Concept Mapper

A summary of a topic is a list. A concept map is a structure. The difference matters because understanding a field deeply isn't about remembering what's in it — it's about knowing how the parts connect, which ones are foundational and which are derived, where the tensions live, and which concepts are quietly the same idea under different names. That structural knowledge is what separates someone who has memorised a field from someone who can reason inside it.

The skill picks the right map type for the topic. Hierarchical trees for taxonomies and classification systems. Network maps with labelled edges for many-to-many domains like philosophy or systems thinking. Process maps for sequences and decision trees. Layered stacks for topics with clear foundational-to-advanced progression. Tension maps for trade-off-driven domains — speed versus quality, depth versus breadth, the polarities where real strategic thinking happens. Forcing a network into a tree loses information. Forcing a hierarchy into a web hides it. The map type is part of the deliverable.

Three rules keep the output usable. 8 to 20 concepts — more than that and the map becomes a ball of yarn that signals everything connects to everything, which is never true. Every edge labelled — "A relates to B" is barely better than nothing; "A enables B", "A contradicts B", "A is a special case of B" is where the understanding lives. Indicate what's foundational — every map names the two or three concepts that, if you understand nothing else, you should understand these.

Output comes in the format that fits the user. Mermaid diagrams for Obsidian and GitHub. Markdown outlines for portability across any tool. Structured lists with indentation and arrows when the relationships are too dense for a clean diagram. Each map ships with a reading guide: where to start, the critical learning path through the concepts, one hidden connection that isn't obvious, and an honest note on what the map intentionally leaves out and where to go deeper. For Obsidian users, every concept comes pre-formatted as an atomic-note title with suggested [[wikilinks]] — ready to seed a new cluster in the vault.