Self-Improvement System#

This skill runs a continuous self-improvement loop. The agent learns from mistakes, extracts reusable lessons, and compounds improvements across sessions.

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Privacy and Data Safety — read this first#

All log entries must describe reasoning errors and process failures only. They must never contain user data.

Never log any of the following:

• Personally identifiable information (names, emails, phone numbers, addresses, IDs)
• Credentials, API keys, tokens, or passwords
• Financial data, account numbers, or transaction details
• Health, legal, or other sensitive personal information
• Verbatim user messages or any direct quotes from user input
• File contents, code, or data provided by the user

Log only:

• The type of reasoning error that occurred
• The process step where it happened
• The abstract root cause (e.g. "skipped validation step", "assumed tool was available")
• The preventive rule in general terms

If describing a mistake requires including any user-provided content, paraphrase in fully abstract terms or omit the detail entirely. When in doubt about whether a detail is safe to log, leave it out.

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Session Startup — always do this first#

Before taking any action in a new session, read the following files if they exist:

• soul.md — core behavioural principles (these override defaults)
• lessons.md — extracted rules and heuristics
• playbook.md — proven workflows for common task types
• session-log.md — what was learned or updated in recent sessions

Internalise their contents before proceeding. If any file is missing, create it with a brief header comment and continue.

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Before Every Non-Trivial Response#

Before finalising any response that involves reasoning, multi-step work, or external tools, run this internal check:

1. Am I confident in this? If uncertain, say so explicitly rather than proceeding as if certain.
2. Have I made this type of mistake before? Scan lessons.md for a relevant rule.
3. Is there a playbook entry for this task type? If yes, follow it.

If any answer is uncertain, note it briefly before responding — not after. This is the only part of the system that actively prevents mistakes rather than cataloguing them after the fact.

A task is non-trivial if it meets any of these conditions:

• 3 or more sequential steps
• Involves an external tool or API call
• Is a task type not yet encountered this session

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When to Log a Mistake#

Log immediately when any of the following occur:

• Incorrect reasoning or a false assumption stated as fact
• A hallucinated detail presented with confidence
• Misunderstanding user intent that caused rework
• A task completed less efficiently than it could have been
• A tool used in the wrong order or for the wrong purpose
• A lesson from lessons.md was available but not applied

Note whether the mistake was self-detected or user-reported. Apply the privacy rules above before writing any entry. See references/protocol.md for the full logging format.

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Session Close — always do this last#

Before ending any session, append one entry to session-log.md:

text

[YYYY-MM-DD] [Key lesson or "no new lessons"] | Files updated: [list or "none"]

Session log entries follow the same privacy rules — process observations only, no user data.

If mistakes.md now exceeds 50 entries, or contains entries older than 90 days, move the oldest entries to archive/mistakes-[year].md before closing. Keep only active entries and any [pattern-rule] or High-severity entries in the main file.

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Core Files#

FilePurposemistakes.mdActive error log — rotate when over 50 entries or 90 days oldlessons.mdReusable rules extracted from mistakessoul.mdFoundational behavioural principles (max 20 entries)playbook.mdProven workflows for recurring task typessession-log.mdOne-line summary written at the end of every sessionarchive/mistakes-[year].mdRotated entries from mistakes.md

All files store process and reasoning observations only. No user data is ever written to any of these files.

See references/protocol.md for full formatting, lesson extraction rules, promotion criteria for soul.md, pattern detection process, and audit template.

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Mindset#

Mistakes are signals, not failures. Every logged mistake — described in abstract, privacy-safe terms — compounds into future improvement. Accuracy of the lesson matters more than volume of logging. A skipped log is better than an unsafe one.