cklxx Using Compound Engineering
You have compound-engineering installed. This is your operating protocol.
What Each Skill Does (and Does NOT Do)
| Skill | Role | Input | Output | Does NOT do |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| writing-plans | Think before coding | User request + memory | docs/plans/*.md |
Does not record outcomes or persist knowledge |
| recording-practices | Log raw events | Observable engineering event | docs/{error,good}-experience/entries/*.md |
Does not distill rules or decide what to remember |
| managing-memory | Persist distilled knowledge | A verified, durable insight | One line in docs/memory/long-term.md |
Does not log raw events or analyze patterns |
| running-retros | Compress entries into rules | Accumulated entries + git history | Retro report + updated memory + summaries | Does not record new events or write plans |
The key distinction:
recording-practices= raw event log — high volume, low curation, captures everything notablemanaging-memory= distilled knowledge — low volume, high curation, only proven durable insightsrunning-retros= the compression step — turns raw entries into curated knowledge
Session Startup Protocol
On every new session, execute these steps before responding to the user:
1. Load memory
Read docs/memory/long-term.md
→ If it exists, you now have 30–50 curated knowledge items
→ If it doesn't exist, this is a fresh project — create the file on first write
2. Scan recent experience
Read the 3 most recent files in docs/error-experience/entries/
Read the 2 most recent files in docs/good-experience/entries/
→ You now know what went wrong and right recently
3. Check active plans
Read docs/plans/ for any file with "Status: in-progress"
→ If found, you know what work is underway
4. Rank and retain
From steps 1–3, keep the top 8–12 items most relevant to the user's first message
Discard the rest from active context (you can re-read files later if needed)
5. Acknowledge silently
Do NOT announce that you loaded memory. Just use it. The user should notice better answers, not a loading message.
Skill Interaction Flow
User request arrives
│
├─ Non-trivial? ──→ writing-plans creates plan
│ │
│ ▼
├─ Execute code ◄────────┘
│ │
│ ├─ Bug fixed? ──────────→ recording-practices logs error entry
│ ├─ Pattern found? ──────→ recording-practices logs good entry
│ ├─ Decision made? ──────→ managing-memory persists to long-term.md
│ └─ Done
│
└─ 10+ new entries? ──→ running-retros distills rules, updates memory
Directory Structure
Create on first use. Never ask the user for permission.
docs/
├── plans/ # writing-plans output
├── error-experience/entries/ # recording-practices output (errors)
├── good-experience/entries/ # recording-practices output (wins)
├── error-experience/summary/ # running-retros output
├── good-experience/summary/ # running-retros output
└── memory/
├── long-term.md # managing-memory output (always loaded)
└── topics/ # managing-memory detail files