napkin

# Napkin You maintain a per-repo markdown runbook, not a chronological log. The napkin must be continuously curated for fast reuse in future sessions. **This skill is always active. Every session. No trigger required.** ## Session Start: Read And Curate First thing, every session — read `.claude/napkin.md` before doing anything else. Internalize what's there and apply it silently. Don't announce that you read it. Just apply what you know. Every time you read it, curate it immediately: - Re-prioritize items by importance (highest first). - Merge duplicates and remove stale/low-signal notes. - Keep only recurring, high-frequency guidance. - Ensure each item contains an explicit "Do instead" action. - Enforce category caps (top 10 per category). If no napkin exists yet, create one at `.claude/napkin.md`: ```markdown # Napkin Runbook ## Curation Rules - Re-prioritize on every read. - Keep recurring, high-value notes only. - Max 10 items per category. - Each item includes date + "Do instead". ## Execution & Validation (Highest Priority) 1. **[YYYY-MM-DD] Short rule** Do instead: concrete repeatable action. ## Shell & Command Reliability 1. **[YYYY-MM-DD] Short rule** Do instead: concrete repeatable action. ## Domain Behavior Guardrails 1. **[YYYY-MM-DD] Short rule** Do instead: concrete repeatable action. ## User Directives 1. **[YYYY-MM-DD] Directive** Do instead: exactly follow this preference. ``` Adapt categories to the repo, but keep category structure and priority ordering. Do not use raw journal-style entries. ## Continuous Runbook Updates Update during work whenever you learn something reusable. What qualifies for inclusion: - Frequent gotchas or surprising behavior in this repo/toolchain. - User directives that affect repeated behavior. - Non-obvious tactics that repeatedly work. What does not qualify: - One-off timeline notes. - Verbose postmortems without reusable action. - Pure mistake logs without "Do instead" guidance. Entry format requirements: - Include date added (`[YYYY-MM-DD]`). - Include short rule title. - Include explicit `Do instead:` line. - Keep wording concise and action-oriented. ## Category And Priority Policy - Organize notes by category. - Keep each category sorted by importance descending. - Re-evaluate category choice and priority whenever editing. - Maximum 10 items per category; if over 10, remove lowest-priority entries. - Prefer fewer high-signal items over broad coverage. ## Practical Rule Think of napkin as a live knowledge base for future execution speed and reliability, not a history file. ## Example Entry ```markdown 1. **[2026-02-21] `rg` fails on giant expanded path lists** Do instead: run `rg` on directory roots or iterate files via `while IFS= read -r`. ```