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User Guide

This guide covers all features of LumenExMachina in detail.

Table of Contents

Overview

LumenExMachina follows a step-by-step workflow to create complete teaching materials:

Project Setup → Outline → Documents → Illustrations → Mini-Apps → Quizzes → Export

Each step builds on the previous one. You can always go back and regenerate individual components.

Creating a Project

Navigate to the Project tab to set up your teaching material:

Field Description Example
Topic The main subject of your material "Linear Algebra: Vectors and Matrices"
Target Audience Who the material is for "First-year university CS students"
Learning Objectives What students should learn "Understand vector operations, matrix multiplication, determinants"
Scope How comprehensive the material should be Short / Medium / Comprehensive

Scope Levels

  • Short — Quick overview, 2-3 chapters, suitable for a single lesson
  • Medium — Standard coverage, 4-6 chapters, suitable for a teaching unit
  • Comprehensive — In-depth treatment, 7+ chapters, suitable for a full course module

Reference Documents

You can upload existing Word (.docx) or PDF files as context for the AI generation. This is especially useful when:

  • You have existing teaching materials you want to extend
  • You want to ensure alignment with a specific curriculum or textbook
  • You have style guidelines the AI should follow

Note: PDF input is supported by Gemini and Anthropic providers. OpenAI and LM Studio do not support PDF input — reference documents will be ignored with these providers.

Upload reference documents in the Project tab before generating the outline.

Outline Generation

Click "Generate Outline" to create a hierarchical course structure. The AI generates:

  • Chapters (Level 1) with titles and descriptions
  • Subchapters (Level 2) with learning objectives
  • Sub-subchapters (Level 3) for detailed topics
  • Key Terms — Important vocabulary per section
  • Illustration Ideas — Suggestions for visual content
  • Mini-App Ideas — Interactive learning activity suggestions

The outline serves as the blueprint for all subsequent document generation.

Outline Chat

After generating an outline, use the Outline Chat to refine it:

  • "Add a chapter about error handling"
  • "Make chapter 3 more focused on practical examples"
  • "Remove the section about advanced topics"
  • "Add more illustration ideas for chapter 2"

The AI updates the outline based on your instructions while maintaining consistency.

Document Generation

Switch to the Documents tab to generate teaching materials. Available document types:

Study Text

The main learning material. Contains explanations, examples, illustrations, code blocks, and callout boxes. Generated per subchapter with context continuity between chapters.

Quick Mode (Experimental): Enable parallel generation to generate all subchapters simultaneously. Faster, but without cross-chapter context continuity.

Worksheet

Exercises and activities for students. Contains tasks, questions, and guided activities aligned with the outline's learning objectives.

Solution Key

Complete answer key for the worksheet. Generated to match the worksheet's structure.

Self-Test

Self-assessment questions with model answers. Students can check their understanding independently.

Presentation

Slide-style content suitable for classroom projection. Concise points with key information.

Interactive Quiz

Browser-based quiz with multiple question types (multiple choice, short answer, matching, true/false). Runs as a standalone HTML page.

Regeneration

If a document already exists, clicking "Generate" again will show a confirmation dialog. You can choose to regenerate from scratch or keep the existing version.

Illustrations

The Illustrations tab lets you generate AI images for your documents.

  • Click "Generate All" to create images for all illustration ideas from the outline
  • Each image is generated in parallel for speed
  • Click "Regenerate" on individual images to get a new version
  • Images are stored as assets within the project file

Note: Image generation requires the Google Gemini provider. Other providers do not support image generation.

Image Model

You can select the image model in Settings. The default is models/gemini-3-pro-image-preview. The dropdown shows all available Gemini models, or you can type a custom model name.

Mini-Apps

Mini-Apps are interactive learning applications embedded in your teaching materials:

  1. Generate Ideas — AI suggests interactive activities based on your outline
  2. Create Mini-App — AI generates a complete React or Vanilla JS application
  3. Preview — Test the mini-app in the built-in browser

Mini-apps are self-contained HTML files that include all necessary JavaScript. They can be:

  • Embedded in the document preview
  • Exported as standalone HTML files
  • Integrated into learning management systems

Runtime Options

  • React — Uses React 18 + Babel for JSX transpilation. Best for complex interactive UIs.
  • Vanilla JS — Pure JavaScript without frameworks. Lighter and simpler.

Quizzes

GIFT Format (Moodle)

Generate quizzes in GIFT format for direct import into Moodle LMS:

  • Multiple Choice
  • True/False
  • Short Answer
  • Matching
  • Numerical

Interactive Quiz

Generate standalone HTML quizzes that run in any browser:

  • Immediate feedback per question
  • Score tracking
  • Explanation display
  • No server required

Preview

The Preview tab shows a live HTML rendering of your documents:

  • Select which document type to preview
  • View illustrations inline with text
  • Test mini-apps in the embedded browser
  • Math formulas rendered with KaTeX
  • Code blocks with syntax highlighting
  • Fullscreen mode — Open the preview in a separate window

Export

The Export tab provides multiple output formats:

DOCX (Word)

  • Professional Word document layout
  • Embedded images
  • Styled headings, lists, and tables
  • Math formulas as images
  • Compatible with Microsoft Word, LibreOffice, Google Docs

PDF

  • Print-ready PDF output
  • Generated via QuestPDF
  • Embedded images and math formulas
  • Consistent typography

GIFT

  • Moodle-compatible quiz format
  • Import directly into your LMS
  • Supports all standard GIFT question types

Export Options

  • Export individual document types
  • Export all documents at once
  • Choose output directory

Settings

AI Models

Configure which AI model to use for each task:

  • Text Provider — Which AI service to use for text generation (Gemini, Claude, OpenAI, LM Studio)
  • Text Model — Specific model for document content
  • Outline Provider — AI service for outline generation (can differ from text provider)
  • Outline Model — Specific model for outlines
  • Image Model — Gemini model for illustration generation

All model dropdowns show available models from the selected provider and are editable for custom model names.

Content Language

Choose the language for generated teaching materials. This is independent of the UI language — you can use the German interface while generating English materials.

UI Language

Switch the application interface between English and German.

Project Files

.lmx Format

Projects are saved as .lmx files — ZIP containers containing:

project.lmx
├── project.json    # All project data (outline, documents, quizzes, mini-apps, settings)
└── assets/         # Generated images (Base64-encoded PNG files)

Auto-Save

Settings (model selection, language preferences) are automatically persisted and restored on app startup.

Legacy Support

Projects saved in the older .tfg format can still be loaded but will be saved as .lmx going forward.