Coach - Self-Improving Learning System
Coach enables Claude to learn from friction and improve over time. It detects learning opportunities (user corrections, repeated instructions, tool failures, tone escalation), extracts actionable improvement candidates, and proposes changes requiring explicit user approval.
Core Principle: No silent writes. All improvements require user approval via /coach approve.
Activation Triggers
Activate when: user corrections ("no", "stop", "don't"), repeated instructions, tool/command failures, tone escalation (ALL CAPS, "!!!"), skill supplements ("also remember..."), deprecated-tool warnings, explicit /coach commands, or session end.
Signal Categories (Priority Order)
- COMMAND_FAILURE (Highest) - Non-zero exit, stderr patterns
- USER_CORRECTION (High) - Explicit correction language
- SKILL_SUPPLEMENT (High) - Additional guidance for a skill
- VERSION_ISSUE (Medium-High) - Deprecated/outdated warnings
- REPETITION (Medium) - Semantically similar instruction repeated
- TONE_ESCALATION (Low) - Frustration indicators
Candidate Types
| Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
rule | Stable constraint | "Never edit generated files" |
checklist | Workflow step | "Run tests after code change" |
snippet | Repeatable command | "Preflight check script" |
skill | Skill update suggestion | "Add X guidance to Y skill" |
antipattern | Things to never do | "Never assume tool exists" |
Workflow Summary
- Detection — hooks capture events →
~/.claude-coach/events.sqlite - Generation — aggregate signals into proposals (fingerprints dedupe)
- Scope — project vs global per path/language
- Review —
/coach reviewapproves/rejects/edits - Apply — approved rules → CLAUDE.md
- Retro —
/coach retromaps manual work to skill gaps, opens PRs at source repos
File Locations
~/.claude-coach/
├── events.sqlite # Raw friction events
├── candidates.json # Pending proposals
└── ledger.sqlite # Cross-repo fingerprints
~/.claude/ or <repo>/.claude/
├── CLAUDE.md # Rules destination
├── checklists/ # Workflow checklists
└── snippets/ # Reusable commandsScripts
Execute from ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/:
| Script | Purpose |
|---|---|
init_coach.py | Initialize coach system |
detect_signals.py | Pattern detection for friction |
aggregate.py | Turn signals into candidates |
skill_analyzer.py | Analyze skills and scan for outdated tools |
apply.py | Apply approved proposals |
Proactive Commands
/coach scan— Check for outdated CLI tools and dependencies/coach retro— Session retrospective: analyze manual work, create PRs to improve skills at source
For detailed architecture, schemas, and patterns, see references/ directory.