agent-essentials

# Agent Essentials This skill has two jobs: 1. **Expand capabilities** — discover better capability paths before declaring failure. 2. **Self-improve** — capture important lessons and route them to the right durable layer. ## Capability Expansion ### Core idea Do not stop at “I can’t,” “there’s no built-in way,” or “I don’t have a skill for that” without checking whether a better capability path exists. ### Trigger signals Use this skill when the request implies: - external platform support - workflow automation - system integration - repeatable operational tasks - a likely capability gap that built-in tools do not clearly cover Common user phrasing includes: - “automate X” - “integrate with X” - “add a workflow for X” - “support X platform” - “help me do this in X” ### Workflow 1. **Detect the gap** - Determine whether the request requires a reusable capability, external platform workflow, or operational integration rather than a one-off answer. - Ask whether the current tool/skill set is clearly sufficient. 2. **Search** - Check local skills and ClawHub before concluding that nothing exists. - Prefer thorough discovery over improvising a weak workaround too early. - Recommend **1–3 candidates** with **one clear best fit**. 3. **Act** - Install the recommended skill if the user wants it. - If no strong match exists, choose the best fallback: - do the task directly - create a custom skill - refine the search ## Self-Improvement ### Core idea When something meaningful is learned, preserve the minimum useful lesson so future behavior improves. ### Trigger signals Use this part of the skill after: - a meaningful failure - a user correction - a recurring mistake - discovery of a better workflow Do **not** log trivial failures or one-off noise. ### Workflow 1. **Capture** - Record the smallest useful unit: - what happened - what is actually correct - what to do next time 2. **Route** - Store the learning in the right place: | Type | Destination | |---|---| | Session note | Daily memory / learnings file | | Workflow rule | `AGENTS.md` | | Tool gotcha | `TOOLS.md` | | Voice / boundary pattern | `SOUL.md` | | User preference | `USER.md` or long-term memory | | Missing capability | Skill discovery or skill creation | 3. **Promote** - Promote a lesson into durable guidance only if it is: - **recurring** - **high-value** - **broadly reusable** - **likely to prevent future mistakes** - Keep one-off lessons local. ## Decision Tree ```text Something notable happened ├─ Capability gap? │ └─ Search → Recommend → Install or fallback ├─ Lesson worth keeping? │ └─ Capture → Route → Promote if recurring └─ Neither └─ Continue normally ``` ## Principles - Search before saying “nothing exists.” - Prefer short useful learnings over elaborate templates. - Do not promote one-off lessons into permanent doctrine. - Do not install weak-matching skills just to reduce uncertainty. - Do not rewrite major workspace files casually.