MicroSim Generator

Overview

This meta-skill routes MicroSim creation requests to the appropriate specialized generator based on visualization requirements. It consolidates 14 individual MicroSim generator skills into a single entry point with on-demand loading of specific implementation guides.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when users request:

• Interactive educational visualizations
• Data visualizations (charts, graphs, plots)
• Timelines or chronological displays
• Geographic/map visualizations
• Network diagrams or concept maps
• Flowcharts or workflow diagrams
• Mathematical function plots
• Set diagrams (Venn)
• Priority matrices or bubble charts
• Custom simulations or animations
• Comparison tables with ratings
• Matrix comparisons with expandable cell details

Step 1: Analyze Request and Match Generator

Scan the user’s request for trigger keywords and match to the appropriate generator guide.

Quick Reference Routing Table

Decision Tree

Has dates/timeline/chronological events?
  → YES: timeline-guide.md

Has geographic coordinates/locations?
  → YES: map-guide.md

Mathematical function f(x) or equation?
  → YES: plotly-guide.md

Nodes and edges/network relationships?
  → YES: vis-network-guide.md (or causal-loop-guide.md if systems thinking)

Flowchart/workflow/process diagram?
  → YES: mermaid-guide.md

Sets with overlaps (2-4 categories)?
  → YES: venn-guide.md

Priority matrix/2x2 quadrant/multi-dimensional?
  → YES: bubble-guide.md

Standard chart (bar/line/pie/radar)?
  → YES: chartjs-guide.md

Comparison table with ratings/stars?
  → YES: comparison-table-guide.md

Matrix comparison with clickable cells/detail panels?
  → YES: html-table.md

Celebration/particles/visual feedback?
  → YES: celebration-guide.md

Custom simulation/animation/physics?
  → YES: p5-guide.md

Step 2: Instructional Design Checkpoint (MANDATORY)

Before loading any generator guide, you MUST complete this checkpoint.

2.1 Identify Learning Objective Details

Extract from the specification:

• Bloom Level: Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, or Create
• Bloom Verb: The action verb (explain, demonstrate, calculate, etc.)
• Learning Objective: The full statement of what learners will be able to do

2.2 Match Interaction Pattern to Bloom Level

2.3 Answer These Questions

Before proceeding, answer these questions:

1. What specific data must the learner SEE?

   • Not “animated particles” but “the tokenized array [‘physics’, ‘ball’]”

2. Does the learner need to PREDICT before observing?

   • If YES → Use step-through with Next/Previous buttons
   • If YES → Do NOT use continuous animation

3. What does animation add that static arrows don’t?

   • If you can’t answer this clearly → Don’t use animation

4. Is continuous animation appropriate for this Bloom level?

   • For Understand (L2) with verb “explain” → Almost always NO
   • For Apply (L3) with real-time feedback → Often YES

2.4 Modify Specification If Needed

If the specification requests animation/effects for an UNDERSTAND level objective:

• Flag this as a potential instructional design issue
• Recommend step-through pattern instead
• Ask user: “The specification requests animation, but for an ‘explain’ objective, a step-through approach with concrete data visibility typically supports learning better. Should I proceed with step-through instead?”

2.5 Document Your Decision

Add to your response:

Instructional Design Check:
- Bloom Level: [level]
- Bloom Verb: [verb]
- Recommended Pattern: [pattern]
- Specification Alignment: [aligned/modified]
- Rationale: [why this pattern supports the learning objective]

Step 3: Load the Matched Guide

Once you complete the instructional design checkpoint, read the corresponding guide file from the references/ directory and follow its workflow.

Example:

• User asks for “a timeline showing the history of Unix”
• Match: timeline keyword → Load references/timeline-guide.md
• Follow the timeline-guide.md workflow

Step 5: Execute Generator Workflow

Each guide contains:

1. Library-specific requirements
2. Directory structure to create
3. Step-by-step implementation workflow
4. Code templates and patterns
5. Best practices for that visualization type

Handling Ambiguous Requests

If the request could match multiple generators:

1. Read references/routing-criteria.md for detailed scoring methodology
2. Score top 3 candidates using the 0-100 scale
3. Present options to user with reasoning:

   Based on your request, I recommend:
   1. [Generator A] (Score: 85) - Best for [reason]
   2. [Generator B] (Score: 70) - Alternative if you need [feature]
   3. [Generator C] (Score: 55) - Possible if [condition]
   
   Which would you prefer?
   

4. Proceed with user’s selection

Common Ambiguities

Available Generators

Primary Generators

Shared Standards

All MicroSims follow these standards regardless of generator:

Directory Structure:

docs/sims/<microsim-name>/
├── main.html       # Main visualization file
├── index.md        # Documentation page
├── *.js or *.css   # Supporting files
└── metadata.json   # Dublin Core metadata (optional)

URI Scheme for Discoverability:

All MicroSim HTML files MUST include this schema meta tag for global discoverability:

<meta name="schema" content="https://dmccreary.github.io/intelligent-textbooks/ns/microsim/v1">

This enables counting and discovery of MicroSims across GitHub using code search. See the URI Scheme documentation for details.

Integration:

• Embedded via iframe in MkDocs pages
• Width-responsive design
• Non-scrolling iframe container
• Standard height: drawHeight + controlHeight + 2px

Quality Checklist:

• Runs without errors in modern browsers
• Responsive to container width
• Controls respond immediately
• Educational purpose is clear
• Code is well-commented

Examples

Example 1: Timeline Request

User: “Create a timeline showing key events in computer history” Routing: Keywords “timeline”, “events”, “history” → references/timeline-guide.md Action: Read timeline-guide.md and follow its workflow

Example 2: Chart Request

User: “Make a bar chart comparing programming language popularity” Routing: Keywords “bar chart”, “comparing” → references/chartjs-guide.md Action: Read chartjs-guide.md and follow its workflow

Example 3: Custom Simulation

User: “Build an interactive bouncing ball simulation” Routing: Keywords “interactive”, “bouncing”, “simulation” → references/p5-guide.md Action: Read p5-guide.md and follow its workflow

Example 4: Ambiguous Request

User: “Create a graph of our project dependencies” Routing: “graph” + “dependencies” suggests network → references/vis-network-guide.md Action: Read vis-network-guide.md (but clarify if user meant a chart)

Reference Files

For detailed information, consult:

• references/routing-criteria.md – Complete scoring methodology for all generators
• references/<generator>-guide.md – Specific implementation guide for each generator
• assets/templates/ – Shared templates and patterns

Step 6: Auto-Standardization

IMPORTANT: After creating the MicroSim files, automatically run standardization to ensure quality and documentation standards are met.

Why Auto-Standardize?

• Eliminates manual follow-up work
• Ensures consistent quality across all MicroSims
• Adds metadata.json, lesson plans, and references automatically
• Calculates and records quality_score in index.md

Standardization Process

After the generator guide workflow completes (files created in docs/sims/<microsim-name>/):

1. Read the standardization guide: Load ../microsim-utils/references/standardization.md
2. Run the standardization checklist on the newly created MicroSim directory
3. Implement all fixes automatically (skip user confirmation since this is a new MicroSim)
4. Generate quality_score and add to index.md frontmatter

What Standardization Adds

The standardization process will add these elements if missing:

• metadata.json – Dublin Core metadata for discoverability
• YAML frontmatter – title, description, quality_score, image paths
• Iframe examples – Copy-paste code for embedding
• Fullscreen button – Link to view MicroSim fullscreen
• Lesson Plan section – Learning objectives, activities, assessment
• References section – Related resources and documentation

Workflow Integration

[User Request]
    → [Route to Guide]
    → [Generate MicroSim Files]
    → [Auto-Standardize] ← NEW STEP
    → [Update mkdocs.yml]
    → [Done]

This eliminates the need to manually run microsim-utils standardization after every MicroSim creation.

mkdocs.yml Integration

After creating and standardizing a MicroSim, add it to the site navigation:

nav:
  - MicroSims:
    - List of MicroSims: sims/index.md
    - Existing Sim: sims/existing-sim/index.md
    - New MicroSim: sims/new-microsim-name/index.md  # Add here