# Explain

> Explain content or any concept inside it at the depth the user needs — ELI5, practitioner level, or expert deep-dive — with a jargon glossary and context the original assumes. Use when the user says "explain this", "what does X mean here", "break this down", "I don't understand this part", or shares content and asks how something in it works.

- Skill: `tuyv/explain` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 4 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add tuyv/explain`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tuyv/explain/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: tuyv (https://skillmd.com/u/tuyv)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tuyv/explain

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# explain

Make the content understandable without dumbing it down dishonestly.

## Workflow

1. **Get the text** (via `fetch-content` skill script if it's a URL, else web fetch or paste).
2. **Pick the depth** — from the user's request, or ask one short question if genuinely unclear:
   - **ELI5** — analogies, zero jargon, the core mechanism only
   - **Practitioner** — assumes general technical literacy, focuses on how it works and what to do with it
   - **Deep dive** — mechanisms, edge cases, history, competing views
3. **Explain**, structured as:
   - The one-sentence version first
   - The mechanism: how it actually works, step by step
   - **Glossary**: every jargon term the content uses without defining, one line each
   - **What the content assumes you know** — the missing prerequisites that made it confusing
   - Where the content's own explanation is wrong or oversimplified, if it is — flag it, don't repeat it

## Rules

- Explaining ≠ endorsing. If the content's claim is contested, present the explanation *and* note the contest ("the video asserts X; the standard view is Y").
- Analogies must survive scrutiny — say where the analogy breaks.
- If the user points at a specific segment ("the part at 12:30", "section 3"), explain that segment in the context of the whole, not in isolation.
- Don't pad: a concept that takes three sentences gets three sentences.