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virgiliojr94/book-to-skill

A converter that turns technical books and document collections into structured agent skills that AI coding assistants can load on demand.

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What is it?

book-to-skill takes a PDF, EPUB, DOCX, Markdown, HTML or other document, or a whole folder of sources, and distills it into an Agent Skills package. The output contains a SKILL.md with core mental models and a chapter index, per-chapter files loaded on demand, plus glossary, patterns and cheatsheet files. The goal is to give an agent the structure of a book rather than a plain summary, so questions can be answered from the actual chapter content.

The tool runs as a Claude Code style slash command. A deterministic Python extractor converts the source into clean text and metadata, then an agent follows the generator spec to build the skill. Installed skills are placed in the cross-agent skills directory and can be read by hosts such as GitHub Copilot CLI, Amp, Codex, OpenCode and OpenClaw, with Claude Code and Hermes Agent handled through their own locations.

The same approach applies to internal documentation, brand guidelines, research paper collections and specifications that are referenced often. Copyrighted material is meant to be processed locally from copies the user owns and kept private.

Key features

  • 01Converts PDF, EPUB, DOCX, HTML, RTF, MOBI and Markdown sources into an Agent Skills package.
  • 02Generates a SKILL.md index plus per-chapter files that load only when a topic is asked about.
  • 03Produces glossary, patterns and cheatsheet files alongside the chapters.
  • 04Includes a deterministic extractor with an --check command that reports which tools are installed.
  • 05Works with multiple agent hosts that support the Agent Skills standard.

Use cases

  • Querying a technical book from inside Claude Code or Copilot CLI while coding.
  • Turning a folder of architecture decision records or runbooks into a skill for the team.
  • Making a stack of research papers and personal notes searchable by an agent.
  • Studying a dense book by asking the agent for specific chapters or concepts.

Quick start

  1. 1

    Install the skill with the cross-agent skills CLI

    npx skills add virgiliojr94/book-to-skill
  2. 2

    Check which extractors are installed and get install commands for missing ones

    python3 scripts/extract.py --check
  3. 3

    Convert a book or document folder into a skill from your AI coding assistant

    /book-to-skill <path|folder|glob> [skill-name]

Things to know

  • Requires an AI coding assistant that supports the Agent Skills standard, such as Claude Code or Codex.
  • Scanned PDFs without a text layer must be run through OCR first, or the extractor will stop.
  • PDF, EPUB, DOCX and MOBI extraction depends on optional tools that you may need to install separately.

Topics

#agent-skills#ai-agents#pdf-to-markdown#knowledge-base#rag#self-study#book-to-skill#context-engineering#document-processing#edtech

FAQ

What is book-to-skill?
A converter that turns technical books and document collections into structured agent skills that AI coding assistants can load on demand. book-to-skill takes a PDF, EPUB, DOCX, Markdown, HTML or other document, or a whole folder of sources, and distills it into an Agent Skills package. The output contains a SKILL.md with core mental models and a chapter index, per-chapter files loaded on demand, plus glossary, patterns and cheatsheet files. The goal is to give an agent the structure of a book rather than a plain summary, so questions can be answered from the actual chapter content.
Is book-to-skill free to use? What license does it have?
book-to-skill is open source under the MIT license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.
Is book-to-skill still maintained?
Actively maintained. The last commit to book-to-skill was on Oct 18, 2026.
What can I use book-to-skill for?
Querying a technical book from inside Claude Code or Copilot CLI while coding. Turning a folder of architecture decision records or runbooks into a skill for the team. Making a stack of research papers and personal notes searchable by an agent. Studying a dense book by asking the agent for specific chapters or concepts.
How do I install book-to-skill?
Install the skill with the cross-agent skills CLI: npx skills add virgiliojr94/book-to-skill Check which extractors are installed and get install commands for missing ones: python3 scripts/extract.py --check Convert a book or document folder into a skill from your AI coding assistant: /book-to-skill <path|folder|glob> [skill-name]
Where can I get book-to-skill?
The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/virgiliojr94/book-to-skill

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