Agent skill

Learn Visual

by vasanthsreeram in vasanthsreeram/Alvarmethod

Make a teaching diagram (usually SVG) for one idea, look at it, and fix it until the picture actually shows the claim.

MITAuto-check passedEducation

Install Learn Visual

skills CLI
$ npx skills add vasanthsreeram/Alvarmethod --skill learn-visual -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install vasanthsreeram/Alvarmethod learn-visual --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/vasanthsreeram/Alvarmethod.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/learn-visual .claude/skills/learn-visual && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
learn-visual
GitHub stars
163
Token cost
~472 tokens
SKILL.md length
237 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
5
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Make a teaching diagram (usually SVG) for one idea, look at it, and fix it until the picture actually shows the claim.

  • Works in 5 steps: State the claim the picture must make,… → Draw the smallest picture that makes… → Look at the file (image/read tool). If… → …
  • The user runs /learn-visual
  • SKILL.md covers Output, Loop (do not skip), Design and Failures to catch on the look…, plus 1 more section
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Learn Visual is an agent skill from vasanthsreeram/Alvarmethod. Make a teaching diagram (usually SVG) for one idea, look at it, and fix it until the picture actually shows the claim. Use when the user runs /learn-visual or /skill:learn-visual, or asks for a figure, diagram, SVG, sketch, visualization, or picture of a concept being taught.

Its SKILL.md is about 470 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Education. The repository describes itself as: One-to-one AI teaching skills (Alvar method) for Codex, Claude Code, Grok, Pi, and OpenCode. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • The user runs /learn-visual
  • /skill:learn-visual
  • Asks for a figure
  • Picture of a concept being taught

Example prompts

  • “/learn-visual”

Workflow steps

5 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

  1. State the claim the picture must make, in one sentence.
  2. Draw the smallest picture that makes that claim.
  3. Look at the file (image/read tool). If you cannot view it, say so and keep the SVG simple enough to audit as text.
  4. Fix labels, overlap, wrong arrows, missing units, or a picture that does not match the claim.
  5. Look again. Stop after a clean pass, not after the first draft.

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 5d39056. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Learn Visual loads about 472 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 72 tokens; SKILL.md has 237 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~72
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~472

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from vasanthsreeram/Alvarmethod at commit 5d39056, republished under its MIT licence (© vasanthsreeram). 237 words, ~472 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/learn-visual/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
learn-visual
description
Make a teaching diagram (usually SVG) for one idea, look at it, and fix it until the picture actually shows the claim. Use when the user runs /learn-visual or /skill:learn-visual, or asks for a figure, diagram, SVG, sketch, visualization, or picture of a concept being taught.
license
MIT
metadata.author
vasanthsreeram
metadata.version
1.0
metadata.source
Eero Alvar — How I Use AI to Learn Things https://youtu.be/kzcI5F4tGiU

Learn visual

One idea, one picture. The picture exists so the learner can accept the step — not as decoration.

Output

Write .alvar/visuals/<slug>-<n>.svg (create the folder). Embed or link it in the session file.

Prefer SVG. Use another format only if the harness cannot preview SVG.

Loop (do not skip)

  1. State the claim the picture must make, in one sentence.
  2. Draw the smallest picture that makes that claim.
  3. Look at the file (image/read tool). If you cannot view it, say so and keep the SVG simple enough to audit as text.
  4. Fix labels, overlap, wrong arrows, missing units, or a picture that does not match the claim.
  5. Look again. Stop after a clean pass, not after the first draft.

Design

  • One claim. No collage of the whole course.
  • Large labels. High contrast. No tiny legend the learner needs a second lesson to read.
  • If the idea is algebraic, show the objects (arrows, planes, machines), not a screenshot of the equation.
  • Do not add decorative gradients, watermarks, or "AI art" backgrounds.

Failures to catch on the look pass

  • Arrow direction disagrees with the prose
  • Two symbols for the same object
  • 3D that hides the relation
  • Cropped text
  • A picture of a different special case than the one just taught

After

Tell the learner what to look at first ("the two arrows, then the pairing number"). Do not re-teach the whole node unless they ask.

© vasanthsreeram, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in skills/learn-visual of vasanthsreeram/Alvarmethod.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 5d39056

Compare with similar skills

Learn Visual next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Learn Visual compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Learn Visual this skillvasanthsreeram/Alvarmethod163—~472Automated safety check: PassMIT
DeepTutor CLIHKUDS/DeepTutor41k—~2.8kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
AI Engineering Placement Quizrohitg00/ai-engineering-from-scratch66k—~2kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Deep Reading Analystginobefun/deep-reading-analyst-skill3544 repos~3.6kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
OpenMAIC Setup and ExtensionTHU-MAIC/OpenMAIC40k—~1.7kAutomated safety check: NotesMIT
Codebase to Coursezarazhangrui/codebase-to-course5.7k—~4.4kAutomated safety check: PassNone

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Categories

Questions about Learn Visual

What does Learn Visual do?

Make a teaching diagram (usually SVG) for one idea, look at it, and fix it until the picture actually shows the claim. Learn Visual is an agent skill from vasanthsreeram/Alvarmethod. Make a teaching diagram (usually SVG) for one idea, look at it, and fix it until the picture actually shows the claim.

When should I use Learn Visual?

Learn Visual fits situations like: the user runs /learn-visual; /skill:learn-visual; asks for a figure; picture of a concept being taught.

How do I install Learn Visual in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add vasanthsreeram/Alvarmethod --skill learn-visual -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/learn-visual in vasanthsreeram/Alvarmethod) into .claude/skills/learn-visual in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Learn Visual in Codex?

Run `npx skills add vasanthsreeram/Alvarmethod --skill learn-visual -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/learn-visual in vasanthsreeram/Alvarmethod) into .agents/skills/learn-visual in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Learn Visual in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add vasanthsreeram/Alvarmethod --skill learn-visual -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/learn-visual, .gemini/skills/learn-visual, .github/skills/learn-visual and .opencode/skills/learn-visual in your project.

What does Learn Visual need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Learn Visual is instructions for the agent only.

Does Learn Visual access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Learn Visual safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Learn Visual use?

Learn Visual is published under the MIT licence (declared in SKILL.md). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Learn Visual use?

About 472 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 1.9k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Learn Visual?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Learn Visual: DeepTutor CLI (HKUDS/DeepTutor, 41k stars), AI Engineering Placement Quiz (rohitg00/ai-engineering-from-scratch, 66k stars), Deep Reading Analyst (ginobefun/deep-reading-analyst-skill, 354 stars) and OpenMAIC Setup and Extension (THU-MAIC/OpenMAIC, 40k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Learn Visual?

vasanthsreeram (a GitHub user) maintains it in vasanthsreeram/Alvarmethod, which has 163 GitHub stars. The repository holds 5 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on August 16, 2026.

Source: vasanthsreeram/Alvarmethod on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.