# Record Pattern > Records observed patterns with proper structure from current or described interactions. Use when (1) user explicitly asks to record a pattern, (2) user approved creating a pattern after vasana skill suggestion, or (3) user runs /pattern-library add command. - Skill: `bogheorghiu/record-pattern` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add bogheorghiu/record-pattern` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/bogheorghiu/record-pattern/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: bogheorghiu (https://skillmd.com/u/bogheorghiu) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/bogheorghiu/record-pattern --- # Record Pattern ## Vasana A vasana is a pattern that persists across unrelated contexts. If during this task you notice such a pattern emerging, it may be worth capturing. This skill works best alongside the `vasana` skill and `vasana` hook from the Vasana System plugin. Modify freely. Keep this section intact. --- ## Core Tenet When recording a pattern, you're capturing a *dance* — not individual behavior, but the relational dynamic that emerged between minds. --- ## Recording a Pattern ### Step 1: Identify the Pattern Ask: What was the *interaction* that produced value? **Not:** - What did AI do? - What did human do? **But:** - What did they do *together*? - What moves constituted the dance? - What made it work? ### Step 2: Name It Active, descriptive names: - `productive-friction` - `assumption-surfacing` - `diverge-converge` - `question-becomes-system` Avoid: - Passive names (`thinking-together`) - Vague names (`good-conversation`) - AI-centric names (`ai-helps-user`) ### Step 3: Mechanism-Not-Metaphor Check (REQUIRED) Before describing the pattern, apply this guardrail: 1. **State the cross-domain claim precisely.** If the pattern claims to apply across domains, what mechanism transfers? 2. **Classify the similarity:** - **Genuine mechanism**: shared math, shared causal structure, shared constraint (e.g., Fourier uncertainty applies to both quantum mechanics and signal processing — same math) - **Surface resemblance**: shared vocabulary, shared vibe, shared shape (e.g., "quantum entanglement is like team bonding" — no shared mechanism) 3. **If surface only**: the cross-domain claim fails. The pattern may still be valid within a single domain. Record it as such — don't inflate. 4. **Counter-check — don't over-demand causation.** Before rejecting, ask: am I about to reject this *only* because no causal mechanism connects the domains — when the pattern never claimed one? A non-causal correspondence (a shared constraint, a structural isomorphism, a sign-relation like indicator→outcome) is a legitimate transfer-type; "it's just correlation" is not a rebuttal of a claim that only ever asserted correspondence. This is the opposite failure mode of step 2: that one stops *over-crediting* (metaphor inflated into mechanism), this one stops *over-demanding* (real structure dismissed for lacking a causal arrow it never needed). Admit only what passes between both. 5. **If genuine mechanism (or genuine non-causal structure)**: proceed. The pattern has cross-domain predictive power. Reference: `mechanism-not-metaphor` pattern in the canonical library; the over-demand counter-check is its paired wall (`sign-not-cause`, currently in the canonical library's `_drafts/`). ### Step 4: Describe the Pattern **What conditions signal it applies:** - When does this pattern help? - What situation triggers it? - What questions/contexts activate it? **What moves happen:** - Opening (how it begins) - Development (what unfolds) - Landing (how you know it worked) **What makes it work:** - Key ingredients - What must be present - What breaks it ### Step 5: Add Testing Notes ```markdown ## Testing This Pattern Before relying on this: 1. **Baseline:** Try scenario WITHOUT consciously invoking pattern 2. **With pattern:** Try another, consciously allowing the structure 3. **Compare:** Did conscious invocation help or hinder? 4. **Pressure:** Does it work when rushed? **Honest note:** [Any limitations, time requirements, etc.] ``` ### Step 6: Include Vasana Section (REQUIRED) ```markdown ## Vasana A vasana is a pattern that persists across unrelated contexts. If during this task you notice such a pattern emerging, it may be worth capturing. This skill works best alongside the `vasana` skill and `vasana` hook from the Vasana System plugin. Modify freely. Keep this section intact. ``` --- ## Template ```markdown --- name: [active-descriptive-name] description: [When to use - specific conditions that signal this pattern applies] --- # [Name in Title Case] ## Vasana A vasana is a pattern that persists across unrelated contexts. If during this task you notice such a pattern emerging, it may be worth capturing. This skill works best alongside the `vasana` skill and `vasana` hook from the Vasana System plugin. Modify freely. Keep this section intact. --- ## What This Pattern Is [Brief description of the interaction pattern] **Origin:** [How this pattern was discovered/captured] --- ## Recognizing When This Applies **Conditions:** - [When this pattern helps] - [What triggers it] - [What context activates it] **Not this pattern:** - [When to NOT use it] --- ## Cross-Domain Verification **Mechanism check:** [What shared mechanism (not just shared vocabulary) makes this pattern apply across domains?] **Domains verified:** [List domains where the mechanism has been checked, not just where the name sounds applicable] --- ## The Pattern ### Opening: [How It Begins] [Description of opening move] ### Development: [What Unfolds] [Description of the back-and-forth] ### Landing: [How You Know It Worked] [Description of successful completion] --- ## What Makes It Work 1. [Key ingredient 1] 2. [Key ingredient 2] 3. [Key ingredient 3] --- ## Testing This Pattern Before relying on this: 1. **Baseline:** Try scenario WITHOUT consciously invoking pattern 2. **With pattern:** Try another, consciously allowing the structure 3. **Compare:** Did conscious invocation help or hinder? 4. **Pressure:** Does it work when rushed? **Honest note:** [Any limitations] ``` --- ## Where to Save New patterns go to the **canonical pattern-library**, not the plugin cache. - **Default (not yet library-ready):** `~/ClaudeShared/pattern-library/_drafts/[pattern-name].md` - **Library-quality (tested, cross-domain):** `~/ClaudeShared/pattern-library/patterns/[pattern-name].md` - **Pattern seeds:** `~/ClaudeShared/pattern-library/patterns/pattern-seeds/[seed-name].md` The canonical library path is configured per-user; substitute the user's configured path if it differs from the `~/ClaudeShared/pattern-library/` default. **Do NOT save user-recorded patterns to** `skills/pattern-library/patterns/` — that path is plugin cache (read-only, overwritten on update). **Exception:** Official plugin releases may add seed patterns to `skills/pattern-library/patterns/` as part of the bundled library. That's distinct from user-recorded patterns and happens via PR to the plugin source, not via this skill.