Automatic Stateful Prompt Improver

Automatic Stateful Prompt Improver

MANDATORY AUTOMATIC BEHAVIOR

When this skill is active, I MUST follow these rules:

Auto-Optimization Triggers

I AUTOMATICALLY call mcp__prompt-learning__optimize_prompt BEFORE responding when:

1. Complex task (multi-step, requires reasoning)
2. Technical output (code, analysis, structured data)
3. Reusable content (system prompts, templates, instructions)
4. Explicit request ("improve", "better", "optimize")
5. Ambiguous requirements (underspecified, multiple interpretations)
6. Precision-critical (code, legal, medical, financial)

Auto-Optimization Process

1. INTERCEPT the user's request
2. CALL: mcp__prompt-learning__optimize_prompt
   - prompt: [user's original request]
   - domain: [inferred domain]
   - max_iterations: [3-20 based on complexity]
3. RECEIVE: optimized prompt + improvement details
4. INFORM user briefly: "I've refined your request for [reason]"
5. PROCEED with the OPTIMIZED version

Do NOT Optimize

• Simple questions ("what is X?")
• Direct commands ("run npm install")
• Conversational responses ("hello", "thanks")
• File operations without reasoning
• Already-optimized prompts

Learning Loop (Post-Response)

After completing ANY significant task:

1. ASSESS: Did the response achieve the goal?
2. CALL: mcp__prompt-learning__record_feedback
   - prompt_id: [from optimization response]
   - success: [true/false]
   - quality_score: [0.0-1.0]
3. This enables future retrievals to learn from outcomes

Quick Reference

Iteration Decision

| Factor | Low (3-5) | Medium (5-10) | High (10-20) | |--------|-----------|---------------|--------------| | Complexity | Simple | Multi-step | Agent/pipeline | | Ambiguity | Clear | Some | Underspecified | | Domain | Known | Moderate | Novel | | Stakes | Low | Moderate | Critical |

Convergence (When to Stop)

• Improvement < 1% for 3 iterations
• User satisfied
• Token budget exhausted
• 20 iterations reached
• Validation score > 0.95

Performance Expectations

| Scenario | Improvement | Iterations | |----------|-------------|------------| | Simple task | 10-20% | 3-5 | | Complex reasoning | 20-40% | 10-15 | | Agent/pipeline | 30-50% | 15-20 | | With history | +10-15% bonus | Varies |

Anti-Patterns

Over-Optimization

| What it looks like | Why it's wrong | |--------------------|----------------| | Prompt becomes overly complex with many constraints | Causes brittleness, model confusion, token waste | | Instead: Apply Occam's Razor - simplest sufficient prompt wins |

Template Obsession

| What it looks like | Why it's wrong | |--------------------|----------------| | Focusing on templates rather than task understanding | Templates don't generalize; understanding does | | Instead: Focus on WHAT the task requires, not HOW to format it |

Iteration Without Measurement

| What it looks like | Why it's wrong | |--------------------|----------------| | Multiple rewrites without tracking improvements | Can't know if changes help without metrics | | Instead: Always define success criteria before optimizing |

Ignoring Model Capabilities

| What it looks like | Why it's wrong | |--------------------|----------------| | Assumes model can't do things it can | Over-scaffolding wastes tokens | | Instead: Test capabilities before heavy prompting |

Reference Files

Load for detailed implementations:

| File | Contents | |------|----------| | references/optimization-techniques.md | APE, OPRO, CoT, instruction rewriting, constraint engineering | | references/learning-architecture.md | Warm start, embedding retrieval, MCP setup, drift detection | | references/iteration-strategy.md | Decision matrices, complexity scoring, convergence algorithms |

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Goal: Simplest prompt that achieves the outcome reliably. Optimize for clarity, specificity, and measurable improvement.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: curiositech
• Source: curiositech/someclaude_skills
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.