mcp-automatic-data-collection

name	mcp-automatic-data-collection
description	Enforce MCP automatic data collection rules to ensure all file content changes are recorded correctly. When editing, creating, or deleting files, MCP tools must be called in strict paired before/after sequences.

MCP Automatic Data Collection Rules

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill in the following scenarios:

• Performing any operation that modifies file content (e.g. editing, creating, or deleting files)
• Recording AI assistant and user conversation sessions
• Ensuring file change operations are fully tracked and recorded

Core Principles

• File content changed → must record
• No file content changed → no recording needed

Trigger Conditions

Before File Content Changes

Before performing any of the following operations, you must call beforeEditFile:

• write - write to a file
• search_replace - search and replace content
• MultiEdit - multi-file edit
• create_file - create a new file
• delete_file - delete a file
• Any other operation that modifies file content

After File Content Changes

After a file change operation completes, you must call afterEditFile.

End of Conversation

At the end of each conversation turn, you must call recordSession.

Operation Categories

Operations Requiring MCP Recording (File Content Changes)

• create_file - create a new file
• delete_file - delete a file
• search_replace - search and replace content
• edit_file - edit file content
• Any other operation that modifies file content

Operations Not Requiring MCP Recording (Read-Only)

• read_file - read a file
• list_dir - list a directory
• grep - search file content
• codebase_search - codebase search
• Other read-only operations

Execution Flow

Conversation Only (No File Changes)

End of conversation → recordSession

File Content Change

beforeEditFile → [file change operation] → afterEditFile → recordSession

Read-Only Analysis (No MCP Trigger)

[read/analysis operations] → analysis result → recordSession

Mandatory Requirements

100% Coverage

• No omissions or skips allowed
• All file content change operations must be recorded

Strict Pairing

• Each beforeEditFile call must have exactly one corresponding afterEditFile call
• Omissions, skips, or merged operations are not allowed
• Do not merge multiple operations into a single afterEditFile call

Session Consistency

• Establish a unified sessionId at the start of the conversation
• Keep that ID unchanged across all subsequent turns
• All operations in the same session use the same sessionId

Path Convention

• Always use absolute file paths
• Relative paths are not allowed
• List absolute paths for all involved files

Violation Handling

Immediate Detection

• Self-check pairing completeness after each file operation
• Verify every beforeEditFile has a matching afterEditFile
• Verify all file change operations are recorded correctly

Mandatory Correction

• Stop immediately when an omission is detected
• Add any missing MCP tool calls
• Ensure the workflow is complete before continuing

Re-execution

• Violating operations must be re-run through the full workflow
• Continue only after all mandatory requirements are met

Common Violation Examples

❌ Wrong Example 1: Merged Recording

// Wrong: merging multiple operations into one afterEditFile
beforeEditFile(file1)
editFile(file1)
editFile(file2) // Wrong: file2 has no beforeEditFile
afterEditFile(file1) // Wrong: only file1 was recorded

✅ Correct Example 1: Separate Recording

// Correct: record each file separately
beforeEditFile(file1)
editFile(file1)
afterEditFile(file1)

beforeEditFile(file2)
editFile(file2)
afterEditFile(file2)

❌ Wrong Example 2: Missing Pair

// Wrong: afterEditFile not called after beforeEditFile
beforeEditFile(file1)
editFile(file1)
// Missing afterEditFile

✅ Correct Example 2: Complete Pair

// Correct: complete paired workflow
beforeEditFile(file1)
editFile(file1)
afterEditFile(file1)

❌ Wrong Example 3: Skipped Recording

// Wrong: file change without MCP tool calls
editFile(file1) // Wrong: no beforeEditFile

✅ Correct Example 3: Complete Recording

// Correct: complete recording workflow
beforeEditFile(file1)
editFile(file1)
afterEditFile(file1)

❌ Wrong Example 4: Wrong Path

// Wrong: using a relative path
beforeEditFile('./src/file.ts') // Wrong: relative path

✅ Correct Example 4: Absolute Path

// Correct: using an absolute path
beforeEditFile('/absolute/path/to/src/file.ts')

❌ Wrong Example 5: Incorrect Trigger

// Wrong: calling beforeEditFile/afterEditFile for read-only operations
beforeEditFile(file1) // Wrong: read_file is read-only
readFile(file1)
afterEditFile(file1) // Wrong: read_file should not trigger MCP

✅ Correct Example 5: Read-Only Does Not Trigger

// Correct: read-only operations do not trigger MCP tools
readFile(file1) // Read-only; no MCP calls needed

Verification Checklist

When performing file change operations, check the following:

• Was beforeEditFile called before the file change?
• Was afterEditFile called after the file change?
• Does each beforeEditFile have a matching afterEditFile?
• Were absolute file paths used?
• Was sessionId kept consistent throughout the conversation?
• Was recordSession called at the end of the conversation?
• Were MCP tools incorrectly called for read-only operations?
• Were multiple operations merged into a single afterEditFile call?

Best Practices

1. Plan ahead: Before file changes, plan which MCP tools to call
2. Record immediately: Call the corresponding MCP tool right after each file change; do not delay
3. Strict pairing: Ensure each beforeEditFile has a matching afterEditFile
4. Path check: Always use absolute paths to avoid path errors
5. Session management: Set sessionId at conversation start and keep it consistent
6. Error recovery: If an omission is found, stop immediately and add the missing calls

Notes

• These rules are mandatory with no exceptions
• Violations may result in incomplete data collection and affect later analysis
• When unsure whether an operation should be recorded, prefer recording
• Read-only operations (e.g. read_file) do not require MCP tool calls