# Syllabus Reading List

> Turns a course syllabus into a Word reading list of recent peer-reviewed papers, with plain-language summaries and discussion questions.

Syllabus Reading List is a community plugin from Alireza Rezvani's claude-skills collection (its plugin name is "syllabus"). Give it a course syllabus and it builds a supplementary reading list as a Word document: recent peer-reviewed papers for each part of the course, found through Consensus's academic search, each with a plain-language summary and a discussion question. It isn't made by Consensus.

What you can do with it
- Hand it a syllabus as a PDF, a Word file, pasted text or a photo of a printed one
- Choose the audience (intro or advanced undergraduate, master's, doctoral, professional or mixed) and how recent the papers should be (the last 1, 2 or 5 years)
- Check how it groups the course into 6 to 12 sections, then merge, split, add or remove sections before any search runs
- Get a .docx with a title page, the course's learning outcomes, and numbered papers for each section, each with a linked title, authors, journal and year
- Read summaries pitched at the course's level, and discussion questions that ask students to apply, analyze or evaluate rather than just recall

How it works
- It comes as a skill, a /cs-syllabus command and a cs-syllabus agent.
- It searches Consensus one query at a time, pairing each topic with an applied angle (enzyme kinetics in food processing, say, rather than enzyme kinetics alone).
- Every paper has to come from that session's Consensus results. A section with few results is marked as limited rather than padded, and the chat ends with an audit of queries sent, papers received and papers cited.
- If the syllabus lists no learning outcomes, it infers a few and marks them as inferred.

What it needs
- Consensus's MCP server (https://mcp.consensus.app/mcp) connected to your agent. Consensus asks you to sign in, or runs at reduced limits without an account.
- Node.js with the docx package (npm install docx), for the bundled document generator.
- A way to read the syllabus: a PDF reader, pandoc for Word files, or image reading for photos.

How to install it
In Claude Code, run /plugin marketplace add alirezarezvani/claude-skills, then /plugin install syllabus@claude-code-skills. The author says it also works in Claude.ai with the Consensus connector, code execution and file upload turned on.

Good to know
- It's a community plugin, not Consensus's or Anthropic's.
- It keeps a small search log in ~/.syllabus_sessions/ and saves the reading list where you ask.

- Type: Plugin
- Made by: alirezarezvani
- Category: Education
- Formats: Claude plugins
- Version: 2.14.1
- Website: https://github.com/alirezarezvani/claude-skills/tree/main/research/syllabus
- Source: https://github.com/alirezarezvani/claude-skills/tree/HEAD/research/syllabus
- Page: https://pluginboard.ai/plugins/syllabus-reading-list

## Works with

- Claude
- GitHub Copilot
- Claude Code
- OpenClaw

## Install

### Claude

In Claude (web or desktop): Customize → Plugins → Add → Add marketplace, enter alirezarezvani/claude-skills, then add syllabus

### Claude Code

In Claude Code:

```text
/plugin marketplace add alirezarezvani/claude-skills
/plugin install syllabus@claude-code-skills
```

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From Pluginboard (https://pluginboard.ai).