| name | drain |
| description | Triage accumulated learnings from the local harny inbox into GitHub Issues, CLAUDE.md edits, or discards. Walks one entry at a time, verifies claims against current code, opens issues with provenance. Sister of /learn. |
| allowed-tools | Bash, Read, Edit, Write |
drain — analytical triage of the harny learnings inbox
The drainable companion to /learn. Walks the user through the inbox at <cwd>/.harny/LEARNINGS.local.md (and optionally .harny/*/review.md files), classifying each entry into a destination — GitHub Issue, CLAUDE.md edit, or DISCARD — with evidence cited.
This skill is analytical and slow. Unlike /learn (which captures verbatim), drain verifies claims, decomposes multi-part actions, and writes back changes only with the user's approval per entry.
Inputs
<cwd>/.harny/LEARNINGS.local.md — raw captures from /learn.<cwd>/.harny/*/review.md — per-run reviews produced by /review. Treat the "Architect proposals" section as drainable; inline review narrative is context only.
If neither source has content, tell the user there's nothing to drain and stop.
UX — walk one at a time
Batch summary tables tempt bulk classification without thinking. Walk one entry at a time, human-in-the-loop.
For N > 10 entries, offer the user a pause marker mid-drain:
5 done, 7 remaining — continue, or pause here?
Per-item process
For each entry, in order:
1. Read the entry verbatim back to the user
So you both look at the same words.
2. Verify claims against current state
Before classifying, check the code/repo:
- References to a file/commit/function — does it exist? Does the referenced behavior match? Use
Read, git log -- <path>, git show <sha>.
- Look for absorption markers. "Permanent fix landed", "Already infra-shipped", "Convention enshrined in CLAUDE.md" — strong DISCARD signals. Verify each.
- Correlate with run history. An entry about "task trailer duplication" + a run named
dedup-task-trailer → fix likely landed. Check git log --all --oneline --grep <keyword>.
- CLAUDE.md cross-check. If the entry's principle is now documented, it's been absorbed.
3. Decompose multi-part actions
If the entry has sub-actions (a), (b), (c), triage each separately. Common pattern: (a) and (b) landed, (c) is still open → opens an Issue scoped to (c) only, discards (a)+(b).
4. Apply the counterfactual test
Would a fresh dev, reading only CLAUDE.md + code, hit the same friction?
If yes → there's still teaching to do (CLAUDE.md edit or Issue).
If no → the lesson has been absorbed elsewhere → DISCARD.
5. Propose a destination
Load the classification patterns once, early in the drain:
Read ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/patterns.md
Match the entry to one of the 6 patterns. Propose the destination with evidence.
6. Wait for user approval
Show:
- The classification verdict
- The evidence supporting it
- The proposed action (DISCARD, OPEN ISSUE, CLAUDE.md edit, DEFER)
Do not execute until the user says go.
7. Execute
Per verdict:
- DISCARD — Edit
.harny/LEARNINGS.local.md to remove the entry. No other artifact created.
- PROMOTED to CLAUDE.md — Apply the edit (Edit tool). Remove inbox entry.
- OPEN ISSUE — Use
gh issue list --search ... to dedup first; then gh issue create with proper title prefix and learning label. Remove inbox entry.
- OPEN DISCUSSION —
gh discussion create with rfc: or decide: prefix. Remove inbox entry.
- DEFERRED — Edit the entry in place to add
[deferred YYYY-MM-DD: <reason>]. Keep entry.
Side-effect: stale doc drift
While verifying entries, you'll often spot unrelated documentation drift — a CLAUDE.md paragraph describing a value that changed months ago, a §N reference pointing at a deleted doc, etc.
Rule:
- 1-2 line factual fix verifiable from code → propose inline alongside the current entry's verdict.
- Larger drift (paragraph, multiple refs, architectural staleness) → open a separate Issue with label
documentation rather than expanding the entry's verdict.
Cluster detection
Track classification cohorts during the walk. At the end, emit concise cluster alerts:
- "Migration debt": N entries absorbed by file X scheduled to migrate. List what must be preserved.
- "Issue family": N entries opened as Issues under a common theme. Propose a tracking milestone or umbrella Issue.
- "Doc drift found": Inline fixes applied during the walk. Summarize for the user's review.
GitHub discipline
Issues
- Dedup first.
gh issue list --search "<key terms>" --state all --json number,title,state. Surface matches before opening.
- Title prefix:
feat:, bug:, learning:, docs:, chore:.
- Labels: always
learning if origin was a drained entry, plus one of enhancement / bug / documentation.
- Body must include an "Origin" section citing the source (file path + original entry text). Preserves provenance.
Discussions
- Use Discussions (not Issues) when the entry poses an open question ("is this worth doing?", "which of 3 approaches?") rather than a ready-to-implement change.
- Title prefix:
rfc: for debate, decide: for decision-shaped prompt.
- Labels:
rfc or decision. Add resolved after the discussion concludes (enables ADR-style search via label:decision label:resolved).
Inbox mutation
- DISCARD / PROMOTED / ISSUE-OPENED / DISCUSSION-OPENED → delete the entry from
.harny/LEARNINGS.local.md.
- DEFERRED → keep and annotate with
[deferred YYYY-MM-DD: <reason>].
- No separate history of drained items is kept. The resulting Issue / commit / Discussion IS the history.
What this skill does NOT do
- Does not auto-classify in batches without human approval.
- Does not edit files outside
.harny/LEARNINGS.local.md, the proposed CLAUDE.md edits, and inline doc-drift fixes (each approved per-entry).
- Does not bulk-open issues — every Issue creation is a single, deduped, evidence-backed action.
Edge cases
- Inbox does not exist → tell user, suggest
/learn to capture first.
- Entry references a slug whose
.harny/ dir was cleaned → state is gone, but the entry text is still drainable. Verify against current code instead.
gh not authenticated → ask user to gh auth login. Do not proceed with Issue/Discussion actions.- User rejects a proposed classification → take the feedback. Their context overrides yours. Re-classify or defer.
- Entry mid-drain triggers a follow-up thought from the user → suggest they
/learn it; resume drain.
