Instructions for Agent

How This Skill is Invoked

This skill should be invoked:

• •At the end of every coding session, before the final report_progress call
• •When explicitly asked: "Run self-evaluation", "What did you learn?", "Improve skills"
• •After addressing code review feedback that reveals a recurring pattern

Core Principle: Learn From Every Session

Every session produces insights that can improve future agent effectiveness. Capture these systematically.

Step 1: Review the Session

Examine what happened during this session:

1. •Code review feedback received — What patterns did reviewers catch?
2. •Mistakes made and corrected — What errors occurred during implementation?
3. •Owner/user feedback — What preferences or corrections did the user provide?
4. •Patterns discovered — What reusable patterns emerged from the work?

Step 2: Categorize Lessons

Classify each lesson into one of these categories:

Step 3: Check Against Existing Knowledge

Before proposing updates, verify the lesson is not already documented:

1. •Check copilot-instructions.md — Is this pattern already listed?
2. •Check the relevant skill's SKILL.md — Is this rule already stated?
3. •Check skill references/ — Is there already an example?

Only propose additions for genuinely new or underemphasized patterns.

Step 4: Propose Skill Updates

For each new lesson, propose a specific, minimal update:

Format for Proposed Updates

**Lesson:** [One-line description]
**Source:** [PR #, review comment, or error that revealed this]
**Category:** [From Step 2 table]
**Target File:** [Exact file path to update]
**Proposed Change:** [Specific text to add or modify]
**Priority:** [High = caused bugs/rework, Medium = improved quality, Low = nice to have]

Prioritization Rules

• •High priority: Patterns that caused bugs, security issues, or significant rework
• •Medium priority: Patterns that improve code quality or developer experience
• •Low priority: Style preferences or minor improvements

Only implement High and Medium priority changes. Document Low priority for future reference.

Step 5: Apply Updates (If Appropriate)

If changes are warranted and the session scope allows:

1. •Update the relevant skill — Add the lesson to the appropriate section
2. •Increment the skill version — Bump the version in YAML frontmatter
3. •Keep changes minimal — Add only what's necessary, don't restructure
4. •Maintain skill boundaries — Don't duplicate content across skills

Step 6: Generate Session Summary

Produce a brief summary of lessons captured:

### Session Self-Evaluation

**Lessons Captured:** [count]
**Skills Updated:** [list of skills modified, or "None"]
**Key Patterns Added:**
- [Pattern 1: brief description]
- [Pattern 2: brief description]

**Deferred (Low Priority):**
- [Pattern that was noted but not implemented]

Anti-Patterns to Avoid

1. •Don't update skills for one-off situations — Only add patterns that are likely to recur
2. •Don't duplicate across skills — Each lesson goes in exactly one place
3. •Don't restructure existing skills — Add to existing sections, don't reorganize
4. •Don't add lessons that are standard programming practice — Focus on project-specific patterns
5. •Don't forget to check existing docs first — Avoid adding what's already there

Reference

For detailed examples of lessons learned and how they were incorporated, see references/LESSONS_LEARNED_PATTERNS.md.