meta-synthesis

name	meta-synthesis
version	3.2.0
description	Reads /context/skill-sessions.md (the session log every execution skill writes to) to detect patterns that repeat across 2+ sessions, proposes new guardrails for /context/meta-patterns.md, and proposes brain updates for confirmed learnings. Run on-demand or roughly weekly — not a scheduled background job. Trigger on: "run meta-synthesis", "what patterns are emerging", "detect cross-skill signals", "update guardrails", "compound our learnings", "what should we remember".
metadata	{"author":"Stefanos Karakasis","context":"brain-dependent","quality_gate":true}
last_updated	2026-08-24T00:00:00.000Z

meta-synthesis — Skill

How This Works

Reads the session log every execution skill already writes to, finds patterns that repeat across 2 or more sessions, and turns confirmed patterns into either a guardrail (for /context/meta-patterns.md) or a brain update (for /foundation/brain.md). This is what makes the rest of the stack compound instead of starting fresh every session.

The skill runs in 5 steps:

Step 0 — Load /context/skill-sessions.md and /context/meta-patterns.md. Block if the session log doesn't exist or has zero rows.

Step 1 — Scan sessions for repeated patterns, both within one skill and across skills.

Step 2 — Rank patterns by confidence (occurrence count) and propose next action for each.

Step 3 — Surface proposed guardrails and brain updates, gated on user approval.

Step 4 — Write approved guardrails to /context/meta-patterns.md and approved brain updates to /foundation/brain.md. Log the session.

---

Trigger

• When: Detecting patterns across 2+ prior sessions logged by other skills, and turning confirmed patterns into guardrails or brain updates.
• Not for: Real-time feedback during a session — execution skills already check /context/meta-patterns.md at their own Step 0. Auditing a single skill's output quality → use meta-review. One-off pattern lookups — this skill's value is in running it repeatedly.
• Example prompts:
  • "run meta-synthesis"
  • "what patterns are emerging"
  • "detect cross-skill signals"
  • "update guardrails"
  • "compound our learnings"
  • "what should we remember"

---

Inputs

• Args: Timeframe to analyze — all sessions, or a specific window (e.g. last 30 days). Asked in Step 0 if not specified.
• Defaults: All sessions in /context/skill-sessions.md if no timeframe is given.
• Context keys:
  • /context/skill-sessions.md — required. The session log every execution skill writes to.
  • /context/meta-patterns.md — optional; loaded if it exists, treated as empty otherwise.
  • /foundation/brain.md — optional; Sections 1-6 loaded silently as baseline context for proposed updates.
  • Brain contract: Reads Sections 1-6. Writes: Section named in an approved brain-update proposal only, after explicit user approval (Step 3).

---

Pre-flight

• Load /context/skill-sessions.md — see Step 0.
• Hard block: if /context/skill-sessions.md is missing or has zero rows, stop and tell the user there's nothing to synthesize yet.
• Load /context/meta-patterns.md and /foundation/brain.md if they exist — see Step 0.

---

Steps

Step 0 — Pre-Flight

Load:

• /context/skill-sessions.md — required. If missing or has zero rows, stop and tell the user there's nothing to synthesize yet.
• /context/meta-patterns.md — load if it exists; if missing, treat as empty (this run may create it).
• /foundation/brain.md — load Sections 1-6 silently, as baseline context for any proposed updates.

Ask, if not specified: "Look at all sessions, or a specific timeframe (e.g. last 30 days)?" Default: all sessions in the log.

---

Step 1 — Scan for Repeated Patterns

Read every row in /context/skill-sessions.md for the chosen timeframe. Group by two lenses:

Within one skill — the same issue showing up 2+ times in sessions from the same skill (e.g. retro logging "champion alignment gap" in two different launches).

Across skills — the same underlying issue showing up in sessions from 2+ different skills (e.g. pre-mortem flags a risk that retro later confirms happened). Cross-skill patterns are the ones most worth turning into a guardrail, since they're not visible from inside any single skill.

For each candidate pattern, capture: what it is in one sentence, which sessions it appeared in (skill + date), and how many times.

---

Step 2 — Rank and Recommend

Classify each pattern by occurrence count:

Occurrences	Confidence	Recommended action
3+	High	Propose as a guardrail — ready to surface to execution skills at their own Step 0
2	Medium	Propose as a guardrail, flagged "watch" rather than "confirmed"
1	Low	Note only — not enough evidence yet, don't propose anything

If a pattern points at something durable about the business rather than a process gap — a buying trigger, a market shift, a proof point that keeps landing — propose it as a brain update instead of a guardrail, naming the exact section (2 ICP, 5 Market Context, 6 Proof Points) it belongs in.

---

Step 3 — Propose and Gate

Surface every High and Medium confidence pattern together, in one message, for approval:

🔁 PATTERNS FROM /context/skill-sessions.md

1. [Pattern name] — HIGH confidence (4 occurrences: 2 retros, 2
   pre-mortems, dates [list])
   Proposed: add guardrail to /context/meta-patterns.md:
   "[exact guardrail text]"

2. [Pattern name] — MEDIUM confidence (2 occurrences: [dates])
   Proposed: add guardrail (watch status):
   "[exact guardrail text]"

3. [Pattern name] — durable signal, not a process gap
   Proposed: brain update, Section [N]:
   "[exact text]"

Approve all / approve some (name which) / reject all?

Never write anything without this gate. If the user rejects a pattern, log it as rejected with the reason and move on — don't re-propose it next run unless new occurrences push it to a higher confidence tier.

---

Step 4 — Write and Log

For each approved item:

• Guardrail → append to /context/meta-patterns.md with the pattern text, occurrence count, and date added.
• Brain update → write to the named section of /foundation/brain.md, showing the exact before/after, same confirmation standard as every other skill that writes to the brain.

Log this session to /context/skill-sessions.md:

skill: meta-synthesis
session_date: [YYYY-MM-DD]
sessions_analyzed: [count]
timeframe: [all / last N days]
patterns_found:
  high_confidence: [count]
  medium_confidence: [count]
guardrails_proposed: [count]
guardrails_approved: [count]
brain_updates_proposed: [count]
brain_updates_approved: [count]

Close by telling the user plainly what changed: how many guardrails are now live, what the brain updates were, and what's worth watching next time (the Low-confidence, single-occurrence notes from Step 1).

---

Outputs

• Files written: /context/meta-patterns.md — approved guardrails appended (Step 4). /foundation/brain.md — approved updates written to the named section (Step 4). /context/skill-sessions.md — one appended row per session (Step 4).
• Chat output format: Numbered list of proposed patterns with confidence tier and exact guardrail/brain-update text (Step 3), followed by a plain-language close summarizing what changed (Step 4).
• External side effects: None beyond the three files above, and only after explicit user approval.

---

Verification

• /context/skill-sessions.md has at least one row before proceeding past Step 0.
• Every candidate pattern classified by occurrence count (Step 2).
• No guardrail or brain update written without explicit approval shown as exact text first (Step 3).
• Rejected patterns logged with reason, not silently dropped (Step 3).
• Session logged to /context/skill-sessions.md (Step 4).

---

Operating Rules

• Session log is the only input. No integrations, no scheduler, no separate memory store — everything this skill needs, every other skill already writes to /context/skill-sessions.md.
• 2+ occurrences minimum to propose anything. A single session is an anecdote, not a pattern.
• Cross-skill patterns take priority. They're invisible from inside any one skill, which is the entire reason this skill exists.
• Every write is gated. No guardrail or brain update happens without explicit approval, shown as exact text before it's written.
• Rejected patterns aren't silently dropped. Log the rejection so the same pattern isn't re-proposed next run without new evidence.
• Durable signals go to the brain, not a guardrail. A pattern about the business itself (buying trigger, market shift, proof point) is a brain update, not a process guardrail.

---

Quality Gate

Check	Pass =
Session log loaded	/context/skill-sessions.md parsed, ≥1 row
Patterns ranked	Every candidate classified High/Medium/Low by occurrence count
Cross-skill patterns flagged	Patterns spanning 2+ skills marked as priority
Proposals gated	All guardrails and brain updates shown for approval before writing
Session logged	Metadata appended to /context/skill-sessions.md

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Do Not Use For

• Real-time feedback during a session — execution skills already check /context/meta-patterns.md at their own Step 0
• Auditing a single skill's output quality — use meta-review
• One-off pattern lookups — this skill's value is in running it repeatedly, not as a single query tool