evolve

# /evolve — Promote Instincts to Skills Transform mature instincts into full Copilot skills. When an instinct reaches high confidence through repeated observation, it has proven valuable enough to become a permanent part of the project's skill set. ## When to Use - When `/instincts` shows patterns with ★ (confidence > 0.8) - When you want to formalize a recurring pattern into a discoverable skill - Periodically to graduate well-established project conventions ## Execution Flow ### Step 1: Identify Candidates Read `.atv/instincts/project.yaml` and filter for: - Confidence > 0.8 - Observations > 5 - Not already evolved (check `.atv/instincts/archive/`) If no candidates found: ``` No instincts ready to evolve yet. Run /learn to build confidence, or check /instincts for current status. Instincts need confidence > 0.8 and 5+ observations to evolve. ``` ### Step 2: Cluster Related Instincts Group candidates by domain. Each cluster becomes one skill: ``` Evolution candidates: Cluster 1: "Go Error Handling" (error-handling domain) ★ always-wrap-errors 0.9 15 obs ★ sentinel-errors 0.85 8 obs → Will generate: .github/skills/learned-go-error-handling/SKILL.md Cluster 2: "Testing Conventions" (testing domain) ★ table-driven-tests 0.85 12 obs → Will generate: .github/skills/learned-testing-conventions/SKILL.md Proceed with evolution? (Copilot will generate the skills) ``` ### Step 3: Generate SKILL.md For each cluster, generate a `SKILL.md` file: ```yaml --- name: learned-[domain-name] description: "[Auto-generated] Project conventions for [domain] learned from [N] observations across [M] sessions." --- ``` The skill content should: 1. Describe when to apply these conventions 2. List each instinct as a concrete guideline with examples 3. Reference the evidence (commit hashes, observation counts) 4. Mark as auto-generated so humans know to review **Naming convention:** `learned-` prefix so generated skills are visually distinct from hand-written ones. **Output path:** `.github/skills/learned-<domain>/SKILL.md` ### Step 4: Archive Evolved Instincts Move evolved instincts from `project.yaml` to `.atv/instincts/archive/evolved-YYYY-MM-DD.yaml` with metadata: ```yaml evolved_to: .github/skills/learned-go-error-handling/SKILL.md evolved_at: 2026-04-06 ``` ### Step 5: Report ``` Evolution complete! Generated skills: ✅ .github/skills/learned-go-error-handling/SKILL.md (from 2 instincts) ✅ .github/skills/learned-testing-conventions/SKILL.md (from 1 instinct) Archived 3 instincts to .atv/instincts/archive/ These skills will be auto-discovered by Copilot in the next session. Review the generated files and adjust as needed — they're a starting point. Remaining instincts: X active (run /instincts to see) ``` ## Important Notes - Generated skills use `learned-` prefix — easy to spot and edit - Always review generated skills before committing — they're a draft - Evolved instincts are archived, not deleted, so history is preserved - If a generated skill doesn't feel right, delete it and the instincts will re-accumulate