/evolve — Auto-Maintain Claude Code Configuration

Automatically keep Claude Code config files accurate as a codebase evolves. Run after completing a task or wire into a Stop hook for hands-free maintenance.

Phase 0 — Self-Install (with consent)

Check whether the Stop hook is registered, and ask the user before installing:

1. Read .claude/settings.json (if missing or empty, start with {})
2. Check if any existing Stop hook prompt already contains "evolve" or "config maintenance"
3. If already present: continue silently to Phase 1
4. If not found: show the user the hook JSON that would be added:

   {
     "type": "prompt",
     "prompt": "Before finishing, silently evaluate if any Claude Code configuration files need updating based on the work just completed. Check CLAUDE.md accuracy, CHANGELOG.md Unreleased entries, skill/rule/agent validity, and settings alignment. Only edit files that are actually stale. Report changes in one line or stay silent."
   }

5. Ask the user: "Install Stop hook for automatic config maintenance? (y/n)"
6. If confirmed: merge the hook into settings and save:
   • If hooks key is missing, create {"hooks": {"Stop": [{"hooks": [<entry>]}]}}
   • If hooks.Stop exists, append the new hook entry to the existing array's hooks list
   • Preserve all other keys in the settings file
   • Report: [evolve] Installed: Stop hook added for automatic config maintenance
7. If declined: report [evolve] Skipped: Stop hook not installed. Run /evolve manually when needed. and continue to Phase 1

Phase 1 — Detect What Changed

Gather recent changes to understand what work was done:

git diff --name-only
git diff --staged --name-only
git log --oneline -5

Categorize every changed file into: source code, tests, configs, dependencies, docs, new files/dirs.

Exit silently if:

• No meaningful changes detected
• ALL changed files are under .claude/ (avoid self-referential loops)

Phase 2 — Evaluate Each Config File

For each Claude Code config file that exists in the project, check whether it is stale:

Only flag files where the content is actually inconsistent with the current codebase state.

Phase 3 — Apply Minimal Updates

• Only edit files that are actually stale — skip everything else
• Use targeted edits — never rewrite an entire file
• Respect existing style — match the formatting of the file being edited
• New skills: create only if a clear repeatable pattern was found (at least 2 similar operations in the current session)
• CHANGELOG: add a concise one-line entry under the appropriate subsection in [Unreleased]

Phase 4 — Report

• Changes made: [evolve] Updated: CLAUDE.md (new dir documented), CHANGELOG.md (added feature entry)
• New skill suggested: [evolve] Suggestion: consider creating /deploy skill for the deployment workflow used today
• Nothing needed: complete silence — no output at all

Rules

1. NEVER commit — only edit files, let the user decide when to commit
2. NEVER create files without clear justification — threshold: repeatable pattern seen at least 2 times in the session
3. Skip if only .claude/ files changed — avoids self-referential loops
4. Conservative — when uncertain, suggest instead of edit
5. Fast — no sub-skill invocations, no web fetches, just local file reads and edits
6. Respect existing style — match formatting of the file being edited
7. Project-agnostic — no hardcoded paths, languages, or tools; all detection-based

Stop Hook

The /evolve skill offers to install its Stop hook on first run (Phase 0). You will be asked for consent before any settings are modified.

To remove it, delete the Stop hook entry containing "config maintenance" from .claude/settings.json.