Bloom personal tutor
Create personalized teaching outlines and adaptive lessons.
Before you start
Inputs: Task objective, relevant files and available tools
- Check the original documentation for supported AI tools, models and runtime dependencies.
- Open the repository and follow the author’s installation instructions. Model APIs or external services may require separate accounts.
- Try your own material, then review the facts, layout and output files.
License: MIT
Source snapshot: 2026-09-15. README ↗
Original license & copyright
MIT License Copyright (c) 2026 Li Zhengping Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
Try a task like this
Hire a private AI tutor for anything you want to learn.
Your AI reads how you actually learn — and teaches the next lesson just for you.
Built on Bloom's 2-Sigma research: 1-on-1 tutoring = top 2%.
In 1984, educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom discovered that students receiving one-on-one tutoring scored 2 standard deviations (+2σ) above the classroom average — jumping to the top 2%. Bloom called this the "2 Sigma Problem": the effect is proven, but personal tutors don't scale.
Bloom solves this with AI. It generates a structured syllabus, delivers lessons one at a time, reads your annotations and feedback, then tailors the next lesson to your exact understanding level — just like a real tutor would.
Two Ways to Use
| Mode | Setup | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| CLI | Claude Code + terminal | Power users who like Markdown editors |
| Web | Browser (React + FastAPI) | Visual learners, shareable setup |
Both follow the same flow: syllabus → lesson → annotate → feedback → next lesson → evaluation → summary.
Quick Start: CLI Mode
Requires only Claude Code. No backend.
git clone https://github.com/Li-Evan/Bloom.git
cd Bloom
# Install the tutor skill locally for this clone
mkdir -p .claude/skills
cp -R skills/bloom-tutor .claude/skills/
claude
Then say: Create a new folder and help me learn [any topic]
Or install it as a plugin (bundles bloom-tutor plus the learn-* skills) — in Claude Code:
/plugin marketplace add Li-Evan/Bloom
/plugin install bloom@li-evan
See GUIDE.md for the full walkthrough.
Quick Start: Web Mode
Prerequisites
Setup
git clone https://github.com/Li-Evan/Bloom.git
cd Bloom
# Configure
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env — fill in LLM_API_KEY
# Backend
cd backend && uv sync && uv run uvicorn app.main:app --reload --port 8000
# Frontend (new terminal)
cd frontend && npm install && npm run dev
Open http://localhost:5173. Click New Course, choose Topic, Source Upload, or Project Files, and start learning.
Docker
cp .env.example .env # fill in API key
docker compose up -d # visit http://localhost:3000
How It Works
Topic Mode
Create course → AI generates syllabus + lesson 01
↓
Read lesson → highlight text → add annotations
↓
Write feedback → answer thought questions
↓
Click "Done Reading" → AI generates next lesson
(answer review + annotation responses + new content)
↓
Repeat until all mastery items checked ✅
↓
Auto-generate evaluation → then summary
Source Mode
Upload PDF / TXT / MD → AI generates syllabus + source-reading chapter
↓
Read source → highlight text → ask and get an immediate answer
↓
Click "Done Reading" → AI reads the full source + Q&A, then generates the next lesson
↓
Continue with the normal adaptive lesson flow
Project Files
Upload a file / multiple files / a whole folder → each file renders directly as one page
↓
Read each file → highlight text → ask and get an immediate answer
↓
No syllabus, no next-lesson generation; the files and highlight Q&A feed next-step recommendations
Features
- Three course modes — generate from a topic, upload a PDF/TXT/MD source, or Project Files (upload files/a folder, render each directly, highlight-ask anytime, no syllabus or next-lesson generation)
- Learning depth — choose simple, standard, or deep syllabus expansion when creating a course; shown as a badge on each course card
- Reference material — paste textbook chapters, papers, or notes when creating a topic course
- Next-topic recommendations — generate 3 course-ready topics from your full learning history, refresh the set, save ideas to a learning queue, or start one directly through the normal syllabus → lesson flow
- Highlight Q&A sessions — select any text in any lesson (or source) and a small icon pops up; click it to ask. The highlighted text stays marked in yellow, the AI answers instantly, and you can keep asking follow-ups in the same thread. The window is draggable and collapses into a margin dot you can reopen anytime. Each session sees the full lesson + the highlighted span + its own conversation, and your questions still feed the next lesson.
- Adaptive lessons — each lesson addresses your specific gaps from the previous one
- Chapter sidebar — quick-jump between lessons while reading
- Collapsible syllabus — track mastery progress without clutter
- Streaming generation — watch AI write the next lesson in real-time
- Personal center & learning calendar — open the profile from the header to see a month calendar shaded by daily activity; click any day to see which courses, lessons, and highlights you studied, alongside overview stat cards and a six-month contribution heatmap (streaks and grouping use your local date)
Skills
Bloom ships a set of portable Claude Code skills in skills/ — self-contained capability packs you can copy into ~/.claude/skills/ (global) or any project's .claude/skills/ and use anywhere.
| Skill | What it does |
|---|---|
| bloom-tutor | The full interactive tutoring system as one skill — syllabus → adaptive lessons → ??? annotations → evaluation → summary. CLI mode, packaged and portable. |
| learn-deep | Default deep-dive entry — runs all five lenses below in one pass, then helps you pick a direction |
| learn-crossover | Learn a new concept by leveraging what you already know (structural analogies) |
| learn-occam | Decide whether / how deeply something is worth learning (ROI, just-enough) |
| learn-graph | Build a knowledge-graph map of a field plus a learning path |
| learn-prototype | Learn by building the crappiest working prototype, then iterating |
| learn-feynman | Verify true understanding by explaining it back |
Each folder is dependency-free: copy it into a skills directory, then just talk to Claude Code (e.g. "help me learn X", "I'm done reading").
Tech Stack
| Layer | Technology |
|---|---|
| Backend | Python, FastAPI, SQLAlchemy, SQLite |
| Frontend | React, Vite, Tailwind CSS |
| AI | Any OpenAI-compatible LLM API |
| Container | Docker, docker-compose |
| Font | Outfit, JetBrains Mono |
Commands
make dev-backend # backend with hot reload
make dev-frontend # frontend dev server
make test # run pytest
make up / make down # docker start / stop
Project Structure
├── GUIDE.md # CLI usage guide
├── .env.example # env template
├── backend/
│ └── app/
│ ├── courses.py # course, lesson, annotation, feedback, stats, summary APIs
│ ├── recommendations.py # next-topic recommendation APIs
│ ├── models.py # Course, Lesson, Annotation, Feedback, Recommendation
│ └── config.py # reads .env
├── frontend/
│ └── src/pages/
│ ├── DashboardPage # course list + create form
│ ├── CoursePage # syllabus + lesson list
│ └── LessonPage # reader + annotations + feedback + AI gen
├── example/ # pre-built topics for CLI mode
├── site/ # marketing website (standalone Astro static build, decoupled from the app)
└── skills/ # portable Claude Code skills (bloom-tutor + learn-*)
The Science
| Concept | What it means |
|---|---|
| Bloom's 2 Sigma | 1-on-1 tutoring = +2σ performance over classroom |
| Mastery Learning | Don't move on until the concept is truly understood |
| Socratic Method | Ask questions, don't hand answers |
| Spaced Retrieval | Thought question reviews at lesson start reinforce memory |
| Adaptive Path | Content adjusts to individual feedback in real-time |