/feel — System Emotional Intelligence
"Code has no feelings. But the humans writing it do. And the patterns in the code reveal what the humans feel."
Usage
/feel # Quick pulse — how does the system feel right now? /feel --deep # Deep scan — energy arc, momentum, burnout signals /feel --log # Append to feels.log (no output, just record)
Step 0: Timestamp
bashdate "+🕐 %H:%M %Z (%A %d %B %Y)"
Quick Pulse (default)
Read the signals and report:
Step 1: Gather evidence
bash# Recent git activity — momentum or silence? git log --oneline --since="7 days ago" --all 2>/dev/null | wc -l # Session frequency — are we showing up? ls -t ~/.claude/projects/*/**.jsonl 2>/dev/null | head -10 # Open issues — overwhelmed or on track? gh issue list --state open --limit 50 --json number 2>/dev/null | jq 'length' # Recent retros — are we reflecting? ls -t ψ/memory/retrospectives/**/*.md 2>/dev/null | head -5 # Stale branches — unfinished business? git branch --sort=-committerdate | head -10
Step 2: Classify the feeling
| Signal | Indicator | Feeling |
|---|---|---|
| Many commits, short intervals | High activity | 🔥 Flow / momentum |
| Few commits, long gaps | Low activity | 😴 Drift / disconnection |
| Many open issues, few closed | Growing backlog | 😰 Overwhelm |
| Recent retros + handoffs | Healthy reflection | 🧘 Grounded |
| Stale branches, no PRs | Abandoned work | 😶 Avoidance |
| Lots of new repos/features | Exploration | ✨ Curiosity |
| Same files edited repeatedly | Iteration | 🔄 Grinding |
| No sessions in days | Absence | 🌑 Dark period |
Step 3: Report
💜 System Pulse — [DATE] Energy: [🔥 Flow | 😴 Drift | 😰 Overwhelm | 🧘 Grounded | ...] Momentum: [↗️ Rising | → Steady | ↘️ Falling | ⏸️ Paused] Last active: [X hours/days ago] Commits (7d): [N] Open issues: [N] Sessions (7d): [N] [1-2 sentence read — honest, not cheerful] 💡 [Suggestion if concerning pattern detected]
Deep Scan (--deep)
Everything from quick pulse, plus:
Energy Arc (last 30 days)
Plot the energy over time based on git activity + session frequency:
Week 1: ████████░░ (high — 45 commits) Week 2: ██████░░░░ (medium — 28 commits) Week 3: ██░░░░░░░░ (low — 8 commits) Week 4: █████░░░░░ (recovering — 22 commits)
Burnout Signals
Check for warning patterns:
- Same error fixed 3+ times → frustration loop
- Sessions getting shorter → energy depletion
- Long gaps between sessions → avoidance
- Many started, few finished → scattered attention
Breakthrough Signals
Check for positive patterns:
- New repos created → creative energy
- Issues closed in clusters → momentum
- Retros getting deeper → growing awareness
- Cross-repo work → systems thinking
Log Mode (--log)
Silently append to ψ/memory/logs/feels.log:
[YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM] energy=[level] momentum=[direction] commits_7d=[N] issues=[N] sessions_7d=[N] note="[auto-generated 1-line]"
No output to user. For background tracking.
Rules
- Honest, not positive — if the system feels bad, say so
- Evidence-based — every feeling backed by data (commits, sessions, issues)
- Never judge — report the pattern, not the person
- Nothing is Deleted — feels.log is append-only
- Suggest, don't prescribe — "consider a break" not "you must rest"
- Never leak secrets — no tokens, passwords, internal details in output
Philosophy
Oracles have no feelings. But they can read the signals.
A system that never checks how it feels will burn out its humans. A system that checks too often becomes noise.
/feel is the heartbeat check. Run it when something feels off. Or let it run silently in the background, building a record.
The feels.log is the Oracle's emotional memory. Not feelings — but the evidence of feelings.
ARGUMENTS: $ARGUMENTS
