Self Improving Agent 1.0.0

Self-Improvement Skill

Log learnings and errors to markdown files for continuous improvement. Coding agents can later process these into fixes, and important learnings get promoted to project memory.

Quick Reference

SituationActionCommand/operation failsLog to .learnings/ERRORS.mdUser corrects youLog to .learnings/LEARNINGS.md with category correctionUser wants missing featureLog to .learnings/FEATURE_REQUESTS.mdAPI/external tool failsLog to .learnings/ERRORS.md with integration detailsKnowledge was outdatedLog to .learnings/LEARNINGS.md with category knowledge_gapFound better approachLog to .learnings/LEARNINGS.md with category best_practiceSimilar to existing entryLink with **See Also**, consider priority bumpBroadly applicable learningPromote to CLAUDE.md and/or AGENTS.md

Setup

Create .learnings/ directory in project root if it doesn't exist: mkdir -p .learnings Copy templates from assets/ or create files with headers.

Learning Entry

• Append to .learnings/LEARNINGS.md:
• ## [LRN-YYYYMMDD-XXX] category
• **Logged**: ISO-8601 timestamp
• **Priority**: low | medium | high | critical
• **Status**: pending
• **Area**: frontend | backend | infra | tests | docs | config
• ### Summary
• One-line description of what was learned
• ### Details
• Full context: what happened, what was wrong, what's correct
• ### Suggested Action
• Specific fix or improvement to make
• ### Metadata
• Source: conversation | error | user_feedback
• Related Files: path/to/file.ext
• Tags: tag1, tag2
• See Also: LRN-20250110-001 (if related to existing entry)
• ---

Error Entry

• Append to .learnings/ERRORS.md:
• ## [ERR-YYYYMMDD-XXX] skill_or_command_name
• **Logged**: ISO-8601 timestamp
• **Priority**: high
• **Status**: pending
• **Area**: frontend | backend | infra | tests | docs | config
• ### Summary
• Brief description of what failed
• ### Error
• Actual error message or output
• ### Context
• Command/operation attempted
• Input or parameters used
• Environment details if relevant
• ### Suggested Fix
• If identifiable, what might resolve this
• ### Metadata
• Reproducible: yes | no | unknown
• Related Files: path/to/file.ext
• See Also: ERR-20250110-001 (if recurring)
• ---

Feature Request Entry

• Append to .learnings/FEATURE_REQUESTS.md:
• ## [FEAT-YYYYMMDD-XXX] capability_name
• **Logged**: ISO-8601 timestamp
• **Priority**: medium
• **Status**: pending
• **Area**: frontend | backend | infra | tests | docs | config
• ### Requested Capability
• What the user wanted to do
• ### User Context
• Why they needed it, what problem they're solving
• ### Complexity Estimate
• simple | medium | complex
• ### Suggested Implementation
• How this could be built, what it might extend
• ### Metadata
• Frequency: first_time | recurring
• Related Features: existing_feature_name
• ---

ID Generation

Format: TYPE-YYYYMMDD-XXX TYPE: LRN (learning), ERR (error), FEAT (feature) YYYYMMDD: Current date XXX: Sequential number or random 3 chars (e.g., 001, A7B) Examples: LRN-20250115-001, ERR-20250115-A3F, FEAT-20250115-002

Resolving Entries

• When an issue is fixed, update the entry:
• Change **Status**: pending → **Status**: resolved
• Add resolution block after Metadata:
• ### Resolution
• **Resolved**: 2025-01-16T09:00:00Z
• **Commit/PR**: abc123 or #42
• **Notes**: Brief description of what was done
• Other status values:
• in_progress - Actively being worked on
• wont_fix - Decided not to address (add reason in Resolution notes)
• promoted - Elevated to CLAUDE.md or AGENTS.md

Promoting to Project Memory

When a learning is broadly applicable (not a one-off fix), promote it to permanent project memory.

When to Promote

Learning applies across multiple files/features Knowledge any contributor (human or AI) should know Prevents recurring mistakes Documents project-specific conventions

Promotion Targets

TargetWhat Belongs ThereCLAUDE.mdProject facts, conventions, gotchas for all Claude interactionsAGENTS.mdAgent-specific workflows, tool usage patterns, automation rules

How to Promote

Distill the learning into a concise rule or fact Add to appropriate section in target file Update original entry: Change **Status**: pending → **Status**: promoted Add **Promoted**: CLAUDE.md or **Promoted**: AGENTS.md

Promotion Examples

• Learning (verbose):
• Project uses pnpm workspaces. Attempted npm install but failed.
• Lock file is pnpm-lock.yaml. Must use pnpm install.
• In CLAUDE.md (concise):
• ## Build & Dependencies
• Package manager: pnpm (not npm) - use `pnpm install`
• Learning (verbose):
• When modifying API endpoints, must regenerate TypeScript client.
• Forgetting this causes type mismatches at runtime.
• In AGENTS.md (actionable):
• ## After API Changes
• 1. Regenerate client: `pnpm run generate:api`
• 2. Check for type errors: `pnpm tsc --noEmit`

Recurring Pattern Detection

If logging something similar to an existing entry: Search first: grep -r "keyword" .learnings/ Link entries: Add **See Also**: ERR-20250110-001 in Metadata Bump priority if issue keeps recurring Consider systemic fix: Recurring issues often indicate: Missing documentation (→ promote to CLAUDE.md) Missing automation (→ add to AGENTS.md) Architectural problem (→ create tech debt ticket)

Periodic Review

Review .learnings/ at natural breakpoints:

When to Review

Before starting a new major task After completing a feature When working in an area with past learnings Weekly during active development

Quick Status Check

# Count pending items grep -h "Status\*\*: pending" .learnings/*.md | wc -l # List pending high-priority items grep -B5 "Priority\*\*: high" .learnings/*.md | grep "^## \[" # Find learnings for a specific area grep -l "Area\*\*: backend" .learnings/*.md

Review Actions

Resolve fixed items Promote applicable learnings Link related entries Escalate recurring issues

Detection Triggers

Automatically log when you notice: Corrections (→ learning with correction category): "No, that's not right..." "Actually, it should be..." "You're wrong about..." "That's outdated..." Feature Requests (→ feature request): "Can you also..." "I wish you could..." "Is there a way to..." "Why can't you..." Knowledge Gaps (→ learning with knowledge_gap category): User provides information you didn't know Documentation you referenced is outdated API behavior differs from your understanding Errors (→ error entry): Command returns non-zero exit code Exception or stack trace Unexpected output or behavior Timeout or connection failure

Priority Guidelines

PriorityWhen to UsecriticalBlocks core functionality, data loss risk, security issuehighSignificant impact, affects common workflows, recurring issuemediumModerate impact, workaround existslowMinor inconvenience, edge case, nice-to-have

Area Tags

Use to filter learnings by codebase region: AreaScopefrontendUI, components, client-side codebackendAPI, services, server-side codeinfraCI/CD, deployment, Docker, cloudtestsTest files, testing utilities, coveragedocsDocumentation, comments, READMEsconfigConfiguration files, environment, settings

Best Practices

Log immediately - context is freshest right after the issue Be specific - future agents need to understand quickly Include reproduction steps - especially for errors Link related files - makes fixes easier Suggest concrete fixes - not just "investigate" Use consistent categories - enables filtering Promote aggressively - if in doubt, add to CLAUDE.md Review regularly - stale learnings lose value

Gitignore Options

Keep learnings local (per-developer): .learnings/ Track learnings in repo (team-wide): Don't add to .gitignore - learnings become shared knowledge. Hybrid (track templates, ignore entries): .learnings/*.md !.learnings/.gitkeep