Retro

retro

A lesson that stays in the transcript is lost when the session ends; the compounding move is writing it back into the surface the next session loads. This skill closes that loop deliberately — after the work, not during it.

Adapter: .claude/ai-dev-kit.config.json (docs block); a missing field → derive it from the repo and say so.

1. Collect the signals

Sweep the just-finished work for the four signal types — from the session itself, the diff, and any review feedback:

• Corrections — places the user redirected you, or you redirected yourself after wasted work.
• Surprises — behavior that contradicted an assumption (an API, a build quirk, an environment fact) and cost time to discover.
• Re-derivations — knowledge rebuilt from scratch that some session had already learned (the strongest memory-candidate signal).
• Repetitions — any manual step performed 3+ times this program (automation candidate).

2. Route each lesson to its cheapest durable home

One lesson, one home — pick the lightest surface that reaches the next session that needs it:

• Project memory — non-derivable project facts and recipes (ports, seeds, gotchas). Cheapest; no repo change.
• Instruction file (AGENTS.md/CLAUDE.md) — only rules every future session must hold; respect the budget (the context-economy skill polices it); a single incident, however memorable, is Drop territory (below) unless it recurs or generalizes into a statable rule.
• Adapter field — a mechanical per-project parameter a skill should read instead of re-deriving.
• Skill edit — the procedure itself was wrong or incomplete (route to the skill's source repo when it's installed from a kit).
• Hook candidate — a reminder that must fire at a moment rather than be remembered; honor the project's automation policy (advise, never block) and record rejected hook ideas too.
• Test/gate — a failure class that verification should catch next time.
• Drop — one-off noise; say so, so it isn't re-proposed.

3. Propose, don't apply

Present the routed list — lesson · home · concrete edit — with effort marks. Each accepted item enters the project's normal flow (plan → sign-off → build, or a backlog row for later); memory-only items may apply immediately after sign-off. Record explicit rejections wherever the project keeps its decision log, so the same lesson isn't re-harvested next retro.