Check my understanding

---
name: check-my-understanding
description: Check whether the user has really understood something by having them explain it in their own words, comparing that with the source, and fixing misunderstandings one at a time with questions rather than lectures. Use when the user says "check my understanding", "quiz me on this", "have I got this right?", "test me", "let me explain it back", or after explaining a document, concept, lesson, contract or article that they need to act on or remember.
---

# Check My Understanding

Find out what the user actually understands, rather than what they've read. Then close the gaps, one at a time, in a way that sticks.

The user does the explaining. The agent listens, compares the explanation with the source, and asks the next useful question. A good session is short and specific, and leaves the user confident about what they know and clear about what they don't.

## When to use

- After reading or being given an explanation of a document, article, lesson, policy, contract, technical concept or set of instructions.
- Learning or revising: "quiz me", "test me on this".
- Before acting on something consequential: "let me check I've got this right before I sign / reply / start".

Do not use when:
- the user just wants the answer or a summary (give it, and offer the check as an option);
- there's nothing to check against and no reliable general knowledge either. Ask for the source.

## Principles

- **Explain-back first.** Ask the user to explain it in their own words before you add anything. Don't pre-load the answer.
- **Credit precisely.** Name what they got right ("Yes: it has to *arrive* by the 31st, not just be posted"). Generic praise teaches nothing.
- **One gap at a time, highest stakes first.** Fix the misunderstanding that would cause the worst outcome, then the next. Never return a list of ten corrections.
- **Ask before telling.** For each gap, ask one guiding question that lets them find it. Where it helps, quote the relevant line of the source in the question, but don't state the conclusion ("The policy says leave 'must be taken in blocks of one week'. What does that mean for taking single days?"). Never state the correction and then ask a question it has already answered. Explain directly only if they're stuck after one attempt or ask you to.
- **Source over memory.** Compare with the supplied source and quote it when correcting. If there's no source, say you're using general knowledge and how confident you are.
- **The source can be wrong.** If the user's understanding is right and the source is wrong or out of date, say so plainly and explain why.
- **Supportive, never patronising.** Mistakes are normal and useful. No "Great question!" filler, and no score shaming. Let the user skip to the summary at any time.

## Process

1. **Set up.** Confirm what's being checked (the source) and why it matters (acting on it, an exam, a conversation tomorrow). Choose the depth:
   - **Quick check** (default): one explain-back, the top 1–2 gaps, one scenario.
   - **Deep check:** works through every important part. Use it when the user asks for thoroughness or the stakes are high.
2. **Explain-back.** Ask: "In your own words, what's this about, and what does it mean for you?" Adapt the prompt to the material: "what do you need to do and by when?" for a letter; "how would you explain this to a colleague?" for a concept.
3. **Compare.** Silently map their explanation against the key points of the source:
   - correct;
   - missing (an important point they didn't mention);
   - wrong (they stated something the source contradicts);
   - over-extended (they made a conditional rule universal, or treated "may" as "will").
4. **Respond.** Credit the correct parts in one or two lines. Then take **one** gap, the highest-stakes one, and ask a guiding question about it. Wait.
5. **Loop.** When they answer, confirm or nudge. Move to the next gap only once this one is resolved, or the user asks to move on.
6. **Apply it.** Finish with one realistic "what would you do if…" scenario that tests transfer, not recall. ("Your payslip for September won't arrive until the 28th. What do you do?")
7. **Close** with the summary below.

## Closing summary format

```markdown
**You've got:** [the key points they clearly understand, in their words where possible]
**Still fuzzy:** [anything unresolved, or "Nothing, you've got it."]
**One thing to remember:** [the single most important point, in one line]
```

If anything is still fuzzy and consequential, add one line suggesting who could confirm it (the sender, a teacher, a qualified adviser).

## Common failure modes

- **Lecturing first:** explaining everything before the user has tried. That checks the agent's understanding, not theirs.
- **Correction dump:** listing every gap at once.
- **Fake Socratic:** asking leading questions endlessly when the user is stuck. After one attempt, just explain.
- **Vague credit:** "Mostly right!" without saying which parts.
- **Drifting from the source:** correcting with general knowledge when the source says something different.
- **Never ending:** a quick check should be about three to five exchanges.

## References

- `references/worked-example.md`: a full quick-check session on a letter, plus a short one on a technical concept.
- `references/edge-cases.md`: no source, the user is right and the source is wrong, the user wants to stop, multiple misunderstandings, emotional or high-stakes material.

# Edge cases

## No source supplied
Ask for it if it exists ("Can you paste the letter or the section you're working from?"). If it's a general concept, proceed from general knowledge and say so once, with your confidence level. Avoid precise claims (rates, laws, deadlines) that would need a source.

## The user is right and the source is wrong or out of date
Say so plainly, explain why, and say how sure you are. If it matters (a legal deadline, a medical instruction), recommend confirming with the sender or an authority rather than relying on either version.

## The user is completely lost
Don't try to correct a blank. Offer a 3–4 sentence plain explanation (or the `plain-english` skill for documents), then do the explain-back.

## Many misunderstandings at once
Rank them by consequence. Fix the top one or two in a quick check. Mention that there are a couple more worth going through, and let the user choose to continue.

## The user wants to stop or skip
Respect it immediately. Give the closing summary, including what's still fuzzy, so they leave with the important points.

## The user gets defensive or frustrated
Lower the pressure. Acknowledge that it's a lot to take in, credit what they have right, and offer to just explain the remaining point.

## Emotional or high-stakes material (diagnosis, debt, legal trouble)
Keep the check gentle and practical: focus on what they need to do and who to ask. Don't quiz someone on distressing details for the sake of thoroughness. Point consequential questions to a qualified person.

## The user explains it better than the source
Tell them. It's useful, accurate credit, and a good explain-back can become their own notes.

# Worked examples

## 1. Quick check on a letter

Source: the fictional Northbridge Council Tax Reduction review letter (evidence by 31 October 2026, or the reduction "may be suspended from 1 November 2026").

**Agent:** Before you send anything: in your own words, what do they want, and what happens if you don't do it?

**User:** They want my payslips and a bank statement by the end of October, or they'll stop my discount.

**Agent:** You've got the deadline and the risk. One important bit to check: the letter says "a bank statement covering the last two months for **every** account held by you **or your partner**". Who does that cover in your case?

**User:** Oh, so my partner's account too, not just mine.

**Agent:** Exactly, both of you, every account. One more thing: what counts as "by the end of October" here?

**User:** Posting it by the 31st?

**Agent:** Close, but the letter says it must be "**received** no later than 31 October". If you post it on the 31st, it'll probably arrive late. Uploading online avoids that. Quick scenario: your latest payslip won't arrive until 29 October. What would you do?

**User:** Upload the rest now and send the last payslip as soon as I get it? Or ask them first.

**Agent:** Both sensible. Asking first is safer, since the letter doesn't say whether partial evidence counts.

**You've got:** what they want (payslips, statements, changes to adults living there), the 31 October deadline, and that the discount could stop.
**Still fuzzy:** nothing, though the letter doesn't say whether a partial upload counts, so it's worth asking.
**One thing to remember:** it has to *arrive* by 31 October, including your partner's statements.

Notes: one gap at a time, highest stakes first (partner's accounts, then "received"). The correction quotes the source. The scenario tests applying it, not repeating it.

## 2. Quick check on a concept (no document)

Topic: "What's the difference between a fixed-rate and a tracker mortgage?" The agent states up front that it's using general knowledge and that specifics depend on the lender.

**User:** Fixed means the rate never changes, tracker means it follows the Bank of England.

**Agent:** The tracker part's right: it moves with a reference rate, usually the Bank of England base rate, plus a set margin. On fixed: "never changes" for how long?

**User:** For the fixed period, then it goes to something else?

**Agent:** Yes. After the fixed term ends (often 2 or 5 years) it usually moves to the lender's standard variable rate unless you remortgage.

The session closes with the three-line summary and one line suggesting the user check their own offer document for the exact terms.