---

name: dev-guide-generator description: "Generates complete technical tutorials from prerequisites and environment setup to core steps, troubleshooting, and a final cheatsheet. Trigger on requests to write a tutorial, create a setup guide, organize steps for beginners, or keywords like step-by-step, quickstart, or how-to guide." license: MIT

Dev Guide Generator

One topic → complete technical tutorial: Through a structured SOP workflow, transform a technical topic into a comprehensive tutorial covering prerequisites, environment setup, core steps, common error troubleshooting, and advanced topics — all accompanied by a cheatsheet.

Quick Start

The user simply provides a technical topic or operational goal, and the Agent automatically generates a complete tutorial following this workflow:

User: Help me write a Docker beginner's tutorial
Agent: [Outputs complete technical tutorial + Cheatsheet following the SOP workflow]

SOP Workflow

Phase 1: Topic Scoping & Audience Analysis

Goal: Define the tutorial's technical subject, target audience, and scope boundaries.

Steps:

1. Parse the topic: Identify the core technology, operational goals, and expected deliverables from the user's input
2. Ask clarifying questions (up to 4 key questions):
   • What is the target audience's technical level? (Complete beginner / Some experience / Experienced developer)
   • What operating system will the reader be using? (macOS / Windows / Linux / Any)
   • What should the reader be able to do after completing the tutorial? (Specific deliverable)
   • Are there any version or tech stack constraints?
3. If the user asks to skip clarification, proceed with these default assumptions:
   • Audience: Has basic programming experience but is unfamiliar with the topic technology
   • Environment: Cover both macOS and Linux (note Windows differences where necessary)
   • Goal: Be able to independently complete a minimal working example

Output: Tutorial metadata summary (topic, audience, objective, scope — no more than 150 words)

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Phase 2: Prerequisites

Goal: List all knowledge and tools the reader needs before starting this tutorial, ensuring there are no knowledge gaps.

Steps:

1. Dependency analysis:

   • List all technical concepts involved in this tutorial
   • For each concept, determine whether it should be "explained within the tutorial" or "assumed as prior knowledge"
   • Decision rule: If explaining it would digress more than 200 words from the main topic, classify it as a prerequisite

2. Prerequisites checklist:

   • Categorize into "Must know" and "Nice to know" tiers

   • Attach a one-line explanation for each: "why you need it"

   • Format:

     **Must know**:
     - [Concept]: [Why you need it] (Recommended resource)
     
     **Nice to know**:
     - [Concept]: [What aspects of the tutorial it relates to]
     

3. Self-check rules:

   • If prerequisites exceed 5 items, consider narrowing the tutorial scope or splitting into a series
   • Every prerequisite must have a publicly available learning resource

Output: Tiered prerequisites checklist

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Phase 3: Environment Setup

Goal: Provide a reproducible environment configuration path so the reader is fully set up before starting the core steps.

Steps:

1. Environment inventory: List all tools to install/configure with recommended versions

   • Format: Tool name Version requirement (e.g., >= x.y) | Purpose
   • Clearly distinguish "required" from "optional" installations

2. Installation steps: Provide commands for each operating system

   • Precede each command with a one-line explanation of what it does

   • Use only officially recommended methods or mainstream package managers

   • Format:

     **macOS**:
     # Install xxx (via Homebrew)
     brew install xxx
     
     **Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)**:
     # Install xxx (via apt)
     sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y xxx
     

3. Environment verification: Provide a verification command and expected output after each tool installation

   • Format:

     # Verify installation
     xxx --version
     # Expected output: xxx x.y.z
     

4. Self-check rules:

   • All installation commands must come from official documentation or mainstream package managers — no third-party scripts
   • Never include real API keys, passwords, tokens, or other sensitive values
   • When configuration files are involved, use placeholders (e.g., YOUR_API_KEY) and explain how to obtain the real value

Output: OS-specific installation and configuration guide + verification commands

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Phase 4: Core Steps

Goal: Walk the reader through the core operations in a progressive structure, where each step can be independently verified.

Steps:

1. Step planning:

   • Break the entire operation into 5–10 steps (each focused on one sub-goal)
   • Order steps strictly by dependency
   • Each step includes: step number, title, and objective statement

2. Step writing format:

   #### Step N: [Step Title]
   
   **Objective**: [What state is achieved after this step]
   
   **Actions**:
   [Code block or operational instructions]
   
   **Explanation**:
   - [Line-by-line or section-by-section explanation of key parts]
   
   **Verification**:
   [What command to run / what result to check to confirm success]
   Expected output: [Specific expected result]
   

3. Writing guidelines:

   • Code blocks must specify the language (e.g., bash, python)
   • Placeholders use ALL_CAPS_WITH_UNDERSCORES format (e.g., YOUR_PROJECT_NAME) and are explained on first occurrence
   • Each code block should not exceed 30 lines; split and explain in sections if longer
   • Use relative file paths; state the project root directory at the beginning
   • Every step must end with a verification section

4. Progressive complexity:

   • Steps 1–3: Minimal runnable example (Hello World level)
   • Middle steps: Gradually introduce real-world features
   • Final 1–2 steps: Combine everything into a complete example

Output: Numbered step list, each containing actions + explanation + verification

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Phase 5: Troubleshooting

Goal: Anticipate problems the reader may encounter and provide a direct path from error message to solution.

Steps:

1. Error collection: Based on the technical topic, list the 5–8 most common error scenarios

   • Sources: Environment misconfiguration, version incompatibilities, permission issues, typos, network problems, etc.

2. Error entry format:

   **Error N: [Error message summary]**
   
   Full error message:
   [Actual error output]
   
   Cause: [One-sentence explanation of why this error occurs]
   
   Solution:
   [Specific fix commands or steps]
   
   Verify the fix:
   [What to run to confirm the issue is resolved]
   

3. Writing guidelines:

   • Error messages must be real (do not fabricate error messages)
   • Solutions must be actionable — avoid vague advice like "check your configuration"
   • If an error has multiple possible causes, list them from most to least likely
   • For permission-related issues, explain why the permission is needed rather than jumping to sudo or chmod 777

4. Self-check rules:

   • Solutions must not include operations that could create security risks (e.g., chmod 777, disabling firewalls)
   • Never advise the reader to disable security features to "fix" a problem

Output: Structured troubleshooting table

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Phase 6: Advanced Topics

Goal: Point readers who have completed the basics toward next steps, providing a learning path from beginner to advanced.

Steps:

1. Advanced topic recommendations (3–5 directions):

   • For each direction, write a short paragraph: what it is, why it's worth learning, and what scenarios it applies to

   • Tag the difficulty level: Intermediate / Advanced

   • Format:

     **Direction N: [Topic Name]** | Difficulty: [Intermediate/Advanced]
     
     [Short paragraph]
     
     Recommended resources:
     - [Resource name] ([Type: documentation/book/course])
     

2. Hands-on project suggestions:

   • Provide 2–3 small projects the reader can independently complete using what they learned
   • Each project includes: project name, one-sentence description, and relevant concepts

3. Best practice tips (3–5 items):

   • Key differences between production and tutorial environments
   • Security considerations
   • Performance optimization directions

Output: Advanced learning roadmap + hands-on project suggestions + best practices

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Phase 7: Cheatsheet

Goal: Distill the tutorial's essentials into a one-page quick reference for everyday use.

Steps:

1. Cheatsheet structure:

   # [Technology Name] Cheatsheet
   
   ## Environment Info
   | Item | Command/Path |
   |------|--------------|
   | Install | `command` |
   | Version check | `command` |
   | Config file location | `path` |
   
   ## Common Commands
   | Action | Command | Description |
   |--------|---------|-------------|
   | xxx    | `xxx`   | xxx         |
   
   ## Common Code Snippets
   [Up to 5 frequently used code snippets, each no more than 10 lines]
   
   ## Quick Troubleshooting
   | Symptom | Possible Cause | Quick Fix |
   |---------|---------------|-----------|
   | xxx     | xxx           | `xxx`     |
   

2. Writing guidelines:

   • Total cheatsheet length should fit on 2 printed A4 pages
   • Commands must be complete and ready to copy-paste
   • No explanatory prose — only "what to do → how to do it" mappings
   • Order items by frequency of use, from most to least common

Output: One-page cheatsheet

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Phase 8: Document Assembly & Output

Goal: Assemble the outputs from the previous seven phases into a complete tutorial document.

Tutorial document template:

# [Technical Topic] Complete Tutorial

> Last updated: [Current date] | Applicable version: [Version number]
> Difficulty: [Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced] | Estimated time: [N hours/minutes]

## Tutorial Overview

[Phase 1 metadata summary — what the reader will be able to do after completion]

## 1. Prerequisites

[Phase 2 prerequisites checklist]

## 2. Environment Setup

[Phase 3 installation and configuration guide]

## 3. Core Steps

[Phase 4 numbered step list]

## 4. Troubleshooting

[Phase 5 troubleshooting table]

## 5. Advanced Topics

[Phase 6 advanced roadmap and hands-on projects]

## 6. Cheatsheet

[Phase 7 cheatsheet]

## Appendix

- Glossary (if domain-specific terminology is used, list in a table: Term | Definition)
- Reference links (official documentation, community resources, etc.)

Document output requirements:

• All code blocks must specify the language
• All commands must be directly copy-pasteable (no line numbers, prompts, or other noise)
• All placeholders use the YOUR_XXX format and are explained on first occurrence
• Configuration files must not contain real keys or tokens
• Dates must use the actual current date

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Flow Control Rules

Interaction Mode Selection

Choose the mode based on the level of detail in the user's input:

| User Input | Mode | Behavior | |------------|------|----------| | Just a technology name (e.g., "Docker tutorial") | Guided mode | Execute Phase 1 questions, wait for answers before continuing | | Specific goal (e.g., "Deploy a Node.js app with Docker") | Semi-auto mode | Ask 1–2 key questions while simultaneously planning the steps | | Detailed description (includes audience, environment, goal) | Full-auto mode | Start output directly from Phase 2 | | User says "just write it / don't ask" | Quick mode | Output the complete tutorial based on default assumptions |

Quality Checklist

Before outputting the final tutorial, check each item:

• [ ] Prerequisites checklist is complete with no knowle