learner

Learner Skill

Extract and reuse problem-solving patterns.

When to Use

• After solving complex problems
• Building personal knowledge base
• Creating reusable solutions
• Documenting lessons learned

How It Works

Problem → Solution → Pattern Extraction → Knowledge Base
                           │
                           ▼
                    Future Problems

Pattern Categories

Code Patterns

pattern:
  name: "Retry with Exponential Backoff"
  category: resilience
  problem: "API calls failing intermittently"
  solution: |
    async function retryWithBackoff(fn, maxRetries = 3) {
      for (let i = 0; i < maxRetries; i++) {
        try {
          return await fn();
        } catch (e) {
          if (i === maxRetries - 1) throw e;
          await sleep(Math.pow(2, i) * 1000);
        }
      }
    }
  when_to_use:
    - Unreliable external APIs
    - Network instability
    - Rate limiting
  when_not_to_use:
    - User-facing synchronous operations
    - Non-idempotent operations

Architecture Patterns

pattern:
  name: "Repository Pattern"
  category: architecture
  problem: "Direct database access scattered in code"
  solution: "Abstract data access behind repository interfaces"
  benefits:
    - Testability
    - Swappable implementations
    - Centralized queries

Debugging Patterns

pattern:
  name: "Binary Search Debugging"
  category: debugging
  problem: "Bug in large codebase"
  solution: |
    1. Identify working state (git bisect good)
    2. Identify broken state (git bisect bad)
    3. Binary search through commits
    4. Find exact commit that introduced bug

Learning Process

1. Capture

## Problem
{What was the issue?}

## Context
{What were the constraints?}

## Solution
{How did you solve it?}

## Key Insight
{What was the "aha" moment?}

## Reusability
{When would this apply again?}

2. Generalize

Specific Solution → Abstract Pattern → Reusable Template