evolution-loop

Evolution Loop

Wrong skill? New skill from scratch -> skill-authoring. Post-mortem -> failure-autopsy. Skill formatting -> skill-health-check.

Announce at start: "I am using the evolution-loop skill to identify improvement opportunities."

When to Use

• At end of significant session (3+ hours)
• After failure autopsies reveal a pattern
• When same mistake occurs 3rd time
• During deliberate improvement sprints

Example

# Example: Pattern detection from failure log
echo "=== Recurring Patterns ==="
echo "| Pattern        | Count | Affected Skill | Action          |"
echo "| File not found | 3     | save-file      | Add path verify |"
echo "| Wrong branch   | 2     | pre-commit     | Add branch gate |"
echo "Actions: 2 skill updates queued"

Evolution Protocol

Step 1: Scan Sources

Failure log, decision log, conversation struggles, recurring TODO deferrals.

Step 2: Classify

Type	Signal	Action
Repeated failure	Same root cause 2+	Update failure modes
Missing trigger	Skill does not fire	Add trigger
Missing skill	No coverage	Draft via skill-authoring
Weak gate	False passes	Strengthen criteria
Process gap	Manual step	Automate in skill

Step 3: Generate Updates

Pattern + Frequency + Affected skill + Update type + Change

Step 4: Track

Patterns detected: N . Skills updated: M . New skills: K . Failures eliminated: J

---

Anti-Patterns

Anti-Pattern	Detection	Correction
Over-fitting	Skill for one-time event	Require 2+ occurrences
Metrics-free update	No before/after	Add measurement-integrity
Endless self-improvement	Self-modifies repeatedly	Cap: 1 self-update/session
Ignoring data	Pattern found, no action	Generate PR or TODO

Failure Modes

Failure	Detection	Recovery
Useless skills	Never triggers	Review triggers, add examples
Over-fitting	Created for one-time event	Require 2+ occurrences
No metrics	No before/after	Add measurement-integrity
Self-referential loop	Improves itself endlessly	Cap: 1 self-update/session

Companion Skills

• failure-autopsy: Primary input (failure patterns)
• skill-authoring: Creating new skills from patterns
• skill-health-check: Validating updates
• measurement-integrity: Tracking metrics
• quantitative-decision-gate: Deciding which patterns matter