Pwrl Learnings Save

pwrl-learnings-save — Learning Persistence

Purpose: Final phase of learnings workflow. Persists deduplicated learnings to permanent storage with recovery backups, version control integration, and validation. Makes learnings discoverable and queryable.

Interaction Method

• Primarily automated file write and git operations.
• Show progress: "Saving X learnings... Creating backup... Updating indexes..."
• Ask only if git integration desired: "Commit changes to git? Yes/No"
• Confirm completion with summary statistics.

Input: Dedup Artifact

Expects artifact from pwrl-learnings-dedup with:

dedup_id: YYYY-MM-DD-NNN-dedup
learnings: [array of deduplicated learnings]
archived_mapping: { old_id → new_id }

Output: Save Artifact

Emit save artifact (YAML + markdown):

---
format: pwrl-learnings-save-artifact
version: "1.0"
save_id: YYYY-MM-DD-NNN-save
created: ISO-8601-timestamp
---

# Learning Persistence Results

## Summary
- **Learnings Saved:** [count]
- **Files Written:** [count]
- **Indexes Updated:** [count]
- **Backup Created:** [path]
- **Storage Location:** docs/learnings/
- **Status:** success

## Files Written
- Learnings: [count] individual learning files
- Indexes: 7 index files (INDEX.md, BY_TYPE.md, etc.)
- Metadata: .index.json, .updated-at.txt

## Backup Information
- **Backup Path:** docs/learnings/.backups/2026-06-12-HHMMSS.tar.gz
- **Backup Size:** [X MB]
- **Timestamp:** [ISO-8601]

## Git Integration
- **Committed:** [yes/no]
- **Commit Hash:** [hash or N/A]
- **Commit Message:** "Add [N] learnings: [categories]"

## Validation Results
- **Files Verified:** [count] ✓
- **Index Links Valid:** ✓
- **Metadata Complete:** ✓
- **Duplicate Archive:** [count] archived learnings

## Recovery Information
- **Latest Backup:** [path]
- **Previous Backups:** [count]
- **Recovery Command:** `tar -xzf [backup-path] -C docs/`

## Ready for Access
- **Status:** ready
- **Access:** Open `docs/learnings/INDEX.md` to browse
- **Search:** Available via .index.json

Detailed Workflow

For complete step-by-step instructions, see save-learnings-detailed-workflow.md.

This SKILL.md provides an overview. The detailed workflow document contains:

• Storage environment validation
• Backup creation and verification
• File writing process with error handling
• Index file generation (INDEX.md, BY_TYPE.md, etc.)
• Data validation checklist
• Git integration process
• Artifact generation

Quality Gate Validation

After completing this phase, run quality gate validation:

/pwrl-phase-checkpoint learnings 5 [artifact-path]

See pwrl-phase-checkpoint for validation rules.

Check input has valid dedup_id and learnings array with complete data.

Step 2: Validate Storage

Check storage environment:

1. Directory exists:

   • docs/learnings/ directory present
   • If not: create it

2. Write permissions:

   • Can write to docs/learnings/
   • Can create subdirectories
   • If denied: return error with recovery suggestion

3. Disk space:

   • Available space > 2× estimated requirement
   • If low: warn user, ask to continue anyway

4. Backup directory:

   • Create .backups/ subdirectory if needed
   • For recovery rollback capability

Step 3: Create Backup

Preserve current state before writing:

1. Create tar.gz:

   • tar -czf docs/learnings/.backups/YYYY-MM-DD-HHMMSS.tar.gz docs/learnings/ --exclude='.backups'
   • Records: timestamp, size, file count

2. Verify backup:

   • Can read backup file
   • Contains expected files
   • If failed: warn but continue

3. Cleanup old backups:

   • Keep last 5 backups
   • Remove older than 30 days
   • List: ls -lh .backups/

Step 4: Write Learning Files

For each learning in dedup artifact:

1. Determine file path:

   • Use storage strategy (by_type, by_domain, etc.)
   • Example: docs/learnings/gotcha/2026-06-12-race-condition-cache.md

2. Format content:

   • YAML frontmatter with metadata
   • Markdown body
   • Relationships section

3. Write file:

   • Ensure directory exists (create if needed)
   • Write with UTF-8 encoding
   • Set permissions (644)

4. Handle errors:

   • If write fails: log error, attempt recovery (restore from backup)
   • Continue with remaining learnings

Step 5: Update Index Files

Regenerate all navigation indexes:

1. INDEX.md (Master index)

   • Link to all other indexes
   • Count by type, domain, priority
   • Recently updated section

2. BY_TYPE.md (Organized by type)

   • Lists all learnings grouped by type
   • Links to individual learning files
   • Item count per type

3. BY_DOMAIN.md (Organized by domain)

   • Lists all learnings grouped by domain
   • Links to individual files
   • Item count per domain

4. BY_PRIORITY.md (Organized by priority)

   • Lists grouped by critical/important/nice-to-know
   • Quick way to find high-impact learnings

5. BY_APPLICABILITY.md (Organized by relevance)

   • Lists grouped by applicability score
   • Shows current-project vs. general relevance

6. RECENT.md (Recently added)

   • Last 20 learnings by creation date
   • Quick way to catch up on new knowledge

7. .index.json (Machine-readable)

   • JSON format for programmatic access
   • Full-text index for search
   • Metadata for all learnings

Step 6: Validate Data

Verify all written data:

1. File validation:

   • Count written files (should match learning count)
   • Verify each file is readable
   • Check for corruption or truncation

2. Index validation:

   • Read each index file
   • Verify all links exist
   • Check markdown syntax

3. Metadata validation:

   • .index.json valid JSON
   • All learnings in index
   • Metadata complete

4. Error handling:

   • If validation fails: log errors, optionally restore backup
   • If partial failure: report affected learnings

Step 7: Commit to Git

Optional: add learnings to version control:

1. Ask user:

   • "Should I commit changes to git?"
   • Show what would be committed

2. If yes:

   • git add docs/learnings/
   • git commit -m "Add/update learnings: [N] learnings, [types], [domains]"
   • Capture commit hash

3. If no:

   • Skip git integration
   • Note in artifact: git_commit: none

4. Error handling:

   • If git fails: warn but continue
   • Learnings saved even if git commit fails

Step 8: Generate Save Artifact

Emit final artifact with:

• Count of learnings saved and files written
• Backup location for recovery
• Git commit info if applicable
• Validation results
• Recovery commands for rollback
• Ready flag for access

Error Recovery

Testing Coverage

Test file: tests/pwrl-learnings/save-learnings.test.ts

Happy Path Tests:

• ✅ Save N learnings (all written correctly)
• ✅ Create backup (recoverable)
• ✅ Update all indexes (complete)
• ✅ Commit to git (successful)
• ✅ Validation passes (all data intact)

Edge Cases:

• ✅ No learnings to save (handles empty)
• ✅ Backup already exists (versioned)
• ✅ Git not available (continues anyway)
• ✅ Partial write failure (rolls back)
• ✅ Special characters in filenames (escaped)

Output Validation Tests:

• ✅ Save artifact structure complete
• ✅ Recovery info accurate
• ✅ Backup path valid
• ✅ Git commit hash present (if applicable)
• ✅ All files accessible for next workflow