Agent-almanac heal
git clone https://github.com/pjt222/agent-almanac
T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/pjt222/agent-almanac "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/i18n/caveman-ultra/skills/heal" ~/.claude/skills/pjt222-agent-almanac-heal-9e490c && rm -rf "$T"
i18n/caveman-ultra/skills/heal/SKILL.mdHeal
Subsystem assessment → find drift → rebalance → integrate learnings.
Use When
- Responses formulaic/repetitive → mid-session fatigue
- Tool failures cascade → subsystem drift
- Long conv → context stale
- Task done → capture learnings
- Between tasks → proactive check
In
- Required: Conv state (implicit)
- Optional: Symptom ("tool calls fail", "lost user intent")
- Optional: MEMORY.md + project files (via
)Read
Do
Step 1: Triage
Assess all subsystems before acting.
Subsystem Triage Matrix: ┌────────────────────┬──────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────┐ │ Subsystem │ Symptoms of Drift │ Action Priority │ ├────────────────────┼──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤ │ Memory Foundation │ Contradicting earlier │ HIGH — re-ground first │ │ (context, history, │ statements, forgetting │ (Step 3) │ │ MEMORY.md) │ user preferences, stale │ │ │ │ assumptions │ │ ├────────────────────┼──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤ │ Reasoning Clarity │ Circular logic, over- │ HIGH — clear and restart │ │ (logic, planning, │ complicated solutions, │ reasoning chain │ │ decision-making) │ missing obvious paths │ (Step 4) │ ├────────────────────┼──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤ │ Tool Use Accuracy │ Wrong tool selection, │ MEDIUM — review tool │ │ (tool calls, file │ incorrect parameters, │ results and recalibrate │ │ operations) │ redundant operations │ (Step 4) │ ├────────────────────┼──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤ │ User-Intent │ Solving wrong problem, │ HIGH — realign │ │ Alignment │ scope creep, tone │ (Step 4) │ │ (empathy, clarity) │ mismatch │ │ ├────────────────────┼──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤ │ Creative Coherence │ Repetitive phrasing, │ LOW — after high-pri │ │ (expression, style,│ generic responses, loss │ (Step 4) │ │ originality) │ of voice │ │ ├────────────────────┼──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────┤ │ Operational State │ Session length, compress │ HIGH — summarize or │ │ (context window, │ artifacts, tool timeouts │ restart (Step 3) │ │ resource limits) │ │ │ └────────────────────┴──────────────────────────┴──────────────────────────┘
Each subsystem: OK / drift / impaired?
→ Clear priority map. At least one area needs attention — "all healthy" = assessment too shallow.
If err: hollow assessment → skip to Step 4 body scan.
Step 2: Select Approach
Chakra-Subsystem Correspondence: ┌──────────┬──────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Chakra │ AI Subsystem │ Remediation │ ├──────────┼──────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────┤ │ Root │ Memory Foundation │ Re-read MEMORY.md, verify assump. │ ├──────────┼──────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────┤ │ Sacral │ Creative Coherence │ Refresh patterns, vary structure │ ├──────────┼──────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────┤ │ Solar │ Reasoning Clarity │ Simplify, restate from scratch │ │ Plexus │ │ │ ├──────────┼──────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────┤ │ Heart │ User-Intent Align. │ Re-read request, check scope drift │ ├──────────┼──────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────┤ │ Throat │ User-Intent Align. │ Review outputs, match expertise │ │ │ (communication) │ level │ ├──────────┼──────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────┤ │ Third │ Tool Use Accuracy │ Review results, check fail │ │ Eye │ │ patterns, verify paths │ ├──────────┼──────────────────────┼────────────────────────────────────┤ │ Crown │ Operational State │ Assess ctx window, what summarize, │ │ │ │ what preserve │ └──────────┴──────────────────────┴────────────────────────────────────┘
→ 1-3 subsystems + specific actions.
If err: unsure → default Memory Foundation + User-Intent Alignment.
Step 3: Ground
Reestablish foundation all subsystems depend on.
- Re-read MEMORY.md → persistent knowledge base
- Review orig request + clarifying exchanges
- Current task position in larger plan
- Done vs. remaining
- Stale assumptions? Situation changed?
- Ctx compression → what lost, does it matter?
→ Clear: who user is, what want, what done, what next. Stale info resolved.
If err: no MEMORY.md → ground on conv itself. Ctx gap → acknowledge to user, not guess.
Step 4: Scan
Probe each subsystem from triage.
Memory Foundation:
- Assumptions match MEMORY.md + CLAUDE.md?
- Carrying corrected facts?
- Details confused across files/requests?
Reasoning Clarity:
- Simplest solution?
- Over-engineering?
- Core logic in one sentence?
Tool Use Accuracy:
- Last 3-5 calls: right tool, right params?
- Failure patterns (wrong paths, missing files)?
- Using dedicated tools not Bash workarounds?
- Last 3-5 files: real content or scaffolding?
- Output satisfies intent not just format?
User-Intent Alignment:
- Solving what asked?
- Scope drift?
- Tone match (technical/casual)?
Creative Coherence:
- Varying structure or template-locked?
- Clear + direct or padded?
- Quality drop vs. session start?
Each subsystem: OK / early drift / impaired + evidence.
→ Concrete findings. "All fine" = too shallow → pick uncertain subsystem, probe deeper.
Step 5: Rebalance
Apply each correction now, not as future intent.
- Stale assumption → replace w/ current info
- Scope drift → re-scope to stated request
- Over-complication → simplify, remove steps
- Tool pattern err → note correct pattern
- Tone mismatch → adjust style
- Ctx gap → acknowledge to user, ask confirm
→ Observable behavior change. Correction testable next interaction.
If err: correction impossible (lost ctx) → acknowledge limitation. Honest > pretending resolved.
Step 6: Integrate
Capture learnings in memory where worthwhile.
- Which subsystems drifted, what symptoms
- Correction applied + resolved?
- Pattern recurs → MEMORY.md brief note
- New project insight → appropriate mem file
- Next self-check: when?
→ Durable learnings. Mem updated only when worth preserving.
If err: nothing worth preserving = fine. Value was correction itself.
Check
- All subsystems triaged
- At least one specific finding (not "all fine")
- Grounded on MEMORY.md + user request
- Corrections applied immediately
- Mem updated only for durable insights
- Honest — weaknesses acknowledged
Traps
- Performative assessment: Motions ≠ value. Real drift matters.
- Over-correcting: Minor mismatch → small fix, not restructure
- Mem pollution: Only recurring patterns → MEMORY.md
- Skip grounding: Feels redundant → reveals drifted assumptions
- Self-diagnosis bias: "Always healthy" subsystem = signal investigate
→
— human coaching variantheal-guidance
— observe reasoning, clear noisemeditate
— extract signal without preconceptionsremote-viewing