How to use the curriculum-planner agent skill

What the curriculum-planner skill makes the agent do

Without this skill, an agent handles a request as a single classroom. The curriculum-planner skill covers the case where you want a sequence of classrooms that a learner takes in order. The skill says that the unit of work is still one stage, and that the single-stage skill stage-design governs how each stage is built. The curriculum-planner skill adds the series layer: getting the brief straight, getting your sign-off on the whole list, and carrying the series from the first stage to the last.

• Clarifies the series brief in two or three rounds of focused questions about your level, goals and session length.
• Shows you the complete list of stages, one line each, and waits for your explicit go before creating any stage.
• Builds the stages one at a time into a shared folder, so the lessons stay consistent with each other.
• Designs for progression: each lesson opens where the previous one closed and can stand on its own as a class.

What you need before you install

The skill's own file is SKILL.md. According to its metadata, it requires the THU-MAIC/OpenMAIC platform, because the skill refers to that platform's stage, folder and ask_user tools. Without those tools the agent cannot create stages or ask you questions, so the skill cannot do its job.

The skill is not meant for a single classroom. For one lesson, however large, the agent should use the standard single-stage workflow instead.

• The OpenMAIC platform, which provides the stage, folder and ask_user tools the skill uses.
• A Claude setup that can load skills: either Claude Code with a skills folder, or the Claude apps.
• The skill files from this page, downloaded as a ZIP.

Install the curriculum-planner skill

Download the ZIP from this page and unzip it. For a personal setup, put the unzipped skill folder in ~/.claude/skills/. To use it only inside one project, put it in that project's .claude/skills/ folder instead.

If you use the Claude apps, you can upload the skill instead. Open Settings, go to Capabilities, then Skills, and upload the skill there.

• Personal install: ~/.claude/skills/
• Project-only install: .claude/skills/ inside the project folder
• Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload

How to trigger the skill with a natural request

You do not need a special command. Describe a sequence of classrooms that belong together, and the agent should recognise it as a series. The skill's own description gives these kinds of request as examples: 「7 天学 Python」, a four-week onboarding track, a semester unit split across lessons, or 'turn this book into a lesson per chapter'.

Be clear that you want several classrooms. A request for one lesson will not use this skill, by design.

• 7 天学 Python，每天一节课，零基础。
• Make a four-week onboarding track for new support staff, one classroom per week.
• Turn this book into a lesson per chapter. [attach the book or its table of contents]
• Plan a semester unit on statistics, split into lessons.

Walk through a series from questions to finished stages

The agent asks its questions first. For a beginner's Python course, round one usually covers who the learner is and what they want from the course. Round two asks about session length, pace, language of instruction and how hands-on it should be. Round three is only asked when it changes the plan, for example whether you have a syllabus to build from or how much checking you want.

After the questions, the agent presents the series title, the number of stages, and one line per stage saying what the learner can do at the end of it. It then asks for an explicit go. You can change the count, reorder lessons, drop or add one, or adjust the level. Nothing is built until you approve the list. Once you approve, the stages are created one at a time in a shared folder.

• Answer each round in one reply; the agent uses your answers to shape the next round.
• Check the level and order in the list before you approve it.
• If you change anything, the agent shows the revised list and asks again.

Safety notes: scripts and network

The skill's metadata says it runs no scripts and uses no network access. It consists of a single file, SKILL.md, which is instructions for the agent. The tools it refers to, such as web_search and fetch_url, belong to the OpenMAIC platform and are not part of this skill's files. Whether the agent uses those tools depends on the platform and the request, so check what your platform allows.

The skill also blocks building before sign-off. If you want the agent to build everything without reviewing a plan, this skill is the wrong fit, because it is designed to wait for your approval.

• Runs scripts: no
• Uses network: no (according to the skill's metadata)
• Only SKILL.md is included; it contains instructions, not executable code.

Tips for better series

Give the agent your source material early, such as a book, syllabus or deck. The skill can build the series from it, and the third clarification round exists for exactly this question.

Read the full list carefully before approving. The skill is built around the idea that a series costs much more to fix after seven stages are built.

• Attach the syllabus or chapter list in your first message.
• State the level and session length directly, so the agent can skip questions it does not need.
• Keep the approval step: it is the one point where you can cheaply change the plan.