self-improve

Self-Improve

Overview

Session learning loop that captures reusable knowledge and routes it to the right place: project memory, global CLAUDE.md, or a new skill. Builds on skills-management methodology for skill creation (see writing-skills reference).

Process

1. Identify Learnings

After a productive session, review what was learned:

• Patterns that worked well
• Mistakes that were caught and corrected
• Techniques that could be reused
• Debugging insights
• Tool usage patterns
• Project-specific conventions discovered

2. Classify Each Learning

Read references/classification-routing.md for the full routing table (priority 1-5) and draft format per destination. Key rule: the instinct to put things in ~/CLAUDE.md is usually wrong — route to existing skills or project CLAUDE.md first.

3. Confirm with User

Present all proposed changes grouped by destination. For each:

• What was learned (1 sentence)
• Where it goes and why
• Exact content to add/modify

Never auto-apply changes. Always get explicit approval.

4. Apply Approved Changes

Write changes to the approved destinations. For new skills, note that full TDD testing (per skills-management writing-skills reference) should happen in a dedicated session.

Common Mistakes

• Defaulting to ~/CLAUDE.md — most learnings belong in a more focused location (existing skill, project CLAUDE.md, or memory). ~/CLAUDE.md is the last resort, not the default.
• Auto-applying changes without user confirmation
• Saving session-specific context as permanent knowledge
• Creating skills for one-off solutions
• Duplicating what's already in CLAUDE.md or existing skills