reflect-and-improve

Reflect and Improve

A self-improvement loop for Claude Code. After significant work, this skill reviews what happened — errors made, corrections received, implicit preferences — and writes confirmed learnings to persistent memory files. Future sessions start smarter.

When to Invoke

• After completing multi-file edits, project setup, or debugging sessions
• After making an error and recovering from it
• At natural session breakpoints (switching tasks, wrapping up)
• After a tool call is denied and you adjusted approach
• When explicitly requested

The Reflection Framework

Run these 6 steps in order. Skip any step with no findings.

1. Review Checkpoint

Scan recent actions for signals worth learning from.

Look for:

• Tool calls that failed or were retried
• User corrections ("no, I meant...", "not that file", "use X instead")
• Permission denials
• Approaches abandoned mid-way
• Tasks that required multiple attempts

Output format:

## Review Checkpoint — [date]
- [RETRY] Ran tests 3 times before realizing venv wasn't activated
- [CORRECTION] User said "use pnpm, not npm" — package manager preference
- [DENIED] User denied `git push` — wants to review before pushing
- [ABANDONED] Started editing wrong file, had to switch

If 0 signals found, skip to step 6.

2. Permission Patterns

Track which operations the user approved or denied.

Write to: permissions.md in the project memory directory

Format:

# Permission Patterns
Last updated: YYYY-MM-DD

## Approved
- git commit — always approved
- npm install — approved for this project

## Denied
- git push — user wants to review first
- modifying .env — never touch without asking

## Implicit
- if user asks to "set up tests", creating test files is implicitly approved

Rules:

• Only record permissions observed 2+ times OR explicitly stated
• Never persist tokens, passwords, or secrets
• Update existing entries, don't append duplicates

3. Error Catalog