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Read time: 4 minutes. Short version: in Notebook Intelligence, type /lesson and say what you want to learn. Answer a few quick questions. In about 3 to 4 minutes you get a folder of numbered notebooks that teach the topic, with runnable code and exercises. Every notebook cites the source it was built from.

What it is

The Lesson Builder is a mode of Notebook Intelligence, the SI assistant in your workspace (see Notebook Intelligence and your LLMs). You give it a topic, or a link to a document, and it writes a short course for you as Jupyter notebooks, saved in your files. You learn by running the cells and doing the exercises.

It works for any topic you can name: a Python library, a NASA archive's API, a data format, a method you keep seeing in papers. If you give it a URL, the lesson is built from that page and cites it.

Step 1 — Ask for a lesson

Open the Notebook Intelligence panel and type /lesson, then say what you want to learn. You can paste a link to the document you want the lesson to be based on.

Science Cloud Knowledge Base > Create any lesson with Notebook Intelligence > lesson-1.png

Step 1: the /lesson command with a topic and a source link.

For example:

/lesson create a lesson about astroquery.skyview, using the information on this page
https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/archive/apis.html

Step 2 — Point it at a source

Give a URL and the lesson is built from that page, and the page is cited.
No link? The assistant searches online and picks sources for you.
It works with documentation pages, API references, papers and tutorials.

Science Cloud Knowledge Base > Create any lesson with Notebook Intelligence > lesson-2.png

Step 2: a documentation page used as the source.

Step 3 — Answer a few quick questions

The Lesson Builder asks three things before it writes anything:

Question	Your choices
Where to save the lesson	A new folder in your files, or inside an existing one
How you learn	Explain first, example first, question first, or build along
How long	About 15 minutes (one notebook), 45 minutes (three), 2 hours (five), or a multi-session course

Science Cloud Knowledge Base > Create any lesson with Notebook Intelligence > lesson-3.png

Step 3: where to save it, how you learn, how long.

Step 4 — Make it fit you

Question	Your choices
Style	Hands-on, with runnable code and exercises; or reading only
Prior level	New to it, some experience, or experienced
Why you need it	Use it in current work, start a new project, prepare a talk or class, or curiosity
Which source to teach from	The link you gave, or no source (what the model already knows)

Then click Next.

Science Cloud Knowledge Base > Create any lesson with Notebook Intelligence > lesson-4.png

Step 4: style, prior level, purpose and source.

Step 5 — The assistant plans and writes the notebooks

In about 3 to 4 minutes you get a set of numbered notebooks in the folder you chose.

00-overview.ipynb tells you where to start.
MISSION.md records what you asked for.
Every notebook cites the source it was built from.

Science Cloud Knowledge Base > Create any lesson with Notebook Intelligence > lesson-5.png

Step 5: the finished lesson folder and its overview notebook.

Step 6 — Learn by doing

Each notebook mixes short explanations, runnable code and Try It exercises.
Run every cell, fill in the exercises, and check the results yourself.
Want more depth or a different style? Ask for a new lesson any time.

Science Cloud Knowledge Base > Create any lesson with Notebook Intelligence > lesson-6.png

Step 6: a lesson notebook with a worked step and Try It exercises.

Good to know

These notebooks are SI-generated. Run every cell and check the claims against the cited source before you rely on them. The overview notebook says this too.

The lesson is saved in your files. To share it with your project, save it under /efs/<project> or copy it there afterwards.
Lessons cost what any notebook costs: your server time while you run them. Building the lesson uses the model you have connected in Notebook Intelligence.
The /lesson command is available in the platform's current software image. If you do not see it, restart your server on the current image, or ask your project admin.

Need help?

Email support@sciencecloud.nasa.gov.