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:

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

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

hdr