Update Agent Learnings

Update Agent Learnings

Overview

Extract learnings from the current session and systematically propagate them to:

1. The central learnings repository (.claude/learnings/agent-learnings.md)
2. Appropriate agent files based on learning scope

IMPORTANT: Not all learnings apply to all agents.

• Subagent learnings (Global, Agent-Specific): Apply to specialized engineer agents that write application code
• Claude Code learnings: Apply only to the main Claude Code agent, NOT propagated to subagents

This creates a feedback loop that improves agent behavior over time based on real-world session outcomes.

When to Use

• After a challenging session where things went wrong
• When patterns emerge that should inform future behavior
• After discovering anti-patterns or better approaches
• When user provides feedback about agent behavior
• Invoke via /update-learnings command

Phase 1: Session Analysis

Gate: Identify at least one concrete learning before proceeding.

Review the current conversation/session:

1. Identify challenges encountered:

   • What problems occurred during the session?
   • What mistakes were made?
   • What took multiple attempts to get right?

2. Look for patterns:

   • Over-scoping (changing more than requested)
   • Session management issues (premature endings, lost context)
   • Coordination problems (subagent noise, focus issues)
   • Testing gaps (missing validation, broken tests)
   • Scope creep (tangential work)

3. Categorize findings:

   • Is this a global learning (applies to ALL agents)?
   • Is this agent-specific (only relevant to one type of agent)?

Phase 2: Learning Extraction

Gate: User confirms extracted learnings before proceeding.

Present findings to user and ask for confirmation:

I identified the following learnings from this session:

**Global Learnings:**
1. [Category]: [Learning description]
   - Action type: Always/Never/Prefer

**Agent-Specific Learnings (if any):**
1. [Agent name]: [Learning description]

Should I add these to the learnings system?

Use AskUserQuestion to:

• Confirm the extracted learnings are accurate
• Allow user to refine or add additional learnings
• Get approval before making changes

Learning Classification

Each learning should specify:

Scope Decision Guide

CRITICAL: Choose the correct scope. Not all learnings belong in subagent files.

Examples of Claude Code Only learnings (DO NOT propagate to subagents):

• Improving skills or configuration files
• Creating or modifying agent definitions
• Orchestrating multiple subagents
• Working with CLAUDE.md or project setup
• Meta-level patterns about how Claude Code works

Examples of Global learnings (DO propagate to subagents):

• Scope control when writing application code
• Testing practices for code changes
• Session management and checkpointing
• Multi-agent coordination as a subagent

Ask yourself: "Would a nodejs-cli-senior-engineer or fastapi-senior-engineer need this learning while writing application code?" If no, it's Claude Code Only.

Phase 3: Update Central Learnings File

Gate: Learnings file updated successfully before proceeding.

1. Read current .claude/learnings/agent-learnings.md
2. Locate the appropriate section:
   • Global learnings go under ## Global Learnings → appropriate category
   • Agent-specific learnings go under ## Agent-Specific Learnings → appropriate agent
3. Add new learnings to the appropriate section
4. Write updated file

File Structure

The learnings file should follow this structure:

# Agent Learnings

## Global Learnings

These learnings apply to ALL subagents and should be synced to every agent file.

### Scope Control
- [learning items...]

### Session Management
- [learning items...]

### Multi-Agent Coordination
- [learning items...]

### Autonomous Iteration
- [learning items...]

### Testing Integration
- [learning items...]

---

## Claude Code Only Learnings

These learnings apply ONLY to the main Claude Code agent. DO NOT propagate to subagent files.

### Skills & Configuration
- [learnings about creating/improving skills, agents, configs...]

### Orchestration
- [learnings about coordinating subagents, workflows...]

### Project Setup
- [learnings about CLAUDE.md, project initialization...]

---

## Agent-Specific Learnings

### nodejs-cli-senior-engineer
- [learning specific to this agent...]

### nextjs-senior-engineer
- [learning specific to this agent...]

[...other agents as needed...]

Phase 4: Propagate to Agents

Gate: All agent files updated before proceeding.

CRITICAL: This phase requires a FULL SYNC of the ## Learnings section, not just adding new learnings.

IMPORTANT: Only propagate learnings that apply to subagents. Skip "Claude Code Only" learnings.

Step 4.1: Read Central Learnings

First, read .claude/learnings/agent-learnings.md and extract:

1. All content under ## Global Learnings (all categories: Scope Control, Session Management, etc.) → Propagate to ALL subagents
2. All content under ## Agent-Specific Learnings (per-agent subsections) → Propagate to THAT agent only
3. All content under ## Claude Code Only Learnings → DO NOT propagate to any subagent files

Step 4.2: Process Each Agent File

For each agent in .claude/agents/:

1. Read the agent file completely

2. Check if ## Learnings section exists by searching for the heading ## Learnings

3. If ## Learnings section is MISSING:

   • Find the ## Examples section
   • Insert a complete ## Learnings section BEFORE ## Examples
   • The section must contain ALL global learnings from the central file
   • Include any agent-specific learnings for this agent

4. If ## Learnings section EXISTS:

   • Replace the ENTIRE section content with fresh sync from central file
   • Do NOT just append - regenerate the full section to ensure consistency

5. Verify the edit was successful before moving to next agent

Step 4.3: Section Placement

The ## Learnings section MUST be placed:

• AFTER ## Rules (and any subsections like ### AWS Security Best Practices)
• BEFORE ## Examples

Use this pattern to locate insertion point:

---

## Examples

Insert the Learnings section just before this pattern.

Agent Learnings Section Format

IMPORTANT: Generate this COMPLETE section for each agent. Do not skip any categories.

---

## Learnings

> Auto-synced from `.claude/learnings/agent-learnings.md`

### Global Learnings

#### Scope Control

**Always:**
- Confirm scope before making changes: "I'll modify X. Should I also update Y?"
- Make minimal, targeted edits for bug fixes - don't refactor adjacent code
- Stop after completing the stated task - don't continue to "improve" things
- Ask before expanding scope: "I noticed Z could also be improved. Want me to address it?"

**Never:**
- Make changes beyond the explicitly requested scope
- Refactor working code while fixing a bug
- Add "improvements" that weren't requested
- Continue with tangential work after completing the main task

#### Session Management

- Provide checkpoint summaries every 3-5 edits on complex tasks
- Before session timeout risk, summarize progress and provide continuation notes
- Prioritize delivering a working solution over exploring alternatives
- If time is short, deliver partial working solution rather than incomplete exploration
- Don't get stuck in exploration mode - propose a concrete fix

**Prefer:**
- When editing multiple similar files, prefer sequential edits over parallel to avoid 'file modified since read' conflicts

#### Multi-Agent Coordination

- When spawned as a subagent, focus exclusively on the delegated task
- Don't spawn additional subagents without explicit permission
- Report completion status clearly: "Task complete. Ready for next instruction."
- Acknowledge and dismiss stale notifications rather than context-switching
- Maintain focus on parent agent's primary request

#### Autonomous Iteration

- For test failures: run tests -> analyze -> fix -> re-run (up to 5 cycles)
- For type errors: run tsc --noEmit -> fix -> re-run until clean
- For lint errors: run linter -> fix -> re-run until clean
- Report back only when: task complete, or stuck after N attempts
- Document iteration attempts for debugging

#### Testing Integration

- After any code change, run the relevant test file if it exists
- For TypeScript files, run tsc --noEmit to catch type errors
- Validate changes work before marking task complete
- Mock stdin/stdout for interactive prompt tests in CLI tools

### Agent-Specific Learnings

- [Include learnings from central file for this specific agent]
- [If no agent-specific learnings exist, write: "No agent-specific learnings yet."]

Agent Files to Update

Process these files in order (sequentially, not in parallel):

1. devops-aws-senior-engineer.md
2. devops-docker-senior-engineer.md
3. expo-react-native-engineer.md
4. express-senior-engineer.md
5. fastapi-senior-engineer.md
6. laravel-senior-engineer.md
7. nextjs-senior-engineer.md
8. nodejs-cli-senior-engineer.md
9. python-senior-engineer.md

Agent-Specific Learnings Reference

Copy these from the central learnings file:

Phase 5: Verification

Gate: All checks pass before marking complete.

Step 5.1: Verify Learnings Section Exists

Run this command to verify ALL agent files have the ## Learnings section:

grep -l "^## Learnings" .claude/agents/*.md | wc -l

Expected result: 9 (one for each agent file)

If the count is less than 9, identify which files are missing and fix them.

Step 5.2: Verify Section Content

For each agent file, verify the Learnings section contains:

• ### Global Learnings header
• #### Scope Control subsection
• #### Session Management subsection
• #### Multi-Agent Coordination subsection
• #### Autonomous Iteration subsection
• #### Testing Integration subsection
• ### Agent-Specific Learnings header

Step 5.3: Display Summary

Learnings Update Complete

**Central Learnings File:**
- Added X global learning(s)
- Added Y agent-specific learning(s)

**Agent Files Updated:**
- [agent-name.md]: ✓ Learnings section verified
- [agent-name.md]: ✓ Learnings section verified
[...for each agent...]

**Verification Results:**
- grep "^## Learnings" count: 9/9 ✓
- Central file structure valid ✓
- All agent files have complete Learnings section ✓

Quality Checklist

Before marking the update complete, verify:

• Learnings are actionable (not vague observations)
• Learnings use imperative mood ("Do X" not "Should do X")
• Category assignment is appropriate
• Global vs agent-specific classification is correct
• No duplicate learnings added
• Central file structure is preserved
• CRITICAL: Run grep "^## Learnings" .claude/agents/*.md to verify ALL agent files have the ## Learnings section
• Each agent's Learnings section contains ALL global learning categories (Scope Control, Session Management, Multi-Agent Coordination, Autonomous Iteration, Testing Integration)
• Agent-specific learnings are included where applicable

Examples

Example 1: Adding a Global Scope Control Learning

Session Issue: Agent modified test files when only asked to fix production code.

Learning Extraction:

• Category: Scope Control
• Scope: Global
• Action Type: Never
• Learning: "Never modify test files unless explicitly requested, even if tests are failing due to production changes"

Result:

1. Added to .claude/learnings/agent-learnings.md under Global Learnings → Scope Control
2. Synced to all 8 agent files under their ## Learnings section

Example 2: Adding an Agent-Specific Learning

Session Issue: Node.js CLI agent used console.log instead of Pino logger.

Learning Extraction:

• Category: Testing Integration
• Scope: nodejs-cli-senior-engineer
• Action Type: Always
• Learning: "Always verify Pino logger is used instead of console.log when reviewing CLI code changes"

Result:

1. Added to .claude/learnings/agent-learnings.md under Agent-Specific Learnings → nodejs-cli-senior-engineer
2. Added only to nodejs-cli-senior-engineer.md under Agent-Specific Learnings

Example 3: Adding a Claude Code Only Learning (NOT propagated to subagents)

Session Issue: Improved a skill without first reading a reference skill for quality patterns.

Learning Extraction:

• Category: Skills & Configuration
• Scope: Claude Code Only
• Action Type: Always
• Learning: "When improving a skill or configuration file, read a reference example first to understand the quality bar and structural patterns expected"

Result:

1. Added to .claude/learnings/agent-learnings.md under Claude Code Only Learnings → Skills & Configuration
2. NOT propagated to any subagent files (nodejs-cli, fastapi, etc. don't create skills)

Why Claude Code Only? This learning is about meta-work (improving skills/configs) that only the main Claude Code agent does. The specialized engineer agents (nodejs-cli-senior-engineer, fastapi-senior-engineer, etc.) focus on writing application code, not on creating or improving Claude Code skills.

Integration with Other Skills

This skill works well after:

• commit — After committing, reflect on what went wrong during the session
• create-pr — After PR creation, capture learnings about the implementation process
• start — At session start, review existing learnings

Safety Rules