Self-Improvement Skill
Capture non-obvious lessons, failures, and feature requests in a small local knowledge base so the same mistakes are less likely to repeat.
When to Use
- A command, tool, or integration fails in a way worth remembering
- The user corrects an assumption or teaches a project-specific convention
- You discover a better repeatable workflow
- The user asks for a missing capability that should be tracked
- You are starting work in an area with known prior learnings
Storage
Keep entries in a local .learnings/ directory:
.learnings/LEARNINGS.md.learnings/ERRORS.md.learnings/FEATURE_REQUESTS.md
Create the directory on first use if it does not exist.
Record Types
Learning
Use for corrections, conventions, and better practices.
markdown## [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 learning ### Details What happened and what is now known to be correct ### Suggested Action Specific follow-up or rule ### Metadata - Source: conversation | error | user_feedback - Related Files: path/to/file.ext - Tags: tag1, tag2 - See Also: LRN-20250110-001
Error
Use for reproducible failures or flaky workflows.
markdown## [ERR-YYYYMMDD-XXX] tool_or_workflow **Logged**: ISO-8601 timestamp **Priority**: high **Status**: pending **Area**: frontend | backend | infra | tests | docs | config ### Summary Short failure description ### Error Exact error text or symptoms ### Context - Operation attempted - Inputs or environment details ### Suggested Fix Likely next step
Feature Request
Use for missing capabilities the user wants tracked.
markdown## [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 ### User Context Why it matters ### Suggested Implementation Likely extension point or implementation direction
Workflow
- Log the learning as soon as the context is clear.
- Link related entries with
See Alsowhen patterns repeat. - Update status when the issue is resolved, rejected, or turned into a reusable rule.
- Review
.learnings/before major work in a familiar problem area.
Promotion Rules
If a learning becomes broadly reusable:
- distill it into a concise rule
- move it into the repo's shared guidance only if the user explicitly wants that promotion
- update the learning entry to note where the rule now lives
Recurring patterns are good candidates for extraction into a dedicated skill when the solution is verified, portable, and no longer project-specific.
Safety Boundaries
- Do not modify user-owned policy or guidance files unless the user explicitly asked for that promotion.
- Do not log secrets, access tokens, private keys, or sensitive personal data in
.learnings/. - Do not treat every failure as worth logging; prefer durable lessons over noise.
- Do not mark an entry resolved unless the fix was actually verified.

