# Session Distill

> Distill session insights into rules, skill improvements, recipes, and cross-repo promotions to marketplace plugins. Use when capturing learnings, codifying workflow into .claude/rules, or promoting a session-invented pattern into a specific plugin/skill as a PR.

- Skill: `laurigates/session-distill` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add laurigates/session-distill`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/laurigates/session-distill/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Productivity
- Author: laurigates (https://skillmd.com/u/laurigates)
- Updated: 2026-09-09
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/laurigates/session-distill

---


# session-distill

Distill session insights into reusable project knowledge.

## When to Use This Skill

| Use this skill when... | Use alternative when... |
|------------------------|------------------------|
| End of session, want to capture learnings | Full end-of-session pass (wrap + distill + feedback) -> `session-plugin:session-end` |
| Discovered a project pattern worth codifying | Capturing loose threads to taskwarrior -> `session-plugin:session-wrap` |
| Want learnings as rules/recipes in *this* repo | Need to write a blog post -> `/blog:post` |
| Discovered a pattern worth reusing | Need to analyze git history for docs gaps -> `/git:log-documentation` |
| Found a CLI workflow worth saving as a recipe | Need to configure a justfile from scratch -> `/configure:justfile` |
| Want to update rules based on session experience | Need to check project infrastructure -> `/configure:status` |
| Asked to "codify the workflow" or "analyze and promote session patterns to rules" | Need a one-off implementation, not a reusable rule -> implement directly |
| A pattern is reusable **beyond this repo** and belongs in a shared plugin/skill | The learning is project-specific -> keep it in this repo's `.claude/rules` |
| The session **invented a technique** with no home skill yet, or one a named plugin's skill is missing | Reporting friction/errors for triage -> `feedback-plugin:feedback-session` (the error loop) |

May also be reached via the end-of-session flow: the plugin's Stop hook (`hooks/session-end-nudge.sh`) offers `session-plugin:session-end` once per session on user wind-down, and the orchestrator runs this skill when a durable learning qualifies.

## Core Principle: Update Over Add

Before proposing any artifact, evaluate: Does it update an existing one? Does an existing one already cover this? Is this genuinely new and reusable? See [REFERENCE.md](REFERENCE.md) for detailed evaluation criteria.

## Context

- Git repo detected: !`find . -maxdepth 1 -name '.git' -type d`
- Justfile: !`find . -maxdepth 1 \( -name 'justfile' -o -name 'Justfile' \) -print -quit`
- Rules directory: !`find . -path '*/.claude/rules/*' -name '*.md' -type f -not -path '*/.claude/worktrees/*'`

## Parameters

| Parameter | Description |
|-----------|-------------|
| `--rules` | Only analyze potential rule updates |
| `--skills` | Only analyze potential skill updates |
| `--recipes` | Only analyze potential justfile recipe updates |
| `--process` | Only analyze potential process/methodology captures (script+recipe or project-local `.claude/skills/` skill) |
| `--all` | Analyze all categories (default) |
| `--dry-run` | Show proposals without applying changes |

## Tool Call Efficiency

Minimize LLM round-trips: batch file reads in a single response, combine evaluation and redundancy checking in one pass, complete one category before starting the next.

## Execution

Execute this session distillation workflow:

### Step 1: Run the distill collector, then read conversation for rules

Run the read-only collector — the distill-side analogue of `session-survey.sh`.
It mines this session's transcript (and the cross-session window) for the
mechanical signals, so you don't re-read the whole conversation for
commands/edits or re-run `just --dump` from memory:

```sh
bash "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../scripts/distill-survey.sh" \
  --session-id "${CLAUDE_SESSION_ID}" --window-sessions 10
```

Consume the digest:

- `RECIPE_CANDIDATES` — normalized commands that recurred across **separate**
  sessions or are commit-bracketed this session, and are NOT already a `just`
  recipe or churn (`status`/`diff`/`log`/`test`/`build`/`ls`/…). Each carries a
  concrete `_FIRST` example, `_SESSIONS` count, and `_NOVEL_TOKENS`.
- `HOT_FILES` — the files this session edited/wrote most (exact paths) — where
  rule/doc updates likely land.
- `COMMIT_INTERVALS` + `COMMAND_DIGEST` — the mechanical grouping you use to
  *name* a process or sequence. The script never infers a sequence itself
  (sequence-naming is judgment); it hands you completed-work intervals.
- `RULE_HINTS_FROM_TOOLING` — repeated permission/auth denials, the **only**
  mechanical rule signal.

When `TRANSCRIPT_AVAILABLE=false` / `STATUS=SKIP` (fresh clone, remote sandbox,
mid-conversation flush, or no `--session-id`), fall back to reading the
conversation history directly for commands and edits.

**Durable rules live in conversation *reasoning*, not `tool_use` mining.** For
the rules category always read the conversation's decisions, corrections, and
constraints yourself — the collector deliberately does not pre-compute rules
beyond the narrow `RULE_HINTS_FROM_TOOLING` denial signal.

### Step 2: Evaluate and check redundancy (single pass per category)

When `--all`: complete rules -> skills -> recipes/process. Do not interleave.

**Rules** (`.claude/rules/*.md`): from the conversation reasoning (plus any
`RULE_HINTS_FROM_TOOLING` signal), Glob rule files and Read only the *subset*
the learning touches — the `HOT_FILES` paths and the rules adjacent to them —
then evaluate each insight in one pass (update/skip/remove/merge/add). Do not
glob-read every rule when the collector already narrowed the surface.

**Skills**: Glob relevant skill files (target specific plugins from Step 1),
Read in one response, evaluate in one pass.

**Recipes / process**: the collector already ran `just --dump`, so
`RECIPE_CANDIDATES` are already novel (not existing recipes). Route each per the
[destination table](#routing-a-learning-to-a-destination) — a recurring single
command → a `just` recipe; a multi-step workflow → a script or a project-local
skill (see `--process`).

### Step 3: Present proposals

Categorize as: `[UPDATE]`, `[SKIP]`, `[NEW]`, `[REDUNDANT]`, or `[PROMOTE]` with file paths and reasons.

`[PROMOTE]` is the **additive, cross-repo** category — distinct from the others,
which all write *this* repo's `.claude/`. Use it when the insight is reusable
**beyond this repo** and belongs in a marketplace plugin: either a pattern the
session invented that has **no home skill yet** (→ propose a new skill), or a
capability an **existing named skill is missing** (→ propose an edit to it). A
`[PROMOTE]` does not require anything to have gone wrong — a smooth session that
produced a strong reusable technique is exactly its trigger. Each `[PROMOTE]`
names a target `<plugin>/skills/<skill>` (new or existing) and is applied as a
**PR against the plugin repo**, never an edit to the current repo (see
[Cross-Repo Promotion](#cross-repo-promotion-promote)).

### Step 4: Apply changes

If `--dry-run`: skip this step.

**In auto mode**: apply proposals directly without per-category `AskUserQuestion`. All targets are reversible via `git restore` — rule files, skill files, and justfile recipes are tracked in git, so a wrong edit can be undone with one command. This matches auto mode's "prefer action over planning" directive. **Retain `AskUserQuestion` for destructive operations** (`[REDUNDANT]` proposals that remove a rule or recipe).

**In manual / interactive mode**: use `AskUserQuestion` to confirm each category before applying. The user can multi-select which `[UPDATE]` / `[NEW]` proposals to accept.

**In plan mode**: neither default applies — the harness disallows non-readonly tool calls (including `AskUserQuestion`-then-apply) except writes to the active plan file. Write the proposal set to the active plan file as a single coherent block (Context + per-category `[UPDATE]` / `[NEW]` / `[REDUNDANT]` sections + a brief verification section), then call `ExitPlanMode` to surface for user approval. Do not apply directly. After the user approves the plan, fall back to the auto-mode or manual-mode flow above depending on which is active.

For `[PROMOTE]` proposals, do **not** edit the current repo. Apply them via the
cross-repo PR hand-off below — gate it behind `AskUserQuestion` in every mode
(opening a PR against another repo is outward-facing), and never push to that
repo's default branch.

### Step 5: Report summary

Output concise summary of changes made, including any `[PROMOTE]` PRs opened
(with their URLs) so the promotion is traceable.

## Routing a learning to a destination

Each surviving insight goes to exactly one home. Pick most-specific first — a
new artifact type was deliberately **not** added (no `.claude/runbooks/`); a
project-local process reuses the `.claude/skills/` convention CLAUDE.md
documents as a first-class, auto-loaded home.

| The learning is… | Destination | Proposal tag |
|---|---|---|
| A convention/constraint that prevents mistakes | `.claude/rules/<name>.md` | `[UPDATE]` / `[NEW]` |
| A recurring single command with fixed flags (a `RECIPE_CANDIDATE`) | a `just` recipe | `[UPDATE]` / `[NEW]` |
| A **deterministic** multi-step workflow (no decision points) | `scripts/<name>.sh` + a thin `just` recipe wrapping it | `[NEW]` |
| A **multi-step process with decision points**, project-local | a project-local `.claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md` (auto-loaded, no marketplace entry — see the repo's CLAUDE.md) | `[NEW]` |
| Reusable **beyond this repo** | a marketplace plugin/skill via PR | `[PROMOTE]` |

The `--process` category covers the two multi-step rows: a deterministic
workflow becomes `scripts/*.sh` + a recipe (offload to a deterministic
substrate); a judgment-bearing one becomes a project-local skill. Name the
sequence yourself from `COMMIT_INTERVALS` / `COMMAND_DIGEST` — the collector
gives you the grouping, not the name.

## Cross-Repo Promotion ([PROMOTE])

The other categories keep knowledge in *this* repo. `[PROMOTE]` is how a
session-invented pattern reaches the **shared plugin marketplace** so every repo
benefits — the additive complement to `feedback-plugin`'s error loop (which only
fires on friction). A near-zero-friction session can still produce several
`[PROMOTE]` candidates.

### Routing: which plugin/skill should own it

Pick the target by the pattern's domain, most specific first:

| Pattern is about… | Likely owner |
|-------------------|--------------|
| A language/tool's build/test/lint (cargo, uv, biome…) | that language plugin (`rust-plugin`, `python-plugin`, …) |
| Multi-agent orchestration, waves, worktrees, dispatch | `agent-patterns-plugin` / `workflow-orchestration-plugin` |
| Git, PRs, merges, rebases, conflicts | `git-plugin` |
| CI/infra/repo configuration | `configure-plugin` / `github-actions-plugin` |
| Nothing fits, but it's clearly reusable | propose a new skill in the closest plugin and flag the routing choice for review |

Then decide **new skill vs. edit existing**: glob the owner plugin's `skills/`,
read the closest few, and prefer extending an existing skill (a new section +
cross-link) over a new skill unless the pattern is genuinely its own topic
(`Update Over Add` still applies — across repos now).

### The PR hand-off (isolated clone — never edit cwd, never push to default)

The plugin source lives in its own repo. Open a PR there; the human reviews and
merges. Match the repo's conventions: skills are auto-discovered (add
`skills/<name>/SKILL.md` with dated frontmatter + `user-invocable`/`allowed-tools`),
update the plugin README's skill catalog, keep `!`-context commands free of pipes/
redirects, use a conventional commit (`feat(<plugin>):` for a new skill,
`docs(<plugin>):` for an edit — release-please versions from it), and apply the
`<plugin>` routing label (create it if missing).

**Do the whole promote in a throwaway clone, never in a long-lived local
checkout of the plugins repo.** That checkout is frequently contended by a
concurrent Claude session: a coworker's operation can autostash your in-flight
edit and move `HEAD` between two of your calls, so the next `git add`/`commit`
reports *"nothing to commit, working tree clean"* and the edit is silently gone
(issue #2113). A fresh clone shares no `.git` with that checkout, so no coworker
can move `HEAD` under it. `git worktree add` is **not** equivalent — it
registers in the shared checkout's `.git` and was itself observed failing
(`already used by worktree`) once `HEAD` had moved.

```bash
WORK=$(mktemp -d); test -n "$WORK" || exit 1
git clone --depth 1 --single-branch --branch main https://github.com/laurigates/claude-plugins.git "$WORK/claude-plugins"
git -C "$WORK/claude-plugins" switch -c <type>/<short-slug>
# ... Write/Edit the SKILL.md + README under "$WORK/claude-plugins" (absolute paths) ...
git -C "$WORK/claude-plugins" add <paths>
git -C "$WORK/claude-plugins" commit -m "<conventional message>"
git -C "$WORK/claude-plugins" log --oneline origin/main..HEAD
git -C "$WORK/claude-plugins" push -u origin <branch>
gh pr create -R laurigates/claude-plugins --base main --head <branch> --title "<conventional title>" --body-file /tmp/promote-body.md -l <plugin>
rm -rf "$WORK"
```

Remove the throwaway (`rm -rf "$WORK"`) only after the PR URL is in hand — it is
the only copy of the work until the push lands.

Cross-references for the shared-checkout hazard this avoids:
`repos/.claude/rules/shared-checkout-branch-isolation.md` (the
`git log --oneline origin/main..HEAD` verification above — a branch must contain
only your own commits before you push), `repos/.claude/rules/concurrent-session-pr-check.md`
(before recreating work that "vanished", check whether a peer session already
opened a PR for it — never pop a shared stash), and `git-plugin:git-coworker-check`
(run it before any operation that genuinely must touch a shared checkout).

The PR body should cite the session as evidence (what the pattern is, why it's
reusable, where it was used) — the additive analogue of the friction loop's
evidence summary.

## Agentic Optimizations

| Context | Command |
|---------|---------|
| Distill collector (recipe candidates + hot files + process groupings) | `bash "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../scripts/distill-survey.sh" --session-id "${CLAUDE_SESSION_ID}"` |
| Distill qualify signal (counts only) | `bash "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../../scripts/distill-survey.sh" --session-id "${CLAUDE_SESSION_ID}" --summary` |
| Session diff summary | `git log --stat --oneline --max-count=10` |
| Recent commits | `git log --oneline --max-count=20` |
| List justfile recipes | `just --list` |
| Dump justfile as JSON | `just --dump --dump-format json` |
| Find rules | Glob `.claude/rules/*.md` |
| Batch-read all rules | Glob then Read all results in one response |