concept-map

name

concept-map

description

Turn a topic, chapter, or pasted source into a visual graph — mind maps, concept maps, prerequisite trees, cause-effect networks, taxonomies, process flows, or timelines. Triggers on student phrasings like "mind map of the french revolution", "concept map for photosynthesis", "show me how these ideas relate", "visualize this chapter", "map out the relationships in this reading", "map my notes", and on teacher phrasings like "diagram of this chapter for my 7th graders", "prerequisite tree for calculus", "cause and effect map of WWI", "draw a taxonomy of vertebrates", "flowchart the scientific method", "timeline of the civil rights movement", "markmap of these notes". Emits Mermaid (default), Graphviz DOT, or Markmap syntax plus an optional rendered PNG/SVG via the bundled renderer — falls back to syntax + install hints when renderers are missing. Calibrates node count and vocabulary to grade level.

concept-map

Turn a topic string or source text into a legible graph that shows structure at a glance. Default output is Mermaid syntax (renders in GitHub, Notion, Obsidian, and Claude Code with zero install) plus a PNG/SVG when a renderer is available.

When to trigger

Activate on any phrasing that asks to visualize relationships between ideas. Examples:

Student phrasings

• "mind map of the french revolution"
• "concept map for photosynthesis"
• "show me how these ideas relate"
• "visualize this chapter as a graph"
• "map my notes on cell biology"
• "I need a mind map to study for my exam"

Teacher phrasings

• "diagram of this chapter for my 7th graders"
• "prerequisite tree for calculus"
• "cause and effect map of WWI"
• "draw a taxonomy of vertebrates"
• "flowchart the scientific method"
• "timeline of the civil rights movement"
• "markmap of my unit notes"

Anti-triggers — DO NOT invoke

• "write me a summary of X" → plain prose, not a graph.
• "give me a flowchart for this React component" → code-diagramming, out of scope.
• "draw a picture of a cell" → labeled illustration, not a concept graph.

Inputs

• Topic string (required OR source) — "the French Revolution", "photosynthesis", "derivatives".
• Source text (required OR topic) — pasted chapter, notes, or article paragraphs.
• Graph type (optional) — tree, concept-map, flow, timeline, mindmap. Inferred if omitted (see table below).
• Format (optional) — mermaid (default), dot, markmap, or all.
• Grade / level (optional) — K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12, college, grad. Drives node count + vocabulary.
• Max nodes (optional) — integer, default 20, hard cap 50.
• Render (optional, default true) — auto-invoke scripts/render.py to produce PNG/SVG.

Inferring graph type from phrasing (before asking)

Pick the graph type from the user's wording — do NOT ask unless both topic and format are absent.

Phrasing cue	Graph type	Mermaid directive
"timeline of", "history of", "events leading up to", "chronology"	timeline	timeline
"parts of a ___", "anatomy of", "taxonomy of", "types of", "classification"	tree (hierarchical)	graph TD
"prerequisite tree", "what do I need before", "dependency graph"	tree (bottom-up DAG)	graph BT or DOT rankdir=BT
"causes of ___", "cause and effect", "what led to"	concept map with labeled edges	graph LR with edge labels
"how does ___ work", "process of", "steps in", "scientific method"	flow (process)	flowchart LR
"mind map of", "brainstorm", "everything about ___", "map my notes"	radial mindmap	mindmap
"concept map", "how these ideas relate", "relationships between"	Novak concept map	graph TD with labeled edges + cross-links
"markmap", "outline of my notes", "heading tree"	Markmap	Markdown headings

If both topic AND format are missing, ask ONE clarifying question in this exact shape:

Quick check — what topic, and which flavor? (e.g. mind map of the French Revolution · concept map for photosynthesis · prerequisite tree for calculus · timeline of WWII)

Do not stack questions. Once the user answers, proceed straight to generation.

Grade / level calibration

Level	Nodes	Structure	Edge labels
K-2	3-5	Simple radial mindmap	None (lines only)
3-5	6-10	Hierarchical tree	Simple ("is a", "has")
6-8	10-15	Tree or concept map	Verbs ("causes", "requires")
9-12	15-25	Concept map with cross-links	Full labeled propositions
College	20-40	Concept map, multiple clusters	Rich labels
Grad	Up to 50	Concept map + subgraphs / process flows	Precise terminology

Vocabulary tracks level: K-2 uses common words, grad uses domain-precise terms.

Workflow

1. Parse the request — extract topic OR source, graph type, format, grade.
2. Infer graph type from the table above if not specified. Default format is Mermaid.
3. Extract 10-30 candidate key concepts. Respect max-nodes.
4. Cluster related concepts; pick the root / central concept.
5. Draft relationships. For concept maps, label every edge with a verb or preposition ("causes", "is-a", "requires", "leads to"). See references/novak-concept-maps.md.
6. Emit syntax — write the chosen format to disk (concept-map.mmd by default).
7. Render — if render: true, invoke scripts/render.py --input concept-map.mmd --output concept-map.png. Script falls back to install hints if the CLI is missing; the syntax file is always preserved.
8. Summarize — return root concept, node count, edge count, and file paths.

Locked defaults

Setting	Default
Format	Mermaid (graph TD or per inference table)
Render	Auto-invoke scripts/render.py when the user asks for a rendered image; otherwise emit syntax + one-line render instructions
Max nodes	20 (hard cap 50)
Cross-links	Enabled for grades 9-12 and above
Edge labels	Required for concept maps, optional for trees, off for K-2 mindmaps
Output bundle	.mmd + .png + render instructions

Micro-example

User: "concept map for photosynthesis, 7th grade"

Inferred: grade 7, concept map with labeled edges, Mermaid graph TD, ~10 nodes.

graph TD
  P[Photosynthesis] -->|"needs"| L[Light energy]
  P -->|"needs"| W[Water]
  P -->|"needs"| C[CO₂]
  P -->|"happens in"| CH[Chloroplasts]
  P -->|"produces"| G[Glucose]
  P -->|"produces"| O[Oxygen]
  CH -->|"contain"| CL[Chlorophyll]
  CL -->|"absorbs"| L

6 core nodes + 2 supporting nodes, every edge labeled, root is the central concept. Emit the raw Mermaid above as concept-map.mmd, then run scripts/render.py for a PNG.

Rendering

Run the bundled script from the skill root:

python3 scripts/render.py --input concept-map.mmd --output concept-map.png

Dispatch by file extension:

• .mmd / .mermaid → mmdc (Mermaid CLI)
• .dot / .gv → dot (Graphviz)
• .md → markmap-cli (Markmap)

If the required CLI is missing, render.py exits 0 (non-fatal), prints platform-specific install commands, and points at https://mermaid.live/edit as a zero-install fallback. The syntax file is always preserved.

References (load on demand)

• references/graph-type-guide.md — decision tree for picking tree / concept-map / flow / timeline / mindmap.
• references/mermaid-cheatsheet.md — graph TD, flowchart LR, mindmap, timeline, node shapes, edge labels, subgraphs, styling.
• references/dot-cheatsheet.md — DOT syntax, digraph, rankdir, clusters, dot/neato/fdp layouts.
• references/markmap-syntax.md — Markdown-heading-driven mind maps, frontmatter options.
• references/novak-concept-maps.md — Novak & Cañas theory: propositions (concept-link-concept), focus questions, cross-links, hierarchical layout.
• references/node-labeling.md — label length, noun-nodes / verb-edges, reading-level calibration.

Load a reference only when its topic is active — never preload.

Quality bar

Every generated graph must satisfy:

• Syntax parses in its target renderer (no Mermaid parse errors, valid DOT, valid Markmap).
• Root / central concept is unambiguous and matches the user's topic.
• Node count matches the grade calibration (±20%).
• For concept maps at grades 6+, every edge carries a verb or preposition label.
• Labels are ≤ 3 words where possible; nouns for nodes, verbs for edges.
• No hallucinated concepts when a source text is provided — each node maps to a substring or close paraphrase in the source.
• Rendered image is non-empty OR install hints are surfaced with a zero-install fallback URL.

What NOT to do

• Do not emit a graph with > 50 nodes — cluster lowest-importance concepts into parent groups and report what was collapsed.
• Do not leave edges unlabeled in concept maps for grades 6+.
• Do not silently pick one direction when source text supports both (A causes B and B causes A) — emit both with distinct labels.
• Do not fail hard when renderers are missing — always fall back gracefully and keep the syntax file.
• Do not ask more than one clarifying question.