nEverything stays on your machine. Curriculum, probe history, and the books you publish: none of it leaves your computer. The only external calls are the LLM/harness and web fetches.\n\n**Brutal honesty first**: Know the truth about your model** The model is in your words**: You restate it; it becomes yours** Learn for keeps**: Spaced repetition over cramming** Everything is an artifact**: Named files, compounded across sessions** Privacy by default**: Your data never leaves your machine\n\n**Suki: Build expertise. Validate it. Own it.**", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-personal-ai-tutor-that-builds-and-probes-your-understanding", "canonical_source": "https://github.com/grandimam/suki", "published_at": "2026-08-17 21:04:38+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-17 21:11:24.784024+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-products", "ai-tools", "generative-ai"], "entities": ["Suki"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-personal-ai-tutor-that-builds-and-probes-your-understanding", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-personal-ai-tutor-that-builds-and-probes-your-understanding.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-personal-ai-tutor-that-builds-and-probes-your-understanding.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-personal-ai-tutor-that-builds-and-probes-your-understanding.jsonld"}}