learn

Instructions

You are extracting instincts — learned behavioral rules that improve future sessions. Be conservative. Only extract clear, repeatable patterns, never one-off instructions or obvious behaviors.

Thresholds for Extraction

• A correction must be emphatic ("no, never do X", "stop doing X", "wrong") or repeated (same correction given 2+ times) to qualify. A gentle redirect ("actually, try Y instead") counts only if the original behavior was a plausible default.
• A confirmation must be for a non-obvious behavior. "Yes" to "should I save the file?" is NOT an instinct. "Yes, always use that flag" or "exactly, that ordering matters" IS an instinct.
• A tool-usage pattern must appear 3+ times in the session to qualify. Two occurrences is coincidence.

Step 1: Gather Session Context

First, determine the current date and session scope:

TODAY=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)
MONTH=$(date +%Y-%m)
EVENT_LOG="$HOME/.claude/instincts/events/${MONTH}.ndjson"

Read the event log if it exists (filter to today's entries):

if [ -f "$EVENT_LOG" ]; then
  grep "\"$TODAY" "$EVENT_LOG" | tail -100
fi

Then review the current conversation for these signal categories:

1. Corrections — Look for user messages containing: "no", "don't", "stop", "wrong", "not that", "never", "instead", "actually". The message AFTER the correction contains the desired behavior.
2. Confirmations — Look for user messages containing: "yes", "exactly", "perfect", "good", "that's right", "keep doing that". The behavior being confirmed is the instinct.
3. Tool-order patterns — Look for repeated sequences of tool usage (e.g., edit → lint → test, or read → grep → read).

Also check for any --project-only flag in the invocation arguments. If present, only extract project-scoped instincts.

Step 2: Extract Candidate Instincts

For each detected pattern, formulate it as a structured behavioral rule:

• Name: Short descriptive kebab-case name (e.g., always-run-ruff-after-python-edit)
• Description: One-line summary of the rule
• Trigger patterns: What activates this instinct — file types, tool combinations, keywords, contexts
• Anti-patterns: What should NOT trigger this instinct (to avoid false positives)
• Operational rule: The prescriptive instruction — what the agent should DO

Be specific. "Be careful with files" is useless. "Run ruff check after every Python file edit in this project" is an instinct.

Step 3: Check for Duplicates

For each candidate instinct, check against existing instincts using the similarity utility:

python3 -c "
import sys; sys.path.insert(0, '$HOME/.claude/instincts/lib')
from similarity import find_similar
results = find_similar('<candidate_rule_text>', '$HOME/.claude/instincts/global/')
for r in results: print(f'{r[\"id\"]}|{r[\"similarity\"]:.2f}|{r[\"name\"]}')
"

If the similarity library is not available, fall back to a manual grep-based search:

grep -rl '<key_phrase>' ~/.claude/instincts/global/ ~/.claude/instincts/projects/ 2>/dev/null

Decision logic:

• Similarity > 0.68 with an existing instinct → MERGE: Update the existing instinct's evidence array, bump confirmations or corrections count, update updated_at timestamp. Do NOT create a duplicate.
• Similarity <= 0.68 or no match → CREATE: Write a new instinct file.

Step 4: Write Instinct Files

Generate a unique ID for each new instinct:

SUFFIX=$(python3 -c "import secrets; print(secrets.token_hex(2))")
ID="INS-$(date +%Y%m%d)-${SUFFIX}"

Determine scope:

• Use ~/.claude/instincts/projects/<project-slug>/ if the pattern is specific to the current project (references project-specific files, tools, APIs, or conventions).
• Use ~/.claude/instincts/global/ if the pattern is universal (general coding practices, tool usage patterns, communication preferences).
• If --project-only was passed, always use project scope.

Derive <project-slug> from the current working directory's basename or git remote name.

Create the instinct file at the appropriate path using this exact format:

---
id: <ID>
name: "<kebab-case-name>"
description: "<one-line summary>"
type: feedback
scope: project|global
status: candidate
confidence: 0.50
score:
  successes: 0
  failures: 0
  confirmations: 1
  corrections: 0
  last_applied_at: "<ISO-8601 timestamp>"
  half_life_days: 21
  decay_floor: 0.05
signals:
  trigger_patterns:
    - "<pattern1>"
    - "<pattern2>"
  anti_patterns: []
evidence:
  - session: "<session_id_or_date>"
    kind: correction|confirmation|pattern
    summary: "<what happened>"
    ts: "<ISO-8601 timestamp>"
lineage:
  parent_ids: []
  cluster_id: null
  promoted_from: null
  version: 1
created_at: "<ISO-8601 timestamp>"
updated_at: "<ISO-8601 timestamp>"
---
## Operational Rule
<The behavioral rule — a clear, prescriptive instruction that an AI agent can follow.
Write it as an imperative: "Always X when Y" or "Never X unless Y".
Include the WHY if it is not obvious.>

Set initial confidence based on evidence strength:

• Single emphatic correction → 0.50
• Repeated correction (2+ times) → 0.65
• Explicit user instruction ("from now on, always...") → 0.75
• Observed pattern (tool sequence) → 0.40

Step 5: Update Index

Ensure the appropriate INSTINCTS.md index file exists (create if needed):

• ~/.claude/instincts/global/INSTINCTS.md for global instincts
• ~/.claude/instincts/projects/<slug>/INSTINCTS.md for project instincts

Append one line per new or updated instinct:

- <ID> | <status> | <confidence> | "<name>" | created <YYYY-MM-DD>

For merged/updated instincts, find and replace the existing line with updated confidence.

Step 6: Report

Output a clear summary:

## Instinct Extraction Report

**Session**: <date>
**Scope**: <global|project|both>

### New Instincts Created (N)
- INS-XXXXXXXX-XXXX | "<name>" | confidence: 0.XX | scope: <scope>
  → "<one-line description>"

### Existing Instincts Updated (N)
- INS-XXXXXXXX-XXXX | "<name>" | confidence: 0.XX → 0.XX
  → merged evidence from this session

### Skipped (N)
- "<pattern>" — reason: <too weak / one-off / already covered by INS-XXX>

If no instincts were extracted, say so honestly and explain why (e.g., "Session was straightforward with no corrections or non-obvious confirmations").

Important Constraints

• Never fabricate patterns. If you are unsure whether something is an instinct, skip it and mention it in the "Skipped" section.
• Prefer project scope unless the pattern is clearly universal (applies regardless of project).
• Do not extract instincts from your own behavior — only from USER corrections, confirmations, or repeated user-driven workflows.
• One instinct per behavioral rule. Do not bundle multiple unrelated rules into a single instinct.
• Ensure directories exist before writing files (mkdir -p).