{ "$schema": "https://byocurriculum.dev/api/schema.json", "version": "1.0", "generated": "2026-08-04T19:46:37.943Z", "site": { "name": "BYO Curriculum", "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev", "description": "A self-directed research curriculum platform. Fork this template to create your own depth-first learning experience." }, "stats": { "totalClusters": 7, "totalLessons": 23 }, "clusters": [ { "id": 1, "title": "Getting Started", "slug": "getting-started", "description": "Why build a self-directed curriculum and how this platform works.", "overview": "Before you dive into building your curriculum, it's worth understanding *why* this approach matters and how the platform is structured.\n\nThis cluster introduces the philosophy behind self-directed research curricula and gives you a technical overview of how everything fits together. By the end, you'll understand both the pedagogical motivation and the practical architecture.", "is_foundation": true, "lessons": [ { "id": "1-1", "title": "Why Build a Self-Directed Curriculum", "slug": "why-curriculum", "description": "The philosophy behind depth-first learning and why curated curricula matter more than ever.", "order": 1, "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/getting-started/why-curriculum" }, { "id": "1-2", "title": "How This Platform Works", "slug": "platform-architecture", "description": "Technical overview of the curriculum platform: content structure, CMS, and deployment.", "order": 2, "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/getting-started/platform-architecture" } ], "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/getting-started" }, { "id": 2, "title": "Building with AI", "slug": "building-curriculum", "description": "Use AI prompts to define your domain, discover readings, and auto-populate your curriculum.", "overview": "This is the AI-assisted path for building your curriculum. If you're comfortable using Claude, GPT-4, or similar tools, this approach lets you generate a complete first draft quickly—then refine it over time.\n\nThe lessons walk you through using specific prompts to define your field, discover foundational readings, structure everything into clusters, and auto-populate your CMS. Each lesson includes the actual prompts you'll use, along with explanations of why they work.\n\n**Not comfortable with AI tools?** See the [Building Manually](/curriculum/building-manually) cluster for a traditional approach.", "is_foundation": true, "lessons": [ { "id": "2-1", "title": "Defining Your Domain", "slug": "defining-domain", "description": "Use AI prompts to articulate your curriculum's scope, central questions, and boundaries.", "order": 1, "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/building-curriculum/defining-domain" }, { "id": "2-2", "title": "Finding Foundational Readings", "slug": "finding-readings", "description": "Use AI prompts to discover the canonical texts and influential works in your domain.", "order": 2, "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/building-curriculum/finding-readings" }, { "id": "2-3", "title": "Structuring Into Clusters and Lessons", "slug": "structuring-content", "description": "Transform your reading list into a coherent curriculum structure with logical progression.", "order": 3, "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/building-curriculum/structuring-content" }, { "id": "2-4", "title": "Auto-Populating Your CMS", "slug": "auto-populate", "description": "Use AI to generate complete lesson content and batch-populate your curriculum for first deployment.", "order": 4, "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/building-curriculum/auto-populate" }, { "id": "2-5", "title": "Refining AI-Generated Content", "slug": "refining-content", "description": "Improve your auto-generated curriculum over time with targeted edits and your unique perspective.", "order": 5, "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/building-curriculum/refining-content" } ], "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/building-curriculum" }, { "id": 3, "title": "Building Manually", "slug": "building-manually", "description": "Create your curriculum through careful curation and direct CMS entry—no AI required.", "overview": "This is the traditional path for building your curriculum. If you prefer working without AI tools, or want more hands-on control over every word, this approach guides you through the process step by step.\n\nYou'll learn how to identify the readings that matter most, understand exactly what each CMS field is for, and build your curriculum through thoughtful curation rather than generation.\n\n**Comfortable with AI tools?** See the [Building with AI](/curriculum/building-curriculum) cluster for a faster approach.", "is_foundation": true, "lessons": [ { "id": "3-1", "title": "Choosing Your Research Topic", "slug": "choosing-topic", "description": "What kinds of topics work best for this platform, and how to scope yours appropriately.", "order": 1, "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/building-manually/choosing-topic" }, { "id": "3-2", "title": "Identifying Your Core Readings", "slug": "core-readings", "description": "How to select foundational texts without AI assistance—using your judgment and research skills.", "order": 2, "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/building-manually/core-readings" }, { "id": "3-3", "title": "Understanding the CMS Fields", "slug": "cms-fields", "description": "What each field in the CMS does, which are required, and what to keep in mind when filling them.", "order": 3, "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/building-manually/cms-fields" }, { "id": "3-4", "title": "Creating Your First Lesson", "slug": "first-lesson", "description": "Walk through creating a complete lesson from scratch—from reading to published content.", "order": 4, "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/building-manually/first-lesson" } ], "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/building-manually" }, { "id": 4, "title": "Deployment & Customization", "slug": "deployment-customization", "description": "Setting up your site, connecting the CMS, and making it your own.", "overview": "Once you've designed your curriculum, it's time to deploy it and make it accessible to your audience.\n\nThis cluster covers the technical setup: deploying to Netlify, configuring the CMS authentication, customizing the look and feel, and ongoing maintenance. Everything is designed to be done without writing code.", "is_foundation": true, "lessons": [ { "id": "4-1", "title": "Deploying to Netlify", "slug": "deploying-netlify", "description": "Fork the repository, connect to Netlify, and get your curriculum online in minutes.", "order": 1, "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/deployment-customization/deploying-netlify" }, { "id": "4-2", "title": "Setting Up the CMS", "slug": "cms-setup", "description": "Configure authentication so you can edit content through the browser-based CMS.", "order": 2, "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/deployment-customization/cms-setup" }, { "id": "4-3", "title": "Customizing Your Curriculum", "slug": "customization", "description": "Brand your curriculum with custom colors, logos, and site settings—no code required.", "order": 3, "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/deployment-customization/customization" } ], "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/deployment-customization" }, { "id": 5, "title": "Working With Your Content", "slug": "working-with-content", "description": "Day-to-day content management, editing workflows, and iterating on your curriculum.", "overview": "Your curriculum is live—now what? This cluster covers the ongoing work of maintaining and improving your content.\n\nYou'll learn how to use the web-based CMS for quick edits, set up local editing with Obsidian for deeper work sessions, and develop a practice of iteration that keeps your curriculum growing and improving over time.", "is_foundation": false, "lessons": [ { "id": "5-1", "title": "Using the CMS", "slug": "using-cms", "description": "Add and edit content through the browser-based CMS without touching code.", "order": 1, "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/working-with-content/using-cms" }, { "id": "5-2", "title": "Local Editing with Obsidian", "slug": "local-editing", "description": "Set up a powerful local editing environment for longer writing sessions and offline work.", "order": 2, "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/working-with-content/local-editing" }, { "id": "5-3", "title": "Iterating on Your Curriculum", "slug": "iterating", "description": "Develop a practice of continuous improvement based on feedback and deeper understanding.", "order": 3, "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/working-with-content/iterating" } ], "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/working-with-content" }, { "id": 6, "title": "Making It Yours", "slug": "making-it-yours", "description": "Customize the visual design, branding, and overall feel of your curriculum site.", "overview": "Your curriculum has its own identity—and the site should reflect that. This cluster covers how to customize the visual appearance without breaking anything.\n\nYou'll learn about the theming system, how to change colors and fonts, when to add rounded corners, and how styling stays separate from content so your customizations persist through updates.", "is_foundation": false, "lessons": [ { "id": "6-1", "title": "Understanding the Theme System", "slug": "theme-system", "description": "How the site's styling is organized and why it's safe to customize.", "order": 1, "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/making-it-yours/theme-system" }, { "id": "6-2", "title": "Customizing Colors and Fonts", "slug": "colors-fonts", "description": "Practical guide to changing your site's color palette and typography.", "order": 2, "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/making-it-yours/colors-fonts" }, { "id": "6-3", "title": "Advanced Customization", "slug": "advanced-customization", "description": "Border radius, shadows, and custom CSS for when theme variables aren't enough.", "order": 3, "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/making-it-yours/advanced-customization" } ], "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/making-it-yours" }, { "id": 7, "title": "API & Data Access", "slug": "api-data-access", "description": "Programmatic access to your curriculum via JSON APIs, RSS feeds, and structured data.", "overview": "Your curriculum isn't just a website—it's a structured data source that machines can read too.\n\nThis cluster covers the built-in APIs and data feeds that enable powerful integrations: feeding your content to AI agents, syndicating via RSS, building custom dashboards, or connecting to other tools. These are advanced features for users who want to extend their curriculum beyond the browser.", "is_foundation": false, "lessons": [ { "id": "7-1", "title": "Understanding the Data Endpoints", "slug": "endpoints", "description": "Explore the built-in APIs that expose your curriculum as structured data.", "order": 1, "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/api-data-access/endpoints" }, { "id": "7-2", "title": "Use Cases and Integrations", "slug": "use-cases", "description": "Practical applications for the curriculum APIs—from AI agents to custom dashboards.", "order": 2, "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/api-data-access/use-cases" }, { "id": "7-3", "title": "NotebookLM Integration", "slug": "notebooklm", "description": "Use Google's NotebookLM to consume your curriculum or generate new content from source readings.", "order": 3, "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/api-data-access/notebooklm" } ], "url": "https://byocurriculum.dev/curriculum/api-data-access" } ] }