Update Memories and Skills: review recent session context for lessons learned, then actively update memory files and skill definitions to capture them. Use when asked to 'ums', 'update memories and skills', 'record what we learned', or after a workflow reveals a gap in existing skills/memories.
Installation
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Update Memories and Skills: review recent session context for lessons learned, then actively update memory files and skill definitions to capture them. Use when asked to 'ums', 'update memories and skills', 'record what we learned', or after a workflow reveals a gap in existing skills/memories.
user-invocable
true
allowed-tools
["Bash","Read","Edit","Write"]
UMS — Update Memories and Skills
Actively review recent session context and update all relevant memory files
and skill definitions to capture what was learned. Unlike record-learnings
(which records individual facts in place as they arise), UMS is a reflective
checkpoint: survey what accumulated, categorize it, and persist it all in one
committed pass.
When this fires
As soon as a learning worth saving shows up — a corrected mistake, a
new preference, a tool quirk, a workflow gap. This is the primary trigger:
run UMS right then, interleaved with the main work, instead of batching
learnings for a wrap-up step at the end. Don't wait for the task to finish
or for /clear to accumulate a backlog — and don't gate it on approval or
on a PR merging: capture the learning the moment it appears, even while the
PR that taught it is still open and unreviewed.
User says "ums", "update memories and skills", "record what we learned"
At the start of /clear — a backstop, not the primary trigger: catch
anything accumulated since the last proactive pass before context is lost
After a workflow reveals a gap (e.g., a skill was followed but missed a
step, or a preference wasn't encoded)
When the user says "did you update memories?" (the answer should be "let
me do that now")
While paused waiting on a subagent or a long-running background process
to complete. That idle stretch is exactly when there's time to survey
what's accumulated so far and persist it, rather than only running UMS at
a hard stop. Don't let a real wait sit fully idle when a useful pass is
available to run alongside it.
Procedure
Scan recent context. Review the conversation for:
Mistakes made and corrected (skill gaps)
New preferences expressed by the user
Tool quirks discovered
Workflow steps that were missing or unclear in existing skills
Debugging insights
Codebase conventions discovered
Categorize each learning. For each item, decide:
Is it a skill update? (workflow step missing, procedure unclear)
Is it a memory note? (tool quirk, preference, debugging insight)
Is it both? (general guidance → update skill AND preferences)
Is it already recorded? (grep before writing -- avoid duplicates)
Is it cross-project or project-specific? (memories/preferences.md's
"Memory and skill storage" rule: cross-project lessons commit to
d-morrison/ai-config; a convention/gotcha tied to one repo we own
commits to that repo's own agent docs instead — see the checklist
item below for where. This changes step 4's target, not just the
content.)
Apply updates. For each item:
Read the target file first (skill or memory) to understand current state
Grep that file for the item's specific subject -- the tool name, the
API call, the error string -- before appending anything.
Reading the region you're editing is not enough: a topical memory file
runs to hundreds or a thousand-plus lines, so an existing entry on the
same subject can sit far away in an unrelated cluster and never enter
your view.
Grep the whole memories/ directory rather than one file --
a fact can plausibly sit in either of two adjacent topical files.
When one exists, extend it in place; don't add a second bullet.
(ai-config#689: a list_workflow_runs cost bullet went in next to the
related get_check_runs guidance while an entry on the same tool already
sat ~2000 lines below in the write-access cluster -- caught by the review
bot, not by the author.)
Make the edit — concise bullet points, not prose
If updating a skill: the change should be specific enough that following
the skill next time would avoid the mistake
Commit and push — via a branch + PR, not direct to main, in whichever
repo step 2 routed the item to.
Cross-project items (skills, cross-project memory notes): both live in
the ai-config repo. Discover its path with
git -C ~/.claude/skills/ums rev-parse --show-toplevel — point
-C at a skill subdir (any one), not the ~/.claude/skills parent.
bootstrap.sh may symlink skills per-child into a real ~/.claude/skills
directory (cloud/web sessions pre-populate it), so the parent itself isn't a
symlink into the repo and git -C there fails with "not a git repository";
a child like …/skills/ums follows the symlink into the repo. (Both beat the
older dirname "$(readlink …)", which resolves only one symlink hop.) Never
leave ANY changes (skills, memories, etc.) as local-only uncommitted edits.
Run one of the two paths below — not both:
Stage only the files you actually edited — NEVER git add -A. The
working tree often holds unrelated in-flight edits (the user's own UMS
commits, another skill being drafted); git add -A sweeps those into your
commit and onto your PR, where they bloat the review and extend the cycle.
List the specific paths instead. Then git status to confirm only your
intended files are staged — if something unexpected is there, the working
tree had in-flight work; unstage it rather than bundling it. (Avoid
git add -p here: it needs a terminal and hangs in non-interactive sessions.)
Already on the open PR's branch (e.g. mid-ARDI): commit + push to it.
cd"$(git -C ~/.claude/skills/ums rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
git add "skills/<name>/SKILL.md""memories/<file>.md"# the files you touched
git commit -m "ums: <brief summary>"# COMMIT
git push origin HEAD # PUSH
No PR yet: branch off main first — a direct-to-main push is denied by
auto-mode and bypasses review.
Same-repo case (this checkout's origin IS the repo you're targeting):
cd"$(git -C ~/.claude/skills/ums rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
git fetch origin main && git checkout -b "ums-<topic>" origin/main # FETCH + CREATE_BRANCH
git add "skills/<name>/SKILL.md""memories/<file>.md"# the files you touched
git commit -m "ums: <brief summary>"# COMMIT
git push -u origin HEAD # PUSH — PR creation is handled by the post-push verification step below
Cross-fork case (this checkout's origin is your own fork, not the
upstream repo you're targeting): don't branch from a bare origin/main
here -- the fork's main can be stale relative to upstream's default
branch. Fetch the intended upstream repo explicitly (not just look up
its default-branch name) and branch from that fetched ref:
cd"$(git -C ~/.claude/skills/ums rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
base="$(gh repo view "<upstream-owner>/<repo>" --json defaultBranchRef -q .defaultBranchRef.name)" \
&& git fetch "https://github.com/<upstream-owner>/<repo>.git""$base" \
&& git checkout -b "ums-<topic>" FETCH_HEAD
# chained with && on purpose -- a failed lookup or fetch must stop the# checkout, or it silently reuses an older FETCH_HEAD from a prior fetch,# recreating the stale-base problem this block exists to prevent
git add "skills/<name>/SKILL.md""memories/<file>.md"# the files you touched
git commit -m "ums: <brief summary>"# COMMIT
git push -u origin HEAD # PUSH -- to your fork; PR creation is handled by the post-push verification step below
CAUTION: if a compound add && commit && push is denied, nothing
was committed — verify with git status / git log before any git reset --hard, or you'll silently discard the still-uncommitted edits.
After every push in UMS, verify PR state for the current branch in the intended base repo.gh pr list --head <owner>:<branch> silently returns
empty for an owner-qualified head — it only matches a bare branch name,
even when a matching PR genuinely exists (verified directly: gh pr list --head d-morrison:ums-pr635-lessons returned [] against a real open PR
on that exact branch, while gh pr list --head ums-pr635-lessons found
it). Query the REST API instead, whose head filter does honor the
owner-qualified form:
gh api --method GET "repos/<upstream-owner>/<repo>/pulls" -f "head=<head-owner>:<current-branch>" -f "state=open" --jq '.[] | {number, url, state}'
(for dem-extra1/ai-config, that is gh api --method GET "repos/d-morrison/ai-config/pulls" -f "head=dem-extra1:<current-branch>" -f "state=open" ...).
If no open PR exists and upstream is accessible, open it as a cross-fork
PR: prepare explicit title and body first, show the draft for approval
(per the "always show the draft before posting" rule in
memories/preferences.md), then create non-interactively -- bare
gh pr create without --fill/--title/--body prompts interactively
and can hang a headless session:
If upstream is not accessible in-session, push and explicitly hand off that
upstream PR creation is still required.
Project-specific items (a convention or gotcha tied to one repo we
own): commit to that repo's own agent docs (CLAUDE.md,
.github/agents/*.md, .github/instructions/*.md,
.github/copilot-instructions.md, or checked-in .claude/memories/) via a branch + PR in
that repo — not ai-config. Discover its path the same way, cd-ing into
that repo's own checkout instead of the ai-config one, then follow the
same branch/commit/push/PR steps above, substituting that repo's own
default branch for every main/origin main reference above (don't
hard-code main -- a project routed here may default to master or
another name; discover it the same way: gh repo view "<owner>/<repo>" --json defaultBranchRef -q .defaultBranchRef.name). If that repo has no
agent-doc infrastructure yet, write to its local Claude project memory
(~/.claude/projects/<project-path>/memory/) as short-lived staging
only -- this is not a durable destination; hand off that the project
repo still needs agent-doc infrastructure added (via a PR) and the
staged memory migrated there. See the checklist item below.
Safe write form: for any external post with markdown/backticks, use file-backed bodies (--body-file or -F "body=@<file>"), never inline double-quoted body strings
Postcondition: after push, verify open PR exists in the intended base repo for the head owner/branch (gh api --method GET "repos/<upstream-owner>/<repo>/pulls" -f "head=<head-owner>:<branch>" -f "state=open" --jq '.[] | {number, url, state}' — not gh pr list --head <owner>:<branch>, which silently returns empty for an owner-qualified head)
Recovery signature: if shell logs command not found during a comment/create command, check whichever CLI the failing command actually invoked (which gh or which glab — not always gh). If gh is unavailable in this session (expected in remote/web sessions), fall back to the MCP tool mapping in tool-mappings.md instead of retrying the CLI — tool-mappings.yml has no glab operations, so a missing glab has no MCP fallback; hand off or block instead of retrying. If the CLI that failed is installed, the likely cause is backtick substitution mangling the body; re-run using a file-backed body and re-check posted content
Report what was updated. Provide a brief summary table:
What
Where
Change
Poll for new reviews
iterate/SKILL.md
Added explicit polling procedure
glab has no --state flag
/memories/github.md
New bullet
What to look for (checklist)
Did I follow a skill but miss a step? → Update the skill
Did the user correct my behavior? → Encode as preference + skill update
Did I discover a tool quirk? → the matching topical file
(/memories/github.md, github-actions.md, git.md, r-quarto.md,
claude-code.md, or tools.md when it fits none of them)
Did I learn a debugging pattern? → /memories/debugging.md
Did I create a new file under /memories/? → register it in
memories/MEMORY.md as an index entry
Did I discover a repo convention for a repo we own that has checked-in
agent docs? → put it IN that repo (its CLAUDE.md, .github/agents/*.md,
.github/instructions/*.md, .github/copilot-instructions.md, or checked-in
.claude/memories/),
via a PR, so the whole team and every @claude session there sees it. Do NOT
keep repo-specific notes in ai-config (memories/repo/ is retired). For a repo
without agent-doc infrastructure yet, write to this session's own local
project-memory mechanism (Claude Code: ~/.claude/projects/<project-path>/memory/
— a non-Claude session should use whatever the equivalent local staging
location is for its own agent) as short-lived staging only — hand off that a
PR adding agent docs to that repo is still required.
Did the user express a new preference? → /memories/preferences.md
Did a workflow emerge that could be a new skill? → run spot-skill-opportunities
to judge whether it's genuinely recurring, then skill-builder to create it
Did a heavy skill's fan-out step need a dedicated read-only worker persona
(like dependency-auditor / hallucination-detector / community-demand-scout),
rather than just a new skill? → run agent-builder to scaffold
.claude/agents/<name>.md
Are there existing skills that reference outdated info? → Fix them
Has learn-staging.md accumulated entries since the last
promote-memory run? → fold in a promote-memory pass now.
Did I edit one step's scope without updating sibling steps in the same file? →
Search the file for all enumerations of the changed category and make them consistent.
Did I add a shared-procedure step to one skill but not to sibling skills? →
Grep sibling skills for the same action and add the step there too.
Did I change how a skill describes its relationship/contrast to a sibling
skill (e.g. "X is passive, Y is explicit")? → Grep the sibling skill for its
own mirrored description of that same relationship and update it too — a
one-directional fix leaves the sibling's docs contradicting the new
behavior. (Caught by @claude review on ai-config#439: ums/SKILL.md's
passive-vs-active contrast with record-learnings was fixed, but
record-learnings/SKILL.md's own mirrored line describing ums as "the
explicit ... counterpart" was missed until review flagged it as a
follow-on.)
Relationship to record-learnings and staged capture
record-learnings = records individual facts in place, in the moment they arise
ums = a reflective, full-context sweep — survey what accumulated, categorize it, and persist it all in one committed pass
Both write to the same destinations. ums fires proactively, as soon as a
learning worth saving shows up, rather than waiting to catch up later; the
/clear trigger is only a backstop for anything that slipped through.
spot-skill-opportunities is the standing, continuous version of this
skill's "did a workflow emerge that could be a new skill?" checklist item —
it runs the recognition judgment call live, in the moment, instead of only
at this checkpoint. agent-builder is the sibling construction step for the
other checklist item above — a recurring fan-out worker persona rather than a
new user-invocable skill.
learn/promote-memory are a staged alternative for the uncertain case:
record-learnings and this skill both write directly to committed memory
the moment something looks worth remembering, which is right when you're
confident. When you're not — a candidate whose generality or evidence isn't
solid yet — learn stages it instead, and a promote-memory pass (which a
ums run can fold in, or run standalone) reviews staged candidates before
they land in committed memory. Neither replaces the direct-write path; they
add a review gate for the cases that need one.
Anti-patterns
❌ Saying "I'll remember that" without actually writing it down
❌ Updating memories but not pushing skill changes to origin
❌ Recording vague lessons ("be more careful") instead of specific ones
("always poll for new review after pushing — check commit SHA matches")
❌ Skipping the "check existing notes" step and creating duplicates --
specifically, reading only the region you're appending to instead of
grepping the whole target file for the subject (step 3)
❌ Updating only preferences when a skill also needs the fix
❌ git add -A — it sweeps unrelated in-flight edits (the user's work, other
draft skills) into your commit/PR. Stage the specific files you touched.
❌ Creating memories/repo/<repo>.md for any repo — this pattern is retired.
Put repo-specific lore in the repo's own agent docs (.github/agents/,
CLAUDE.md, .github/instructions/, .github/copilot-instructions.md, or
checked-in .claude/memories/) via a PR;
if the repo has no agent-doc infrastructure yet, this session's own local
project-memory mechanism (Claude Code: ~/.claude/projects/<project-path>/memory/
— substitute the equivalent for a non-Claude agent) is short-lived staging
only — hand off that a PR adding those agent docs is still required. See the checklist
item above and memories/preferences.md for the full rule.
❌ Inserting a new bullet into any memory file with nested lists (including
github-actions.md, preferences.md) without checking the surrounding indentation
first. These files mix 0-indent top-level bullets with 2-/4-indent sub-bullets and
multi-paragraph continuations; a new top-level bullet dropped in the middle
of an existing parent's sub-list re-parents whatever follows it in Markdown
(a sibling sub-bullet silently becomes this new bullet's child). Before
committing an insertion, re-read the few lines immediately above and below
the insertion point and confirm the indentation still matches what it did
before — or place the new bullet after the complete enclosing list instead
of inside it. (Caught by @claude review on ai-config#335: a new 0-indent
bullet landed between two sibling sub-bullets of an existing parent,
breaking the nesting.)
