nicsuzor/hdr

HDR Student Skill

Taxonomy note: This skill provides domain expertise (HOW) for HDR student task conventions and reference letter workflows. See [[TAXONOMY.md]] for the skill/workflow distinction.

Manage HDR (Higher Degree Research) student-related tasks including supervision, reference letters, reviews, and document handling.

Path Resolution

CRITICAL: This skill requires the $ACA_DATA environment variable to be set.

• $ACA_DATA points to the user's data directory

HDR data location: $ACA_DATA/hdr/

Core Conventions

1. Task Creation for HDR Students

MANDATORY: All HDR student tasks MUST use project=hdr.

mcp__pkb__create_task(
    task_title="Review Sadia's dissertation chapter",
    type="task",
    project="hdr",  # NOT "supervision", NOT "academic"
    tags=["sadia", "dissertation", "review"],
    assignee="nic"  # HDR tasks typically assigned to human
)

Why: HDR tasks are stored at $ACA_DATA/hdr/tasks/ and use hdr- prefix for task IDs. Using the wrong project breaks routing and organization.

Task ID format: hdr-{hash}-{title-slug}

2. Directory Convention: hdr/{student}/

Student-specific files are organized by student name:

$ACA_DATA/hdr/
├── tasks/                    # HDR-related tasks
│   ├── hdr-abc123-review-sadias-chapter.md
│   └── hdr-def456-write-lucinda-reference.md
├── sadia/                    # Sadia Sharmin's files
│   ├── oii-reference-2026.md
│   └── rental-reference-2024.md
├── tegan/                    # Tegan's files
│   └── annual-planning.md
└── lucinda/                  # Lucinda's files
    └── (student-specific docs)

When to create student directory:

• Reference letters (stored as {student}/reference-{purpose}-{year}.md)
• Annual planning documents
• Thesis drafts or chapters for review
• Any student-specific artifact that doesn't belong in a task

Naming convention: Use lowercase first name only (e.g., sadia/, not sadia-sharmin/).

3. Google Docs Access Pattern

When HDR tasks involve Google Docs (common for shared drafts and feedback):

In task body, include the link clearly:

**Link**: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1q-5VhWcNnWwtYjL5v-SWjT8rEUse6MkOHi9TMkAH-M4/edit

Accessing Google Docs content:

1. For review/feedback tasks: The human must access the Google Doc directly in browser. The agent cannot read Google Docs content automatically.

2. If content needs to be in the repo: Ask the user to:

   • Export as .docx and download
   • Use /convert-to-md skill to convert to markdown
   • Store result in appropriate hdr/{student}/ directory

3. For collaborative editing: Keep work in Google Doc until finalized, then archive to repo.

Current limitation: No automated Google Docs MCP integration. Future enhancement may add mcp__gdocs__read_document capability.

4. Reference Letter Workflow

See [[workflows/reference-letter]] for the complete workflow.

Quick reference:

1. Create task with deadline: project=hdr, tags=["reference", "{student}"]
2. Create draft file: $ACA_DATA/hdr/{student}/{purpose}-reference-{year}.md
3. Link task to draft file in task body
4. Human reviews/edits/signs
5. Human sends via email
6. Complete task

HDR Task Types

| Task Type | Description | Typical Assignee | | ------------------- | -------------------------------- | ---------------- | | Reference letter | Write recommendation for student | nic | | Dissertation review | Review chapter/draft | nic | | Supervision inquiry | Respond to prospective student | nic | | Final seminar | Schedule and attend | nic | | Annual planning | Review annual plan with student | nic |

Note: Most HDR tasks are assignee=nic because they require human judgment and relationship management.

Related Files

• Student list: $ACA_DATA/projects/hdr/current-students.md
• Project overview: $ACA_DATA/projects/hdr/hdr.md
• Reference workflow: [[workflows/reference-letter]]

Error Handling

Wrong project used:

• If task created with project=supervision or project=academic: Update to project=hdr
• Move task file to correct location if needed

Student directory missing:

• Create $ACA_DATA/hdr/{student}/ on first use
• Use lowercase first name only

Google Doc inaccessible:

• Note in task body that access requires user authentication
• Ask user to export/share content if agent needs to process it