self-evaluation

name	self-evaluation
description	End-of-session self-evaluation for continuous improvement. Run before finalizing any session to capture lessons learned, identify skill updates, and improve agent effectiveness. Use when completing a task, reviewing work quality, or improving project skills.
license	CC0-1.0
metadata	{"author":"JPEGtheDev","version":"1.0","category":"meta","project":"OpenCookbook"}

Self-Evaluation

How This Skill is Invoked

This skill is mandatory — copilot-instructions.md § Session Lifecycle requires it before every final message. You will also be invoked:

• When explicitly asked: "Run self-evaluation", "What did you learn?", "Improve skills"
• After addressing review feedback that reveals a recurring pattern

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Core Principle: Learn From Every Session

Every session produces insights that can improve future agent effectiveness. Capture these systematically — don't let knowledge evaporate between sessions. This is how skills stay current.

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Step 1: Review the Session

Examine what happened during this session:

1. User corrections received — Did the user correct you? What was wrong?
2. Mistakes made and self-corrected — Did you catch your own errors? How?
3. Patterns discovered — Did a reusable pattern emerge from the work?
4. Rules you almost broke — Did you catch a near-miss on one of the 5 Rules or a Working Principle?
5. Review/PR feedback — Were there comments on a PR that reveal a gap?

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Step 2: Categorize Lessons

Classify each lesson by where it belongs:

Category	Examples	Update Target
Recipe format	Missing volume_alt, wrong units, missing field	recipe-documentation skill
Recipe validation	New error pattern, missing checklist item	recipe-validation skill
Recipe creation	Conversation flow issue, gathering gaps	recipe-creation skill
Versioning	Commit format, version bump rules	recipe-versioning skill
CI/CD	Workflow structure, deploy issues	ci-workflows skill
PR process	Title format, description gaps	pull-request skill
Rendering	Layout rules, data mapping issues	recipe-rendering skill
User stories	INVEST gaps, AC format	user-stories skill
Execution process	Planning, verification, iteration	execution skill
Cross-cutting	Applies to all tasks	copilot-instructions.md Working Principles

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Step 3: Check Against Existing Knowledge

Before proposing updates, verify the lesson is not already documented:

1. Check copilot-instructions.md — Is this rule already in the 5 Rules or Working Principles?
2. Check the relevant skill's SKILL.md — Is this rule already stated?
3. Check lessons.md — Has this mistake been logged before?

Only propose additions for genuinely new or underemphasized patterns.

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Step 4: Apply Updates

For each new lesson:

4a. Log in lessons.md

Add an entry at the top of the Log section in lessons.md:

### YYYY-MM-DD — Short title

**What happened:** What went wrong or what was discovered.
**Absorbed into:** File or section where the rule now lives.

4b. Update the relevant skill or instructions

• High priority (caused broken output, wrong data, or rework): Update the skill immediately. Add a concrete prevention rule.
• Medium priority (improved quality or caught a gap): Update the skill. Add to a checklist or guidelines section.
• Low priority (style preference or minor improvement): Log in lessons.md only. Note for future reference.

4c. Bump skill version

If you updated a skill's SKILL.md, increment the version in the YAML frontmatter:

• Minor fix/addition: "1.0" → "1.1"
• Major restructure: "1.1" → "2.0"

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Step 5: Generate Session Summary

Include this block in your final message to the user:

### Session Self-Evaluation
Lessons: [count] | Skills updated: [list or "None"] | Compacted: [files or "None"]

Always include this block, even if there's nothing to report:

### Session Self-Evaluation
Lessons: 0 | Skills updated: None | Compacted: None

This ensures the behavior is habitual, not optional.

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Anti-Patterns to Avoid

1. Don't update skills for one-off situations — Only add patterns that are likely to recur
2. Don't duplicate across skills — Each lesson goes in exactly one place
3. Don't restructure existing skills during self-evaluation — Add to existing sections, don't reorganize
4. Don't add lessons that are standard practice — Focus on OpenCookbook-specific patterns
5. Don't forget to check existing docs first — Avoid adding what's already covered
6. Don't skip the summary block — Even zero-lesson sessions get it

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Reference

For examples of how lessons are captured and absorbed, see lessons.md. Each entry shows the pattern: what happened → where the rule now lives.