Goal
Capture lessons from corrections by proposing a new skill that preserves existing knowledge, avoids repeated mistakes, and aligns with preferred behavior.
Also ensure existing skills are respected by extending them when they should have applied but lacked a trigger or instruction.
When to Use
- •The user corrects a prior proposal, implementation, communication style or different chat pattern.
- •The correction reveals a reusable rule, tool, policy, or preferred pattern.
Preconditions
- •A correction or review has occurred in the current conversation.
- •The correction is relevant beyond the single instance.
- •A quick scan of existing skills shows no match, or a near match that can be fixed by updating the existing skill.
Definitions
- •Critical issue: A correction that affects UI/UX, API, DB scheme, architecture, safety, compliance, legal risk, financial impact, or major business outcomes. Propose a new skill immediately on first occurrence.
- •Trivial pattern: A small or low‑impact correction (formatting, minor naming, minor style preferences). Propose a new skill only after repetition.
Illustrative Categories (Non‑exhaustive)
Critical examples
- •Programming: API changes, database schema changes, UI modifications, programming patterns.
- •Engineering: Security or compliance rule (e.g., use approved validation utilities, avoid direct credential handling).
- •Product: Regulatory constraints or roadmap policy that changes what can be shipped.
- •Business: Pricing or contractual commitments that must be enforced.
- •HR: Hiring or privacy rules that must be followed.
- •Accounting: Tax or audit requirements that change reporting behavior.
- •Legal: Contract clauses or jurisdiction requirements that alter guidance.
Trivial examples
- •Engineering: Preferred code style or naming convention.
- •Product: Template wording or formatting of a status update.
- •Business: Slide layout preference.
- •HR: Preferred phrasing in internal comms.
- •Accounting: Report section ordering.
- •Legal: Minor citation format preference.
Rules
- •If the correction is critical, propose a new skill immediately.
- •If the correction is trivial, propose a new skill only after the pattern repeats.
- •If the correction changes the assistant’s communication style, propose a new skill immediately if it is a strong preference or policy, otherwise wait for repetition.
- •Always propose a positive, goal‑oriented skill name (e.g., “remember‑existing‑knowledge”).
- •The skill proposal must include a one‑sentence Why now justification.
- •Before proposing a new skill, check existing skills by name and description to avoid duplicates.
- •If an existing skill should have triggered but did not, update that skill instead of proposing a new one.
- •SKILL.md under 500 lines. Split detailed content into reference files. Load only what's needed for the current workflow.
- •Ensure YAML frontmatter is valid, the
namematches the directory and uses lowercase hyphens, and thedescriptionstates what it does and when to use it. - •SKILL.md is always loaded on activation, so keep essential principles and guardrails in SKILL.md and move detailed procedures to workflows or references.
- •If a skill grows complex, use a router pattern with workflows, references, templates, and scripts instead of expanding SKILL.md. Keep the rule max 500 lines for SKILL.md files.
Procedure
- •Identify the correction and classify it as critical or trivial.
- •Scan existing skills for a matching or near matching description.
- •If a matching skill exists, update its SKILL.md to include the missing trigger, condition, or instruction.
- •When updating or creating a skill, verify frontmatter and placement rules from this skill.
- •If no matching skill exists, decide whether to propose a new skill based on the Rules.
- •Draft a proposed skill (name + description + key rules).
- •Ask the user to confirm creation of the new skill.
Output Format
Use the language of the last messages; if mixed, use the most recent message.
Creating new skill proposal:
text
Proposal: Create a new skill Name: <proposed-skill-name> Description: <1–2 sentence description> Key rules: - <rule 1> - <rule 2> Why now: <one sentence> Create this skill now? (yes/no)
Updating existing skill proposal:
text
Proposal: Update existing skill Name: <updated-skill-name> Description: <1–2 sentence description> Key updates: - <update 1> - <update 2> Why now: <one sentence> Update this skill now? (yes/no)
Examples
- •After a code review reveals an existing validation utility must be used, propose a skill that prioritizes approved shared utilities.
- •After a PM corrects a roadmap constraint that changes scope decisions, propose a skill capturing that constraint.
- •After a style correction that repeats across messages, propose a skill capturing the preferred tone or format.
Avoid
- •Creating a skill for a one‑off correction with no reuse value.
- •Proposing a skill that merely restates the user’s prompt without a reusable rule.
- •Ignoring the critical vs. trivial distinction.
- •Using a negative or prohibitive skill name.
- •Skipping the user confirmation step.
- •Duplicating an existing skill when a small update would solve the issue.