By name: exercise-designer description: Create tiered exercises (Try It, Challenge, Deep Dive) with hints and solutions for each chapter
Trigger
Use when creating exercises for a chapter. Invoke with /exercise-designer or when the user says "create exercises for chapter N", "write exercises", or "design practice problems".
Inputs
- Chapter number (1-13)
- Concept being tested (from the chapter's core concept)
- Optional: Specific scenarios or constraints the user wants exercises to cover
Process
Read the chapter to understand:
- The core concept taught
- The mini-project completed
- The reader's expected knowledge level at this point
Design three tiers of exercises:
Tier 1: Try It (Guided)
- Clear step-by-step instructions
- Reader knows exactly what to do, focus is on building muscle memory
- Expected outcome is well-defined
- Can be completed in 5-10 minutes
- Includes: Full solution
Tier 2: Challenge
- Goal is stated clearly, approach is not
- Reader must apply the chapter's concept to a slightly different problem
- May require combining with something from a previous chapter
- Can be completed in 15-30 minutes
- Includes: Hints (progressive — first hint is gentle nudge, last hint is almost the answer) and solution
Tier 3: Deep Dive
- Open-ended exploration or extension of the chapter's concept
- Requires creative problem-solving and potentially research
- No single "right" answer
- Could take 30-60+ minutes
- Includes: Discussion of possible approaches (not a single solution)
- Write exercises with this format:
## Exercises
### Try It: [Title]
**Goal:** [What the reader will accomplish]
[Step-by-step instructions]
<details>
<summary>Solution</summary>
[Full solution with explanation]
</details>
---
### Challenge: [Title]
**Goal:** [What the reader should build/accomplish]
**Constraints:** [Any rules or limitations]
<details>
<summary>Hint 1</summary>
[Gentle nudge in the right direction]
</details>
<details>
<summary>Hint 2</summary>
[More specific guidance]
</details>
<details>
<summary>Solution</summary>
[Full solution with explanation]
</details>
---
### Deep Dive: [Title]
**Goal:** [Open-ended goal]
**Starting point:** [Where to begin exploring]
<details>
<summary>Possible Approaches</summary>
[Discussion of 2-3 ways to tackle this, trade-offs of each]
</details>
Output
Write exercises to book/chapters/NN-<slug>/exercises/exercises.md.
Design Principles
- Exercises reinforce the chapter's concept — not general programming challenges
- Progressive difficulty within each tier — not just between tiers
- Real-world flavor — use scenarios a working developer would face
- No trick questions — the challenge should be applying the concept, not deciphering the question
- Hints are pedagogical — they teach, not just give away the answer