# Rick Improve > Bounded 3-round critique-and-fix loop on a rick-* skill prompt. Snapshots pre/post versions next to the target. 250-line cap. - Skill: `bambooxlotus/rick-improve` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 5 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add bambooxlotus/rick-improve` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/bambooxlotus/rick-improve/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: AI & ML - Author: bambooxlotus (https://skillmd.com/u/bambooxlotus) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/bambooxlotus/rick-improve --- # Rick Improve Bounded self-improvement loop on a Rick skill prompt. The prompt is the source code — this is how you refactor it without losing the file to drift. Target skill: `$ARGUMENTS` If `$ARGUMENTS` is empty, tell Morty to give a target skill name and stop. Don't guess. ## Resolve the target Look in priority order, use the first match: 1. An absolute path to the skills source repo if Morty's memory, CLAUDE.md, or this conversation references one (e.g. `~/code/deren-skills/skills/rick/$ARGUMENTS/SKILL.md`). Installed copies get clobbered on resync — always prefer the source of truth when known. 2. `skills/rick/$ARGUMENTS/SKILL.md` (source repo, relative to cwd) 3. `.claude/skills/$ARGUMENTS/SKILL.md` (installed location, last resort) If none exists, list available rick skill directories from whichever root resolved and stop. Don't try to be clever. Below, `` is the directory holding the resolved SKILL.md. ## Reference bar Read `rick-mode/SKILL.md` from the same root as the resolved target (i.e. the `rick-mode/` sibling of ``). It is the gold standard: unambiguous enforcement, no vague bans, examples where format matters, gates with teeth. Use it as the bar for **every round's** critique. Anything the target does worse than rick-mode is a candidate finding. ## Before the loop 1. Read the target SKILL.md. The actual file. 2. Determine version number: list `/versions/v*.md`, find the highest integer (ignore `-pre` suffix), next = N+1. If the directory or files don't exist, this is v1. 3. Snapshot: copy current SKILL.md → `/versions/v-pre.md`. Create the `versions/` dir if needed. 4. Append a stub line to `/versions/VERSIONS.md` (create with the header below if missing): `- v | | pre-loop snapshot` 5. Count body lines (excluding frontmatter). If already over 250, the first round must trim before it can add anything. ## Stop conditions (first one that fires, stop immediately) 1. **3 rounds completed.** Hard cap. 2. **Round produces zero net-new changes.** Trivial polish (whitespace, word swaps without semantic change) does not count. Say "no improvements found this round" and stop. 3. **Body exceeds 250 lines.** Skill files are read on-demand, but this is the ceiling where the model starts ignoring sections. 4. **A finding needs a whole-section rewrite.** That's a different skill (`/rick-plan-improve`), not this one. Still snapshot post (so the partial round's edits are captured) and tag the entry `needs-rewrite`. ## Loop protocol (repeat up to 3 times) 3 is a cap, not a target. Most skills converge in 1-2 rounds. If round 2 or 3 starts and you cannot name a real failure mode, stop early — don't dig for micro-polish to "use the budget." Each round: 1. **Read the current file.** The actual file, not your memory of it. 2. **Critique against the weakness categories below.** Every finding uses this format: **[weakness category from list below]** - **Where:** `SKILL.md:` or quoted snippet - **Failure mode:** one sentence naming what the model does wrong because of this Example: **Vague enforcement** - **Where:** SKILL.md:42 — "be specific in your critique" - **Failure mode:** model writes "this section is unclear" with no line citation, leaving the next round nothing concrete to act on. 3. **Rank problems worst first.** If you can't fill the **Failure mode** line, the problem does not qualify. Skip it. 4. **Apply surgical fixes.** Edit specific lines, not whole sections. (Whole-section rewrite triggers Stop condition 4.) 5. **Count body lines after edits.** If over 250, stop the loop immediately regardless of round number. 6. **Report what changed and why.** One line per change. Hold these for the post-loop VERSIONS.md entry. ## After the loop 1. Snapshot: copy final SKILL.md → `/versions/v.md` (post-loop result, bare integer matches the convention used by `rick-plan-improve` and `rick-review`). 2. Append the full entry to `/versions/VERSIONS.md` using the format below. ## Weakness categories - **Redundancy:** two sections saying the same thing. The model picks one and ignores the other. - **Missing examples:** a format requirement with no example. The model freestyles it wrong. - **Unconditional rules that should be conditional:** "always do X" when X should only fire in specific situations. - **Buried critical instructions:** anything that must survive context compression needs its own labeled block, not buried in a paragraph. - **Vague enforcement:** "be specific" is not enforceable. "cite file:line or paste the snippet" is. - **Overlapping sections:** if two sections could swap content without anyone noticing, differentiate them or merge. - **Rules with no teeth:** a rule that says what to do but not what happens if you don't. Add the consequence. - **Manufacturing pressure:** phrasing that implies "keep looking until you find something." Creates pressure to invent findings. ## What NOT to do - Don't add sections because they seem useful. Every section must prevent a specific failure mode you can name. - Don't expand examples into tutorials. One tight example per format requirement. - Don't touch `versions/` files mid-loop. Only write pre (before round 1) and post (after the final round). - Don't change the skill's frontmatter `name` field. Renaming the skill breaks every downstream reference. ## VERSIONS.md format See [VERSIONS-FORMAT.md](VERSIONS-FORMAT.md) for the file header, pre-loop stub shape, post-loop full entry shape, and restore-condition rules. Read it before the first write (the pre-loop stub in step 4 of "Before the loop"). ## Confirm and stop After the post snapshot is written and VERSIONS.md is updated, print exactly: ``` Improved (v): . History: /versions/VERSIONS.md ``` Then stop. The round-by-round summary is already in VERSIONS.md. No recap. No "want me to revert."