create-lecture

Lecture Creation Workflow

Create a beautiful, pedagogically excellent Beamer lecture deck.

This is a collaborative, iterative process. The instructor drives the vision; Claude is a thinking partner.

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CONSTRAINTS (Non-Negotiable)

1. Read the knowledge base FIRST — notation registry, narrative arc, applications database
2. Every new symbol MUST be checked against the notation registry
3. Motivation before formalism — no exceptions
4. Worked example within 2 slides of every definition
5. Max 2 colored boxes per slide
6. No \pause or overlay commands (check project rules)
7. Transition slides at major conceptual pivots
8. Thread at least 1 running empirical application throughout
9. All citations verified against the bibliography
10. Work in batches of 5-10 slides — share for feedback, don't bulk-dump

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WORKFLOW

Phase 0: Intake & Context (Pre-Flight Report required)

Read the inputs, then produce a Pre-Flight Report in your response before Phase 1 starts.

Inputs to read:

• .claude/rules/knowledge-base-template.md — notation registry, narrative arc, applications
• .claude/rules/content-invariants.md — INV-1..INV-8 govern slide content
• Any source papers / existing slides the user provided
• The previous lecture's .tex (last section + ending slide) if one exists

Required Pre-Flight Report block:

## Pre-Flight Report

**Sources read:**
- [source 1]: [one-line takeaway — what notation, what result, what diagram]
- [source 2]: ...

**Notation registry check:**
- New symbols this lecture will introduce: [list]
- Symbols reused from prior lectures: [list, with the lecture each was introduced in]
- Conflicts detected: [none / specific clashes]

**Narrative position:** [Where does this lecture sit in the course arc? What did the previous lecture end on? What does the next lecture need you to set up?]

**Pedagogical goal:** [one sentence]

**Running application:** [which real-world example threads through this deck]

State the pedagogical goal, get user confirmation, then proceed.

First-lecture fallback (fresh fork, empty knowledge base). If .claude/rules/knowledge-base-template.md still has unfilled placeholder tables (no notation registry entries, no applications, no prior lectures in Slides/), do NOT halt waiting for it. Instead:

1. Acknowledge the template is empty and we're creating the course's first lecture.
2. Propose a minimal starter knowledge base from the user's topic: 5-8 key symbols with conventions, 1-2 running applications, a short narrative arc (intro → main idea → implications). Present for approval.
3. Write the approved stub into the knowledge base template so subsequent lectures inherit it.
4. Continue to Phase 1.

This prevents /create-lecture from deadlocking for every new forker.

Phase 1: Paper Analysis (When Papers Provided)

• Split into chunks, extract key ideas
• Map paper notation → course notation
• Identify slide-worthy content
• Present summary for approval

Phase 2: Structure Proposal

• Propose outline (5-Act or 3-Part template)
• List TikZ diagrams and R figures needed
• List new notation to introduce
• GATE: User approves before Phase 3

Phase 3: Draft Slides (Iterative)

• Work in batches of 5-10 slides
• Check notation, apply creation patterns
• Quality checks during drafting

Phase 4: Figures & Code

• R scripts following conventions
• TikZ diagrams in Beamer source (single source of truth)
• Save RDS for future Quarto integration

Phase 5: Polish & Compile

• Full 3-pass compilation
• Run Devil's Advocate
• Run Substance Review (if domain reviewer configured)
• Update knowledge base with new notation

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Post-Creation Checklist

[ ] Lecture compiles without errors
[ ] No overfull hbox > 10pt
[ ] All citations resolve
[ ] Every definition has motivation + worked example
[ ] Max 2 colored boxes per slide
[ ] 2-3 Socratic questions embedded
[ ] Transition slides between sections
[ ] At least 1 running application threaded throughout
[ ] New notation added to knowledge base
[ ] Session log updated
[ ] Devil's Advocate run

Cross-references

• .claude/skills/translate-to-quarto/SKILL.md — port the finished Beamer deck to a Quarto RevealJS mirror.
• .claude/skills/qa-quarto/SKILL.md — adversarial Beamer↔Quarto parity (loop-until-dry).
• .claude/skills/deploy/SKILL.md — render + publish the lecture to GitHub Pages.
• .claude/skills/scaffold-exercises/SKILL.md — problem sets + solutions to accompany the lecture.