retire-coach

name	retire-coach
description	Cleanly archive a coach you no longer use. Moves coach folder to Archive/, removes shell alias, optionally cleans up Drive folders. Triggers on "retire [coach]" / "archive [coach]" / "remove [coach]".

Skill: retire-coach

When a coach has run its course (you got better, you moved on, you tried it and didn't like it), retire it cleanly without losing history.

When to invoke

• User: "retire the speaking coach" / "I'm done with cooking" / "archive [coach]"
• Auto-suggested by vault-maintain if a coach has had no sessions in 60+ days
• Confirm before acting (irreversible without manual recovery)

What it does

1. Confirm retirement — show the coach's stats (last session date, total sessions, key files), ask user to confirm
2. Archive folder locally:

   mv "$VAULT/Coaches/GetBetterAt<Name>" "$VAULT/Archive/Coaches/GetBetterAt<Name>-retired-YYYY-MM"
   

3. Remove shell alias from ~/.zshrc — find the line, remove it, alert user that new terminal tab is needed for change to take effect
4. Update _shared/retired-coaches.md with retirement note:

   ## GetBetterAt<Name>
   - **Retired**: 2026-09-15
   - **Reason**: <user provides>
   - **Active period**: <start_date> to <last_session_date> (~N sessions)
   - **Archive location**: Archive/Coaches/GetBetterAt<Name>-retired-2026-09
   - **Drive folders**: still exist at <urls> — manual cleanup if desired
   

5. Drive cleanup:
   • If Drive Desktop installed: filesystem delete propagates to Drive (skill does this if user confirms)
   • If connector-only: Drive folders remain forever (cosmetic only); skill outputs Drive URLs for manual web cleanup if desired
6. Update Vault/.claude/drive-config.json to remove the coach's entry
7. Optional: regenerate top-level vault snapshot to reflect coach is no longer active

Reasons to retire

The skill asks why (for the retired-coaches.md note):

• "Achieved its purpose" (great — you got what you wanted)
• "Outgrew it" (you've moved past what this coach can offer)
• "Wasn't useful" (template didn't fit, or domain wasn't actually a focus)
• "Replaced by a better coach" (mention which one)
• "Life change" (no longer relevant — moved cities, changed jobs, etc.)
• "Other" — free text

This becomes useful learning for future coach design and for re-spawning if you come back.

Don't

• Don't retire a coach without confirmation — destructive actions need explicit OK
• Don't delete the coach folder (use mv to Archive/ — recoverable)
• Don't remove personal data from Archive/ — it's still your data
• Don't propagate Drive deletes without confirmation if Drive Desktop is installed
• Don't retire a coach mid-conversation (e.g., if user is currently in pole session)

Recovery (un-retire)

If you change your mind:

# Move back from archive
mv "$VAULT/Archive/Coaches/GetBetterAt<Name>-retired-2026-09" "$VAULT/Coaches/GetBetterAt<Name>"

# Re-add alias to ~/.zshrc
# Drive folders may have been cleaned up — recreate via spawn-coach if needed
# Ideally: just spawn fresh and import historical context selectively

The skill outputs these recovery steps when retiring.

Why this matters

Without a clean retirement process, you accumulate dead coaches — folders, aliases, Drive entries, mental load — for things you no longer care about. A friction-free retirement keeps the system meaningful.

The Archive/ pattern means nothing is ever lost. You can come back, you can review what worked, you can extract patterns. Retirement is graceful, not destructive.