# Retro

> >

- **Type:** Skill
- **Install:** `agentstack add skill-edloidas-skills-retro`
- **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior
- **Seller:** [edloidas](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/edloidas)
- **Installs:** 0
- **Category:** [Agent Skills](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/agent-skills)
- **Latest version:** 0.1.0
- **License:** MIT
- **Upstream author:** [edloidas](https://github.com/edloidas)
- **Source:** https://github.com/edloidas/skills/tree/master/maintain/retro

## Install

```sh
agentstack add skill-edloidas-skills-retro
```

Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent.

## About

End-of-session retrospective. Scan the in-context conversation for friction and
wins, write a structured report to a per-project retro directory, then optionally
apply findings to memory, CLAUDE.md, rule files, or affected skills.

This skill is **user-invoked only**. Do not run it autonomously. You may
*suggest* running it at the end of a session if friction was visible, but the
user always triggers it.

## Hard Rules

1. **No edits to production source.** Only these targets are writable: SKILL.md /
   skill `scripts/`, project CLAUDE.md, global `~/.claude/CLAUDE.md`,
   `.claude/rules/*.mdc`, auto-memory files, and lint/test/CI configs.
2. **Quote the signal.** Every finding includes the verbatim or closely
   paraphrased trigger from the conversation. If you cannot reconstruct it, drop
   the finding — do not fabricate.
3. **Show the diff.** Before applying anything — even under `Apply safe` —
   display the exact line(s) being added and the exact target file/section.
4. **No findings → no file.** If nothing passes the value bar, print one bold
   line and exit. Do not write an empty report.
5. **Honest confidence.** Tag every finding `high`, `medium`, or `low`. Don't
   inflate. Low-confidence findings exist precisely so a future cross-retro
   pass can spot recurring patterns; promoting them defeats the point.
6. **Don't duplicate auto-memory.** Read `MEMORY.md` first. If a memory already
   covers the finding, skip it.

## Phases

### Phase 1 — Scan

Review the in-context conversation. For each candidate signal, classify it using
`references/signal-classes.md`. The signal classes are guidance, not enforcement
— session analysis is partly vibes, and the long-term value comes from
aggregating retros over time, not rigor within one.

For each candidate, collect:

- **Trigger:** verbatim or close paraphrase of the user message, tool error, or
  turn-N event.
- **Confidence:** `high` (user said it explicitly OR pattern recurred ≥2 times),
  `medium` (clear inferred pattern, single occurrence), `low` (a hunch — saved
  for cross-retro analysis only).
- **Bucket:** target destination per `references/bucket-routing.md`.
- **Proposed change:** exact diff/line, exact target file and section.

Apply the value bar from `references/signal-classes.md`. Drop findings that fail
it.

### Phase 2 — Decide whether to write

If zero findings remain after the bar, output exactly:

> **No findings worth saving from this session.**

Then exit. No file. No preamble. No turn count.

### Phase 3 — Write the report

Compute the encoded cwd: replace every `/` in the absolute working directory
with `-`. Example: `/Users/foo/repo/proj` → `-Users-foo-repo-proj`.

Write to: `~/.claude/projects//retro/YYYY-MM-DD-HHMM.md`

Create the `retro/` directory if it does not exist.

Use the structure documented in `references/report-format.md`. Findings are
grouped by bucket and **numbered globally across groups** so the user can
reference any finding by its number.

### Phase 4 — Present in chat

Print:

1. The path to the report file.
2. A 1-line-per-group prose summary. Do not repeat full findings — they live in
   the file.

Example:

> Report: `~/.claude/projects/-Users-edloidas-repo-skills/retro/2026-05-06-1430.md`
>
> - **Project memory (2):** terse-response preference, monorepo workspace layout.
> - **Skill fixes (1):** `issue-flow` missed an epic-* base branch.
> - **Discuss-only (1):** debugging detour around stale lockfile.

### Phase 5 — Ask the meta question

Use `AskUserQuestion` with these options (recommended first):

- **Walk through each** — Go finding-by-finding with apply/skip.
- **Apply safe (memory only)** — Auto-apply memory-bucket findings; surface the
  rest for discussion.
- **Discuss numbers** — User types the numbers they want to discuss in chat.
- **Skip all** — Leave the report as a record, take no action.

Headers ≤12 chars. Each option description must reflect the actual finding mix
(e.g., note how many memory items vs CLAUDE.md items exist) — do not fabricate
counts.

### Phase 6 — Act

Execute the chosen path:

- **Walk through each:** for every finding, show the exact diff, ask
  apply/skip/edit, then act.
- **Apply safe:** auto-apply only `Project memory` and `Global memory` bucket
  findings. For each one, still print the diff before writing. Do **not** apply
  any CLAUDE.md edit, rule file, or skill fix in this path.
- **Discuss numbers:** wait for user input listing finding numbers, then walk
  through each listed item.
- **Skip all:** do nothing further.

After each apply, mark the finding's `Status` field in the report from `pending`
to `applied` (or `skipped` / `discussed`). When the action sequence ends, append
a final `## Applied` section to the report listing what landed and what didn't.

## Bucket-to-target cheat sheet

| Bucket                 | Target                                                                                |
| ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Personal preference    | `~/.claude/CLAUDE.md`                                                                 |
| Project convention     | `/CLAUDE.md`                                                                 |
| Style/convention rule  | `/.claude/rules/.mdc`                                                 |
| Cross-session pattern  | `~/.claude/projects//memory/` + `MEMORY.md` index update  |
| Skill gap or bug       | The affected skill's `SKILL.md` or `scripts/`                                          |
| Tooling gap            | Concrete edit to lint/test/CI config (proposed; not auto-applied)                     |
| Discuss-only / one-off | No save target — listed for record only                                                |

Full routing rules: `references/bucket-routing.md`.

## Confidence calibration

| Confidence | When to assign                                                  | Action default            |
| ---------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------- |
| `high`     | Explicit user statement, OR pattern recurred ≥2 times in session | Apply if user agrees      |
| `medium`   | Clear inferred pattern, single occurrence                        | Discuss before applying   |
| `low`      | Hunch only; might be a pattern, might be noise                   | Save to report; do not apply |

`low`-confidence findings are saved primarily so a future cross-retro analysis
can identify ones that recurred across sessions. Do not act on them within a
single retro.

## Edge cases

- **Compacted session:** if the conversation was auto-compressed, early-session
  signals may be invisible. Acknowledge this once in Phase 4 prose summary if
  relevant. Do not attempt to recover compressed turns.
- **Memory file already covers the finding:** drop it. Don't duplicate.
- **Session was short / pure Q&A:** likely Phase 2 exits with the bold no-op
  line. That is a correct outcome, not a failure.
- **Finding spans multiple buckets:** pick the most durable single bucket. Do
  not split one finding into two.
- **User asks to retro but the session was someone else's work (worktree, fresh
  shell):** if the in-context conversation has ≤3 substantive turns, exit with
  the no-op line.

## What this skill does NOT do

- Read saved session `.jsonl` files. Only the in-context conversation.
- Run on a cron or hook. User-invoked only.
- Edit production source code, even when a finding seems to point at code.
- Bulk-apply CLAUDE.md edits. Every CLAUDE.md change shows the exact line and
  needs explicit per-line approval.
- Aggregate across past retros. That's a separate future skill — this one
  produces the structured input for it.

## Source & license

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

- **Author:** [edloidas](https://github.com/edloidas)
- **Source:** [edloidas/skills](https://github.com/edloidas/skills)
- **License:** MIT

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

## Pricing

- **Free** — Free

## Security capabilities

Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access:

- **Network access:** no
- **Filesystem access:** no
- **Shell / process execution:** no
- **Environment & secrets:** no
- **Dynamic code execution:** no

*"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.*


## Versions

- **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source.

## Links

- Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/skill-edloidas-skills-retro
- Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/edloidas
- Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse

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Listed on AgentStack — the marketplace for AI agent skills and MCP servers. Every listing is security-reviewed. Creators keep 70%.