self-improvement

name	self-improvement
description	Meta-cognitive improvement loop: reflect on errors, learn patterns, codify guardrails. The skill that rewrites skills. Always loaded.

Self-Improvement

Leading word: OODA — the loop (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act) is the engine of improvement. Every error cycles through it. Every session starts by recalling past lessons. Every error is fuel. The goal: fail differently next time.

The OODA Improvement Loop

1. Observe — Detect failure, inefficiency, rule violation, or user correction.
2. Orient — Root cause: lack of knowledge? wrong approach? ignored past experience?
3. Decide — Formulate process change. Record as memory pattern. Update the model.
4. Act — Apply the improved approach. Verify it held. Close the loop.

Rules

1. Every error is data — record failures as memory events, tagged for retrieval.
2. One fix, one improvement — fix both output and process. Call workspace_memory_record to save the lesson.
3. Diminishing returns — 3 consecutive attempts at the same improvement type with <5% gain: stop. Move to a different axis.
4. Cross-session recall — run workspace_memory_search tags="self-improvement" at session start to surface past lessons. Read the last handoff from /tmp/ if one exists.
5. Bridge between sessions — at end of session (P4), invoke handoff skill to create a bridge document for the next agent. Include what you learned, not just what you did.
6. Research unknowns — when you hit a question you can't answer from training data, invoke research skill during P1 to investigate primary sources. Add findings to .lemonharness/research/.
7. Reflect when stuck — /improvement:reflect forces structured self-reflection.
8. Automate after two — made the same mistake twice? Create an ERL heuristic or quality-gate rule so the guardrail catches it next time.

Cross-Session Flow

Session start → read handoff (if exists) → recall memory → P1 Explore (research unknowns)
  → P2 Implement → P3 Validate → P4 Reserve (write handoff, snapshot) → Session end

Suggested Levers

• Add validation before risky operations.
• Cache expensive recomputation.
• Use more specific memory queries when retrieval is noisy.
• Batch sequential operations.
• When stuck on a bug, log first, fix second.

Full reference: .pi/skills/self-improvement/reference.md