learned-lessons

name	learned-lessons
description	Accumulates knowledge from solved problems. Activates automatically after web search or MCP tools are used to solve technical problems. Also activates during debugging to check the knowledge base first. Invoke explicitly via "/til" to record a lesson manually. Triggers: "/til", "record a lesson", "what lessons do we have".

Learned Lessons: Knowledge Base

Purpose

This skill accumulates knowledge from solved problems so you never search for the same thing twice.

When it activates

1. After web search for problem solving: offer to record the lesson
2. After using MCP tools: if a technical problem was solved
3. During debugging: check the knowledge base first
4. Explicit invocation: user says "/til" or "record a lesson"

Workflow after search/MCP

After successfully using web search or MCP tools to solve a technical problem:

1. Ask the user briefly:

   Record this lesson to the knowledge base? (yes/no)
   

2. If yes, add an entry to the knowledge base file (default: ~/.claude/knowledge-base.md):

   ## [YYYY-MM-DD] Brief title
   
   **Problem**: What was not working
   
   **Symptoms**: How it manifested (errors, behavior)
   
   **Solution**: What helped
   
   **Tags**: #python #asyncio #networking
   

3. Add entries at the TOP of the file (newest lessons first)

Workflow during debugging

When systematic-debugging activates or during explicit debugging:

1. Read ~/.claude/knowledge-base.md first
2. Search for similar problems by keywords and tags
3. If relevant match found, show the user
4. If nothing found, continue normal debugging

Entry Format

Each entry contains:

Field	Description
Date	When it was learned
Title	Gist in 5-7 words
Problem	What you were trying to do
Symptoms	Errors, traceback, behavior
Solution	Specific steps or code
Tags	For search (#python, #docker, #api)

Commands

• /til: record a lesson manually (asks for details)
• /lessons: show last 5 lessons
• /search-lessons <query>: search the knowledge base

Important

• Do NOT record trivial things (typos, forgotten imports)
• Record what was NON-OBVIOUS and required research
• Record SPECIFIC solutions, not general advice
• Tags help search. Use technologies and concepts

Example

User: why does requests hang in asyncio?

Claude: [uses web search]
Claude: Found it! requests blocks the event loop. Use
        aiohttp or run_in_executor instead.

        Record this lesson to the knowledge base? (yes/no)

User: yes

Claude: Recorded with tags #python #asyncio #requests

Knowledge Base

The file ~/.claude/knowledge-base.md contains all accumulated lessons. Read this file during debugging to check for known solutions. Create it on first use if it does not exist.