continuous-learning

Continuous Learning - Instinct-Based Architecture

An advanced learning system that turns your Claude Code sessions into reusable knowledge through atomic "instincts" - small learned behaviors with confidence scoring.

When to Activate

• Setting up automatic learning from Claude Code sessions
• Configuring instinct-based behavior extraction via hooks
• Tuning confidence thresholds for learned behaviors
• Reviewing, exporting, or importing instinct libraries
• Evolving instincts into full skills, commands, or agents

What's In This Version

Feature	Description
Observation	PreToolUse/PostToolUse (100% reliable)
Analysis	Background agent (Haiku)
Granularity	Atomic "instincts"
Confidence	0.3-0.9 weighted
Evolution	Instincts → cluster → skill/command/agent
Sharing	Export/import instincts

The Instinct Model

An instinct is a small learned behavior:

---
id: prefer-functional-style
trigger: "when writing new functions"
confidence: 0.7
domain: "code-style"
source: "session-observation"
---

# Prefer Functional Style

## Action
Use functional patterns over classes when appropriate.

## Evidence
- Observed 5 instances of functional pattern preference
- User corrected class-based approach to functional on 2025-01-15

Properties:

• Atomic — one trigger, one action
• Confidence-weighted — 0.3 = tentative, 0.9 = near certain
• Domain-tagged — code-style, testing, git, debugging, workflow, etc.
• Evidence-backed — tracks what observations created it

How It Works

Session Activity
      │
      │ Hooks capture prompts + tool use (100% reliable)
      ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│         observations.jsonl              │
│   (prompts, tool calls, outcomes)       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
      │
      │ Observer agent reads (background, Haiku)
      ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│          PATTERN DETECTION              │
│   • User corrections → instinct         │
│   • Error resolutions → instinct        │
│   • Repeated workflows → instinct       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
      │
      │ Creates/updates
      ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│         instincts/personal/             │
│   • prefer-functional.md (0.7)          │
│   • always-test-first.md (0.9)          │
│   • use-zod-validation.md (0.6)         │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
      │
      │ /evolve clusters
      ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              evolved/                   │
│   • commands/new-feature.md             │
│   • skills/testing-workflow.md          │
│   • agents/refactor-specialist.md       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

Quick Start

1. Enable Observation Hooks

Add to your ~/.claude/settings.json.

If installed as a plugin (recommended):

{
	"hooks": {
		"PreToolUse": [
			{
				"matcher": "*",
				"hooks": [
					{
						"type": "command",
						"command": "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/continuous-learning/hooks/observe.sh pre"
					}
				]
			}
		],
		"PostToolUse": [
			{
				"matcher": "*",
				"hooks": [
					{
						"type": "command",
						"command": "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/continuous-learning/hooks/observe.sh post"
					}
				]
			}
		]
	}
}

If installed manually to ~/.claude/skills:

{
	"hooks": {
		"PreToolUse": [
			{
				"matcher": "*",
				"hooks": [
					{
						"type": "command",
						"command": "~/.claude/skills/continuous-learning-v2/hooks/observe.sh pre"
					}
				]
			}
		],
		"PostToolUse": [
			{
				"matcher": "*",
				"hooks": [
					{
						"type": "command",
						"command": "~/.claude/skills/continuous-learning-v2/hooks/observe.sh post"
					}
				]
			}
		]
	}
}

2. Initialize Directory Structure

The Python CLI will create these automatically, but you can also create them manually:

mkdir -p ~/.claude/book/{instincts/{personal,inherited},evolved/{agents,skills,commands}}
touch ~/.claude/book/observations.jsonl

3. Use the Instinct Commands

/instinct-status     # Show learned instincts with confidence scores
/evolve              # Cluster related instincts into skills/commands
/instinct-export     # Export instincts for sharing
/instinct-import     # Import instincts from others

Commands

Command	Description
/instinct-status	Show all learned instincts with confidence
/evolve	Cluster related instincts into skills/commands
/instinct-export	Export instincts for sharing
/instinct-import <file>	Import instincts from others

Configuration

Edit config.json:

{
	"version": "2.0",
	"observation": {
		"enabled": true,
		"store_path": "~/.claude/book/observations.jsonl",
		"max_file_size_mb": 10,
		"archive_after_days": 7
	},
	"instincts": {
		"personal_path": "~/.claude/book/instincts/personal/",
		"inherited_path": "~/.claude/book/instincts/inherited/",
		"min_confidence": 0.3,
		"auto_approve_threshold": 0.7,
		"confidence_decay_rate": 0.05
	},
	"observer": {
		"enabled": true,
		"model": "haiku",
		"run_interval_minutes": 5,
		"patterns_to_detect": [
			"user_corrections",
			"error_resolutions",
			"repeated_workflows",
			"tool_preferences"
		]
	},
	"evolution": {
		"cluster_threshold": 3,
		"evolved_path": "~/.claude/book/evolved/"
	}
}

File Structure

~/.claude/book/
├── identity.json           # Your profile, technical level
├── observations.jsonl      # Current session observations
├── observations.archive/   # Processed observations
├── instincts/
│   ├── personal/           # Auto-learned instincts
│   └── inherited/          # Imported from others
└── evolved/
    ├── agents/             # Generated specialist agents
    ├── skills/             # Generated skills
    └── commands/           # Generated commands

Confidence Scoring

Confidence evolves over time:

Score	Meaning	Behavior
0.3	Tentative	Suggested but not enforced
0.5	Moderate	Applied when relevant
0.7	Strong	Auto-approved for application
0.9	Near-certain	Core behavior

Confidence increases when:

• Pattern is repeatedly observed
• User doesn't correct the suggested behavior
• Similar instincts from other sources agree

Confidence decreases when:

• User explicitly corrects the behavior
• Pattern isn't observed for extended periods
• Contradicting evidence appears

Privacy

• Observations stay local on your machine
• Only instincts (patterns) can be exported
• No actual code or conversation content is shared
• You control what gets exported

---

Instinct-based learning: teaching Claude your patterns, one observation at a time.