Using Deep RL Meta-Skill

When to Use This Skill

Invoke this meta-skill when you encounter:

• RL Implementation: Implementing reinforcement learning algorithms (Q-learning, DQN, PPO, SAC, etc.)
• Agent Training: Training agents in environments (games, robotics, control systems)
• Sequential Decision-Making: Problems requiring learning from trial and error
• Policy Optimization: Learning policies that maximize cumulative rewards
• RL Debugging: Debugging training issues, agents not learning, reward problems

This is the entry point for the deep-rl pack. It routes to 13 specialized skills based on problem characteristics.

How to Access Reference Sheets

IMPORTANT: All reference sheets are located in the SAME DIRECTORY as this SKILL.md file.

When this skill is loaded from: skills/using-deep-rl/SKILL.md

Reference sheets like rl-foundations.md are at: skills/using-deep-rl/rl-foundations.md

NOT at: skills/rl-foundations.md ← WRONG PATH

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Core Principle

Problem type determines algorithm family.

The correct approach depends on:

1. Action Space: Discrete (button presses) vs Continuous (joint angles)
2. Data Regime: Online (interact with environment) vs Offline (fixed dataset)
3. Experience Level: Need foundations vs ready to implement
4. Special Requirements: Multi-agent, model-based, exploration, reward design

Always clarify the problem BEFORE suggesting algorithms.

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The 13 Deep RL Skills

1. rl-foundations - MDP formulation, Bellman equations, value vs policy basics
2. value-based-methods - Q-learning, DQN, Double DQN, Dueling DQN, Rainbow
3. policy-gradient-methods - REINFORCE, PPO, TRPO, policy optimization
4. actor-critic-methods - A2C, A3C, SAC, TD3, advantage functions
5. model-based-rl - World models, Dyna, MBPO, planning with learned models
6. offline-rl - Batch RL, CQL, IQL, learning from fixed datasets
7. multi-agent-rl - MARL, cooperative/competitive, communication
8. exploration-strategies - ε-greedy, UCB, curiosity, RND, intrinsic motivation
9. reward-shaping - Reward design, potential-based shaping, inverse RL
10. counterfactual-reasoning - Causal inference, HER, off-policy evaluation, twin networks
11. rl-debugging - Common RL bugs, why not learning, systematic debugging
12. rl-environments - Gym, MuJoCo, custom envs, wrappers, vectorization
13. rl-evaluation - Evaluation methodology, variance, sample efficiency metrics

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Routing Decision Framework

Step 1: Assess Experience Level

• If user asks "what is RL" or "how does RL work" → rl-foundations
• If confused about value vs policy, on-policy vs off-policy → rl-foundations
• If user has specific problem and RL background → Continue to Step 2

Why foundations first: Cannot implement algorithms without understanding MDPs, Bellman equations, and exploration-exploitation tradeoffs.

Step 2: Classify Action Space

Discrete Actions (buttons, menu selections, discrete signals)

Condition	Route To	Why
Small action space (< 100) + online	value-based-methods (DQN)	Q-networks excel at discrete
Large action space OR need policy flexibility	policy-gradient-methods (PPO)	Scales to larger spaces

Continuous Actions (joint angles, motor forces, steering)

Condition	Route To	Why
Sample efficiency critical	actor-critic-methods (SAC)	Off-policy, automatic entropy
Stability critical	actor-critic-methods (TD3)	Deterministic, handles overestimation
Simplicity preferred	policy-gradient-methods (PPO)	On-policy, simpler

CRITICAL: NEVER suggest DQN for continuous actions. DQN requires discrete actions.

Step 3: Identify Data Regime

Online Learning (Agent Interacts with Environment)

• Discrete → value-based-methods OR policy-gradient-methods
• Continuous → actor-critic-methods
• Sample efficiency critical → Consider model-based-rl

Offline Learning (Fixed Dataset, No Interaction)

→ offline-rl (CQL, IQL)

Red Flag: If user has fixed dataset and suggests DQN/PPO/SAC, STOP and route to offline-rl. Standard algorithms assume online interaction and will fail.

Step 4: Special Problem Types

Problem	Route To	Key Consideration
Multiple agents	multi-agent-rl	Non-stationarity, credit assignment
Sample efficiency extreme	model-based-rl	Learns environment model
Counterfactual/causal	counterfactual-reasoning	HER, off-policy evaluation

Step 5: Debugging and Infrastructure

Problem	Route To	Why
"Not learning" / reward flat	rl-debugging FIRST	80% of issues are bugs, not algorithms
Exploration problems	exploration-strategies	Curiosity, RND, intrinsic motivation
Reward design issues	reward-shaping	Potential-based shaping, inverse RL
Environment setup	rl-environments	Gym API, wrappers, vectorization
Evaluation questions	rl-evaluation	Deterministic vs stochastic, multiple seeds

Red Flag: If user immediately wants to change algorithms because "it's not learning," route to rl-debugging first.

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Rationalization Resistance Table

Rationalization	Reality	Counter-Guidance
"Just use PPO for everything"	PPO is general but not optimal for all cases	Clarify: discrete or continuous? Sample efficiency constraints?
"DQN for continuous actions"	DQN requires discrete actions	Use SAC or TD3 for continuous
"Offline RL is just RL on a dataset"	Offline has distribution shift, needs special algorithms	Route to offline-rl for CQL, IQL
"More data always helps"	Sample efficiency and distribution matter	Off-policy vs on-policy matters
"My algorithm isn't learning, I need a better one"	Usually bugs, not algorithm	Route to rl-debugging first
"I'll discretize continuous actions for DQN"	Discretization loses precision, explodes action space	Use actor-critic-methods
"Epsilon-greedy is enough for exploration"	Complex environments need sophisticated exploration	Route to exploration-strategies
"I'll just increase the reward when it doesn't learn"	Reward scaling breaks learning	Route to rl-debugging
"I can reuse online RL code for offline data"	Offline needs conservative algorithms	Route to offline-rl
"Test reward lower than training = overfitting"	Exploration vs exploitation difference	Route to rl-evaluation

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Red Flags Checklist

Watch for these signs of incorrect routing:

• Algorithm-First Thinking: Recommending algorithm before asking about action space, data regime
• DQN for Continuous: Suggesting DQN/Q-learning for continuous action spaces
• Offline Blindness: Not recognizing fixed dataset requires offline-rl
• PPO Cargo-Culting: Defaulting to PPO without considering alternatives
• No Problem Characterization: Not asking: discrete vs continuous? online vs offline?
• Skipping Foundations: Implementing algorithms when user doesn't understand RL basics
• Debug-Last: Suggesting algorithm changes before systematic debugging
• Sample Efficiency Ignorance: Not asking about sample constraints

If any red flag triggered → STOP → Ask diagnostic questions → Route correctly

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Routing Decision Tree Summary

START: RL problem

├─ Need foundations? → rl-foundations
│
├─ DISCRETE actions?
│  ├─ Small space + online → value-based-methods (DQN)
│  └─ Large space → policy-gradient-methods (PPO)
│
├─ CONTINUOUS actions?
│  ├─ Sample efficiency → actor-critic-methods (SAC)
│  ├─ Stability → actor-critic-methods (TD3)
│  └─ Simplicity → policy-gradient-methods (PPO)
│
├─ OFFLINE data? → offline-rl (CQL, IQL) [CRITICAL]
│
├─ MULTI-AGENT? → multi-agent-rl
│
├─ Sample efficiency EXTREME? → model-based-rl
│
├─ COUNTERFACTUAL? → counterfactual-reasoning
│
└─ DEBUGGING?
   ├─ Not learning → rl-debugging
   ├─ Exploration → exploration-strategies
   ├─ Reward design → reward-shaping
   ├─ Environment → rl-environments
   └─ Evaluation → rl-evaluation

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Diagnostic Questions

Action Space

• "Discrete choices or continuous values?"
• "How many actions? Small (< 100), large, or infinite?"

Data Regime

• "Can agent interact with environment, or fixed dataset?"
• "Online learning or offline?"

Experience Level

• "New to RL, or specific problem?"
• "Understand MDPs, value functions, policy gradients?"

Special Requirements

• "Multiple agents? Cooperate or compete?"
• "Sample efficiency critical? How many episodes?"
• "Sparse reward (only at goal) or dense (every step)?"

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When NOT to Use This Pack

User Request	Correct Pack	Reason
"Train classifier on labeled data"	training-optimization	Supervised learning
"Design transformer architecture"	neural-architectures	Architecture design
"Deploy model to production"	ml-production	Deployment
"Fine-tune LLM with RLHF"	llm-specialist	LLM-specific

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Multi-Skill Scenarios

See multi-skill-scenarios.md for detailed routing sequences:

• Complete beginner to RL
• Continuous control (robotics)
• Offline RL from dataset
• Multi-agent cooperative task
• Sample-efficient learning
• Sparse reward problem
• RL-controlled neural architecture

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Final Reminders

• Problem characterization BEFORE algorithm selection
• DQN for discrete ONLY (never continuous)
• Offline data needs offline-rl (CQL, IQL)
• PPO is not universal (good general-purpose, not optimal everywhere)
• Debug before changing algorithms (route to rl-debugging)
• Ask questions, don't assume (action space? data regime?)

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Deep RL Specialist Skills

After routing, load the appropriate specialist skill for detailed guidance:

1. rl-foundations.md - MDP formulation, Bellman equations, value vs policy basics
2. value-based-methods.md - Q-learning, DQN, Double DQN, Dueling DQN, Rainbow
3. policy-gradient-methods.md - REINFORCE, PPO, TRPO, policy optimization
4. actor-critic-methods.md - A2C, A3C, SAC, TD3, advantage functions
5. model-based-rl.md - World models, Dyna, MBPO, planning with learned models
6. offline-rl.md - Batch RL, CQL, IQL, learning from fixed datasets
7. multi-agent-rl.md - MARL, cooperative/competitive, communication
8. exploration-strategies.md - ε-greedy, UCB, curiosity, RND, intrinsic motivation
9. reward-shaping-engineering.md - Reward design, potential-based shaping, inverse RL
10. counterfactual-reasoning.md - Causal inference, HER, off-policy evaluation, twin networks
11. rl-debugging.md - Common RL bugs, why not learning, systematic debugging
12. rl-environments.md - Gym, MuJoCo, custom envs, wrappers, vectorization
13. rl-evaluation.md - Evaluation methodology, variance, sample efficiency metrics
14. multi-skill-scenarios.md - Common problem routing sequences