How to use the ljg-map Knowledge Mapper agent skill

What does the ljg-map skill make the agent do?

The skill reads a text you provide and works out which terms have a clear meaning, what grounds a real case for belonging to a concept, and how concepts relate to each other. It then draws these relations as a map that follows the document's own structure rather than a fixed template.

Each node in the map gets a plain-language definition, a short formula where useful, and a concrete example. The skill is designed to mark gaps or uncertain claims in the source instead of inventing content to fill them.

• Extracts key concepts from the document
• Shows how concepts are distinguished and what evidence separates them
• Labels connections with their type (for example definition, classification, cause, or feedback) and their conditions
• Flags missing criteria, examples, or verification and marks conjectures as conjectures

Install the ljg-map skill

Download the ZIP of the skill from this page. The package contains agents/openai.yaml, Examples.md, SKILL.md and Workflows/Map.md. Unzip it so that the ljg-map folder sits inside one of the following locations.

For a personal setup, put it in your user skills folder at ~/.claude/skills/. For a single project, put it in that project's .claude/skills/ folder so it applies only there.

In the Claude apps you can instead upload the skill under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

• Personal: ~/.claude/skills/ljg-map/
• Project only: .claude/skills/ljg-map/ inside your project
• Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload

How do you trigger the skill with a natural request?

You can call it directly with /ljg-map followed by the document or a file path. You can also ask in ordinary language. The skill's description says it applies when you ask to draw an article, note or lecture as a formal map, a thinking terrain map, or a map of concept distinctions and relations.

The skill's own instructions are written in Chinese, and its trigger wording is Chinese. Requests in Chinese match it most directly. Give it the actual text or the file, because the skill works from the material it reads and should not guess at a document it cannot see.

• /ljg-map <document or file path>
• Turn this article's concepts, distinctions and links into a map without rewriting it
• This map is too hard to read, redraw it with fewer symbols

Examples of what you get back

The bundled examples show the skill using a worked case: a queue of applications where new arrivals, processing capacity and the backlog are separate quantities. The map shows how the backlog changes and what limits actual processing, with each node defined and given a formula and a number from the example. The examples are teaching material for calibrating tone and density; the skill does not copy a fixed layout or node list from them.

By default the answer appears in the conversation as Markdown, Mermaid diagram code and readable formulas. The skill does not save notes, overwrite the original text or publish anything unless you ask for that.

• Ask for a concept map of an essay and get a main diagram plus a short explanation of each node
• Ask for a clearer redraw and get fewer symbols with one example carried through the map
• Ask for a map of a set of lecture notes that classifies topics and shows which conditions link them

What does the skill need, and what should you check?

The skill lists no required tools or dependencies. It does not run scripts and does not use the network, according to its listing. The skill's instructions allow the agent to use whatever source tools the current environment provides when a key fact needs checking, but the skill itself does not require any.

Treat the map as an interpretation of your source, not as an authoritative fact check. The skill separates the author's claims, checked background, and suggested illustrations, but you should still verify important relations against the original text.

• No listed requirements
• Runs scripts: no
• Uses network: no
• Verify each important relation against the original text before relying on it

Tips for better maps

Give the complete text, or the specific part you want mapped, and say which part matters most. The skill maps only what it has read, so a partial document produces a map of that portion.

If a map is too dense, ask for a simpler version with fewer symbols. The skill is meant to keep the main conditions in place when simplifying, so ask it to keep the conditions that change the conclusion rather than removing the argument.

• Paste the full passage or give the file path
• State your goal, for example teaching the text to others or studying for an exam
• Ask for a main diagram first, then a supporting diagram for secondary branches
• Check arrows with conditions against the source