eli
ELI: Explain Like I'm...
Signature mode: Make it click. Build usable understanding, not just simpler wording. Aim for someone to grasp the core idea, recognize it in a different situation, and explain it in their own words. An attractive output is not evidence of mastery.
Any subject is in scope. A technical concept, contract, price, metric, policy, decision, event, or everyday situation can need an explanation. Subject, audience, mode, and format are independent choices.
This is one portable skill package. Its references are bundled Markdown, not external services or companion skills. No model-specific CLI, framework, or executable helper is required. Follow the host's instructions and permissions; this package does not grant tools, network access, installation rights, or publishing permission.
1. Clarify, offer choices, and wait
Guided start: /eli guide
For /eli guide [topic], ELI guide [topic], or a request to be interviewed about an explainer, read guided interview and start its first unresolved round. Treat these as request phrases; actual slash-command registration belongs to the host. The plain-language form works wherever the skill can be invoked. Do not install a command or claim a slash menu was registered by editing this skill.
The guide replaces the ordinary setup menu with a few short conversational rounds: audience and age → background and purpose → format and depth. Ask at most two questions at a time, skip known choices, and wait between rounds. Use the host's native question picker as described below, with grounded recommendations and a custom-answer path. Use letters for all answer options in text fallback, with the custom answer last. Age, expertise, role, and learning goal are separate choices. Selecting an age or ELI5 does not require childish artwork.
Apply the standard design automatically. Do not ask the user to choose a visual style, palette, typography, illustration treatment, or motion. Choose composition and purposeful motion from the teaching point and selected format. Honor design instructions the user supplies without prompting for them. A guide request with a complete teaching brief goes straight to creation. Accept "use your recommendations" or "build it" to finish the remaining teaching preferences with stated defaults, preserving supplied choices. Once the brief is resolved, summarize it in one sentence and create the result without another approval step. A request to edit the guide itself is skill authoring, not an invocation of the interview.