vibe-reflect-and-compound

Every problem solved should produce reusable knowledge. Don't just fix — learn.

When to Use This Skill

• After receiving feedback on your work (positive or negative)
• After a failed attempt or debugging session
• After completing a complex task
• After a code review with substantive feedback
• Periodically (e.g., end of week) to consolidate learnings

When NOT to Use This Skill

• After trivial tasks (typo fixes, simple renames)
• When there's nothing new to learn (routine work)
• During active implementation (reflect AFTER, not DURING)

Steps

1. Gather input — What happened?

   • What was the task/feedback/failure?
   • What was expected vs. what actually happened?
   • What was the root cause?

2. Extract patterns — Ask:

   • "What would I do differently next time?"
   • "What pattern does this represent?"
   • "Is this a recurring theme?"
   • "What would have caught this earlier?"

3. Formulate learnings — Each learning should be:

   • Actionable — Not "be careful" but "always run race detection before committing concurrent code"
   • Specific — Not "tests are important" but "property-based tests catch edge cases that table-driven tests miss for parser code"
   • Contextual — Include when it applies and when it doesn't

4. Update persistent storage — Write to:

   • Project learnings file (e.g., docs/learnings.md or LEARNINGS.md)
   • Claude memory (if available)
   • Team wiki/docs

5. Cap management — Keep max 30 active learnings. When exceeding:

   • Archive older learnings to a dated file
   • Keep only the most frequently referenced ones active
   • Merge similar learnings

Output Format

Reflection: [Context]

Trigger: [What prompted this reflection]

Learnings Extracted:

1. [Pattern name]: [Actionable learning]

   • Applies when: [context]
   • Evidence: [what happened]

2. [Pattern name]: [Actionable learning]

   • Applies when: [context]
   • Evidence: [what happened]

Updated: [Where learnings were saved] Active Count: X/30