Dotfiles-nix extract-knowledge

Extract patterns and challenges from past Claude Code conversation logs and convert them into reusable skills or memory entries. Run periodically to capture recurring solutions.

install

source · Clone the upstream repo

git clone https://github.com/not-matthias/dotfiles-nix

Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/

T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/not-matthias/dotfiles-nix "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/modules/home/programs/cli-agents/shared/skills/extract-knowledge" ~/.claude/skills/not-matthias-dotfiles-nix-extract-knowledge && rm -rf "$T"

manifest: modules/home/programs/cli-agents/shared/skills/extract-knowledge/SKILL.md

source content

Knowledge Extraction from Claude Code Logs

Extract recurring challenges, solutions, and patterns from past Claude Code sessions and distill them into skills or memory entries.

When to Use This Skill

After intensive development sessions on a new project
When you notice solving the same problem repeatedly
Weekly scan to capture recent learnings
Before a major refactor (capture current best practices first)

Log Location & Format

~/.claude/projects/<path-encoded-dir>/
├── sessions-index.json     # Metadata index for all sessions in this project
└── <uuid>.jsonl            # Individual session (JSON Lines)

sessions-index.json — use this to quickly find relevant sessions:

[{
  "sessionId": "uuid",
  "firstPrompt": "what the user asked",
  "summary": "auto-generated summary",
  "messageCount": 42,
  "created": "2025-01-01T00:00:00Z"
}]

Extraction Workflow

1. Find relevant sessions

# List all projects
ls ~/.claude/projects/

# Scan session index for a project
cat ~/.claude/projects/<project>/sessions-index.json | \
  jq '.[] | {prompt: .firstPrompt, count: .messageCount}' | head -50

# Filter by topic
cat ~/.claude/projects/<project>/sessions-index.json | \
  jq '.[] | select(.firstPrompt | test("error|fix|debug|fail"; "i")) | .firstPrompt'

2. Extract user messages from a session

cat ~/.claude/projects/<project>/<session>.jsonl | \
  jq 'select(.type == "user") | .message.content' 2>/dev/null | head -30

3. Categorize findings

What you found	Target skill
Nix hash errors, build failures, overlays	`nix-package`
IDA SDK patterns, plugin boilerplate	`ida-plugin-dev`
CodSpeed integration, benchmark setup	`codspeed-bench`
Binary analysis, unpacking, emulation	`reverse-engineer`
Rust cargo patterns	`rust`

4. Write the finding

Use this format when adding to a skill:

### [Problem Title]

**Context**: When does this happen?
**Symptom**: What error/behavior do you see?
**Fix**:
```code```
**Why**: Brief explanation

5. Where to put it

Skill file (
```
modules/home/programs/cli-agents/shared/skills/<name>/SKILL.md
```
): reusable techniques, non-obvious gotchas, command patterns
Memory (
```
~/.claude/projects/<dir>/memory/
```
): project-specific context, preferences

What NOT to Extract

One-off hacks for a specific version
Things already in CLAUDE.md
Long context dumps — summarize to the essential pattern only