| name | edubase-edu-writer |
| description | Writes EduBase questions as EDU files — the single-question text format used for one-by-one upload to EduBase Quizzing. Use this skill whenever the user wants to create, generate, or export a question as an EDU file, save a question to .edu format, produce EDU file output for EduBase, or write questions that will be uploaded individually (not via XLSX batch). Also use when the user asks to convert a question description into an EDU file, or when creating a question and a file output is needed. Always use alongside the edubase-question-creator skill for content decisions — this skill handles the EDU file formatting and serialization.
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EduBase EDU File Writer
EDU files are single-question text files for one-by-one upload to EduBase Quizzing.
This skill handles format and serialization — for question content rules, types, operators,
and field semantics, use the edubase-question-creator skill alongside this one.
EDU File Format — Rules
Section headers
Every field is wrapped in a header/footer pair:
%------FIELDNAME------%
value goes here
Mandatory fields (marked !!)
%------QUESTION!!------%
%------ANSWER!!------%
%------TYPE!!------%
If QUESTION or ANSWER is empty → entire file is skipped on upload.
Recommended fields (marked !)
%------SUBJECT!------%
%------CATEGORY!------%
Checkbox fields
Some fields present options as checkboxes. Mark exactly one with [X], rest stay [ ]:
% [X] CHOICE
% [ ] MULTIPLE-CHOICE
For TYPE, mark exactly one type. For SUBSCORING, MANUAL_SCORING, PENALTY_SCORING,
QUESTION_FORMAT, TOLERANCE — mark exactly one option.
Empty fields
Leave the content area blank (nothing between header and next header):
%------PARAMETERS------%
%------CONSTRAINTS------%
Empty sections are fine — the parser ignores them.
Multi-value fields
Use the &&& triple-and operator to separate multiple values on the same line or across lines.
The EDU format accepts both inline and multi-line — keep it readable:
%------ANSWER------%
Option A &&& Option B &&& Option C
No trailing whitespace issues
The parser is whitespace-tolerant but keep values clean.
Complete Section Order
Always output sections in this exact order (matches the template):
LANGUAGE
QUESTION!!
ANSWER!!
TYPE!!
SUBJECT!
CATEGORY!
MAIN_CATEGORY
PARAMETERS
CONSTRAINTS
POINTS
SUBSCORING
SUBPOINTS
MANUAL_SCORING
RUBRIC_CRITERIA
PENALTY_POINTS
PENALTY_SCORING
OPTIONS
NOTE
PRIVATE_NOTE
EXPLANATION
SOLUTION
SOLUTION_IMAGE
HINT
VIDEO
DIFFICULTY
ANSWER_REQUIRE
QUESTION_FORMAT
ANSWER_FORMAT
SOURCE
TAG
DECIMALS
MAXIMUM_CHOICES
OPTIONS_FIX
ANSWER_ORDER
ANSWER_HIDE
ANSWER_LABEL
ANSWER_INDEFINITE
GROUP
EXPRESSION_CHECK
EXPRESSION_DECIMALS
EXPRESSION_RANDOM_TYPE
EXPRESSION_RANDOM_TRIES
EXPRESSION_RANDOM_RANGE
EXPRESSION_RANDOM_INSIDE
EXPRESSION_RANDOM_OUTSIDE
EXPRESSION_EXPLICIT_GOAL
EXPRESSION_EXTENDED
EXPRESSION_FUNCTIONS
EXPRESSION_VARIABLE
IMAGE
ATTACHMENT
MEDIA_VIDEO
MEDIA_AUDIO
OPTIONS_ORDER
SKILLS
NUMERICAL_RANGE
FREETEXT_CHARACTERS
FREETEXT_WORDS
FREETEXT_RULES
TRUEFALSE_THIRD_OPTIONS
TRUEFALSE_THIRD_OPTIONS_LABEL
DATETIME_PRECISION
DATETIME_RANGE
GROUPING
PARAMETERS_SYNC
TOLERANCE
GRAPH
SOLUTION_PENALTY
HINT_PENALTY
VIDEO_PENALTY
FILE_COUNT
FILE_TYPES
HOTSPOT_IMAGE
HOTSPOT_ZONES
TAGS
EXTERNAL_ID
EDU-Specific Field Name Differences ⚠️
The EDU format uses slightly different names than the XLSX column names in a few cases:
| XLSX column name | EDU section name | Note |
|---|
NUMERIC | NUMERICAL | TYPE checkbox says NUMERICAL |
NUMERICAL_RANGE | NUMERICAL_RANGE | Same |
TAGS | TAGS | End of file (org/user tags by ID) |
TAG | TAG | Earlier in file (legacy label field) |
EXPRESSION_RANDOM_GOAL | EXPRESSION_EXPLICIT_GOAL | Different name in EDU! |
Always use the EDU section names listed in the Complete Section Order above.
Newer Sections — RUBRIC_CRITERIA and SKILLS
Two plain-value sections (no checkboxes, empty by default):
RUBRIC_CRITERIA — rubric criteria for manual/semi-automatic scoring, {criterion; points}
entries separated by &&&. Sits right after MANUAL_SCORING.SKILLS — skill scoring for skills defined in the target Quiz set, {identifier; points}
(or extended notation) entries separated by &&&. Sits right after OPTIONS_ORDER.
For the semantics and full notation of both fields, see the edubase-question-creator skill.
Checkbox Sections — Full Option Lists
TYPE (mark exactly one)
%------TYPE!!------%
% [ ] CHOICE
% [ ] MULTIPLE-CHOICE
% [ ] TRUE/FALSE
% [ ] NUMERICAL
% [ ] EXPRESSION
% [ ] ORDER
% [ ] GROUPING
% [ ] PAIRING
% [ ] MATRIX
% [ ] MATRIX:EXPRESSION
% [ ] SET
% [ ] SET:TEXT
% [ ] DATE/TIME
% [ ] TEXT
% [ ] FREE-TEXT
% [ ] FILE
% [ ] HOTSPOT
% [ ] READING
% [ ] GENERIC
SUBSCORING (default: PROPORTIONAL)
%------SUBSCORING------%
% [X] PROPORTIONAL
% [ ] LINEAR_SUBSTRACTED:N
% [ ] CUSTOM
% [ ] NONE
Note: LINEAR_SUBSTRACTED (with D) — this is the spelling in the EDU format.
MANUAL_SCORING (default: NO)
%------MANUAL_SCORING------%
% [X] NO
% [ ] NOT_CORRECT
% [ ] ALWAYS
PENALTY_SCORING (default: DEFAULT)
%------PENALTY_SCORING------%
% [X] DEFAULT
% [ ] PER_ANSWER
% [ ] PER_QUESTION
QUESTION_FORMAT (default in template: LATEX)
%------QUESTION_FORMAT------%
% [ ] NORMAL
% [X] LATEX
% [ ] LONG
⚠️ The template defaults to LATEX — change to NORMAL if the question has no math.
TOLERANCE (mark one, or leave all unchecked if not applicable)
%------TOLERANCE------%
% [ ] ABSOLUTE:N
% [ ] RELATIVE:N
% [ ] QUOTIENT
% [ ] QUOTIENT2
% [ ] QUOTIENT:SYNCED
% [ ] QUOTIENT2:SYNCED
Output Approach
When writing a single EDU file:
- Output the complete EDU content in a code block (for preview)
- Write it to a
.edu file and present it for download
- Include ALL 76 sections — even empty ones — to match the template exactly
When writing multiple questions:
- Each question = one separate
.edu file
- Name files descriptively:
question-type-topic.edu or q01.edu, q02.edu, etc.
- Package into a ZIP if more than 3 files
Minimal viable EDU (just mandatory + recommended fields filled):
Fill QUESTION!!, ANSWER!!, TYPE!!, SUBJECT!, CATEGORY! — leave everything else blank.
Still include all section headers.
Full Template
The complete blank template is in assets/template.edu.
Load it with view /path/to/skill/assets/template.edu when you need the exact blank structure.
When generating output, reproduce the full template structure, substituting values into the
appropriate sections. Do not omit any section headers, even if the content is empty.
Example — CHOICE question
%------LANGUAGE------%
hu
%------QUESTION!!------%
Mi a főváros neve?
%------ANSWER!!------%
Budapest
%------TYPE!!------%
% [ ] CHOICE
% [X] ...
→ See references/examples.md for complete worked examples for each major question type.
Workflow with edubase-question-creator
- Use edubase-question-creator to decide: type, answer syntax, operators, parameters
- Use this skill to serialize the result into valid EDU file format
- When in doubt about field semantics → edubase-question-creator
- When in doubt about EDU syntax/structure → this skill
