What ICAP is

ICAP Learning Agent is an Obsidian plugin. It puts an agent in the notes that you read. The agent explains, asks you questions, gives feedback on your answers and does work that you ask for. There is no chat panel.

Four ways to learn

The name comes from the ICAP framework (Chi & Wylie, 2014). The framework sorts how a learner works with a text into four modes:

Mode	What you do
Passive	You read.
Active	You select, highlight or rearrange the text.
Constructive	You make something that is not in the text: an explanation in your own words, an example, a comparison.
Interactive	You and a partner reason together. Each of you builds on what the other says.

From Passive to Interactive, understanding usually becomes deeper. The plugin makes each step to a deeper mode easy, but it does not force a step.

What the plugin does

• Explain. Select a word or a passage. The explanation shows below it.
• Recall. Explain a section from memory. The agent replies to what you wrote.
• Check. Answer questions about a section or a note, and get feedback.
• Ask the agent. Put a request block in a note, and tell the agent what to do.
• Read documents. The agent reads PDF, EPUB and Word files in your vault.
• Activity. The plugin records each task in a note, with its status and its cost.

What stays in your notes

The agent’s text is temporary until you keep it. When you keep it, the plugin writes plain Markdown into the note. Your notes stay readable without the plugin.

The agent does not change a note without your approval. It shows each change to an existing note as a diff. The plugin writes the change only when you apply it.

What you need

• Obsidian 1.11.4 or later, on a computer, an iPhone, an iPad or an Android device.
• An account with a model provider, or a model that runs on your computer. The provider bills you directly. ICAP has no account and no server.

Next: Install the plugin.