Quick Start Guide

Get started with distill-mentor in 3 simple steps.

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Step 1: Choose Your API Provider

Option A: Anthropic Claude (Recommended for Quality)

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-..."

Option B: OpenAI (Recommended for Cost)

export LLM_API="openai"
export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."

💡 Don't have an API key?

• Anthropic: https://console.anthropic.com/
• OpenAI: https://platform.openai.com/api-keys

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Step 2: Generate a Mentor Skill

Basic Generation (ArXiv papers only)

node tools/skill-generator.mjs "Geoffrey Hinton" --affiliation "University of Toronto"

With Deep Analysis (includes public information)

node tools/skill-generator.mjs "Geoffrey Hinton" --affiliation "University of Toronto" --deep-analyze

With Uploads (includes additional materials)

# Place files in uploads directory
cp research_paper.pdf ~/.claude/uploads/pdfs/
cp interview_notes.md ~/.claude/uploads/markdown/

# Generate skill with uploads
node tools/skill-generator.mjs "Geoffrey Hinton" --affiliation "University of Toronto"

Supported upload types:

• Text (.txt, .text)
• Markdown (.md)
• PDF (.pdf)
• Email (.eml, .mbox)
• Images (.png, .jpg, .jpeg, .gif, .webp)
• Feishu exports (.json)

See UPLOAD_GUIDE.md for details.

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Step 3: Use Your Mentor Skill

Once generated, interact with your mentor:

# Using Claude Code CLI
/GeoffreyHinton What are your research interests?

Or load the skill and ask questions:

/GeoffreyHinton

Then ask: What do you think about the future of AI?

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📊 What You Get

After generation, you'll have:

1. Profile JSON: ~/.claude/mentors/GeoffreyHinton.json

   • Complete structured profile
   • Research themes and methodology
   • Personality and communication style

2. Skill File: ~/.claude/skills/GeoffreyHinton/SKILL.md

   • Ready-to-use mentor skill
   • Emulates research style and perspectives
   • Provides academic guidance

3. Analysis Report: reports/Geoffrey_Hinton_deep_analysis.json

   • Raw analysis data
   • Source materials
   • Confidence levels

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🎯 Example Workflow

# 1. Set API key
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-..."

# 2. Generate mentor skill
node tools/skill-generator.mjs "Yann LeCun" --affiliation "NYU" --deep-analyze

# 3. Use the mentor
/YannLeCun What's your approach to computer vision?

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🔧 Switching APIs

Want to try a different API? Just switch environment variables:

# From Anthropic to OpenAI
export LLM_API="openai"
export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."

# Regenerate the skill
node tools/skill-generator.mjs "Geoffrey Hinton" --affiliation "University of Toronto" --deep-analyze

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💡 Tips

1. Cost Control: Start with basic generation (ArXiv only) to test
2. Better Results: Use --deep-analyze for comprehensive analysis
3. Chinese Mentors: Works great with Chinese names (e.g., "刘知远")
4. Affiliation: Helps disambiguate authors with similar names
5. Multiple Mentors: Generate as many as you want!

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📚 Next Steps

• Full Configuration: See API_CONFIGURATION.md
• Implementation Details: See IMPLEMENTATION_STATUS.md
• Bug Reports: See BUG-FIX-REPORT.md
• Project README: See README.md

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🆘 Troubleshooting

"API key not set"

# Check which provider is configured
node tools/test-api-config.mjs

# Set the appropriate key
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="..."  # or OPENAI_API_KEY

"No papers found"

• ArXiv API might be rate-limited
• Try again in a few minutes
• Or use --deep-analyze to include public information

"Unknown skill"

• Skill names cannot have spaces
• Use: /GeoffreyHinton not /Geoffrey Hinton

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🌐 中文快速参考 / Chinese Quick Reference

基本用法 / Basic Usage

# 1. 设置 API 密钥 / Set API key
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="sk-ant-..."
# 或使用 OpenAI / Or use OpenAI:
export LLM_API="openai"
export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."

# 2. 生成导师技能 / Generate mentor skill
node tools/skill-generator.mjs "Geoffrey Hinton" --affiliation "University of Toronto"

# 3. 使用导师技能 / Use mentor skill
/GeoffreyHinton 你喜欢什么样的研究？

支持的 API / Supported APIs

• Anthropic Claude (默认推荐 / Recommended for quality)
• OpenAI (成本更低 / Lower cost)

详见: API_CONFIGURATION.md

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Ready to distill your first mentor? 🚀

export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="your-key-here"
node tools/skill-generator.mjs "Geoffrey Hinton" --affiliation "University of Toronto"