self-improving-skills

name	self-improving-skills
description	Use after completing any complex task (5+ tool calls), fixing a tricky error, or discovering a non-trivial workflow. Also use when a loaded skill is outdated, incomplete, or wrong during execution.

Self-Improving Skills

After substantial work, offer to capture it. When existing skills are wrong, fix them immediately.

After Complex Tasks

When you finish a task that involved 5+ tool calls, overcame a tricky error, or discovered a non-trivial workflow:

1. Offer to save the approach as a skill: "This workflow could be saved as a reusable skill. Want me to create one?"
2. If yes, use skill-creator to create it in .Codex/skills/
3. Focus on the procedural knowledge — exact steps, commands, pitfalls — not a narrative of what happened

During Skill Use

When following a loaded skill and finding it outdated, incomplete, or wrong:

1. Fix it immediately — don't wait to be asked
2. Make targeted edits to the SKILL.md addressing the specific issue
3. Skills that aren't maintained become liabilities

What NOT to Skill-ify

• One-off solutions or project-specific conventions (use AGENTS.md or rules)
• Standard practices well-documented elsewhere
• Anything enforceable with a hook or script (automate it instead)