Self-Enhance

Review recent work and produce specific, actionable file edits that improve agent performance over time. No reports, no reflections — only changes.

When to Use

• End of a sprint or work session
• Weekly on a schedule (cron)
• After a session with multiple mistakes or corrections from your human
• When explicitly triggered: /self-enhance

Process

Step 1: Gather Context

Read these sources to understand what happened recently:

# Recent memory (last 7 days)
memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md files

# Recent git activity across active projects
git -C /path/to/project log --oneline --since="7 days ago"

# Current identity and process files
SOUL.md
AGENTS.md
HEARTBEAT.md

# Project configs for active projects
{project}/CLAUDE.md
{project}/.claude/skills/

Step 2: Identify Patterns

Look for these specific signals — not vague "areas for improvement":

Repeated mistakes:

• Same type of error made more than once (e.g., guessing DB schema, wrong CLI flags)
• Corrections from your human that addressed the same root cause
• Tasks that failed or required redo

Process gaps:

• Steps that should be automatic but were skipped (e.g., checking schema before writing DB tasks)
• Tools used incorrectly multiple times
• Information that was assumed instead of verified

Missing configuration:

• Project CLAUDE.md missing critical context that caused agent errors
• Skills that should be installed but aren't
• Broken symlinks or stale config

Workflow inefficiencies:

• Tasks that took too long due to a fixable process issue
• Repeated manual steps that could be automated
• Communication patterns that wasted cycles (asking instead of doing, or doing instead of asking)

Step 3: Produce Changes

For each pattern identified, make a specific file edit. Not a note. Not a reminder. An actual change.

Target files and what to change:

File	When to edit
SOUL.md	New behavioral principle learned from mistakes
AGENTS.md	Process change (e.g., new pre-flight check)
HEARTBEAT.md	New periodic check needed
{project}/CLAUDE.md	Missing context that caused agent errors
{project}/.claude/skills/	New project skill needed
memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md	Capture the enhancement session itself

Rules for changes:

• Every edit must trace back to a specific incident or pattern
• Don't add generic advice ("be more careful") — add specific checks ("verify table names against schema before writing DB tasks")
• Don't duplicate existing rules — check what's already there first
• Keep files concise — if adding a rule makes the file bloated, consolidate instead
• Remove outdated rules that no longer apply

Step 4: Output Summary

After making changes, produce a brief summary:

## Self-Enhance Summary — YYYY-MM-DD

### Patterns Found
- [pattern]: [evidence from recent work]

### Changes Made
- [file]: [what was added/changed and why]

### No Action Needed
- [areas reviewed that were already covered]

Post this summary to the relevant channel (Discord sprint channel, or direct to your human).

What This Skill Does NOT Do

• Write reflection docs or journal entries
• Produce reports without file changes
• Add vague platitudes ("be more thorough")
• Run without recent context (needs at least a few days of memory)
• Override changes your human made to identity/config files

Automation

To run weekly via cron:

openclaw cron add --label "self-enhance" --schedule "0 9 * * 1" --task "Run the self-enhance skill: review last 7 days of memory files and git activity, identify process gaps, and make specific file edits. Post summary to #sprint channel."

Or trigger manually anytime: just say /self-enhance or "run self-enhance."