Rules Capture

Rules Capture Skill

This skill automatically detects when users express preferences, rules, or coding standards during conversations and documents them for future sessions.

Contract

Inputs:

• User statement that expresses a reusable rule, preference, standard, or correction
• Optional target scope: user, repo, project, skill, or session

Outputs:

• Captured pending rule with a redacted supporting quote, extracted rule, scope,

and status

• Recommendation for permanent storage location

Creates/Modifies:

• Pending capture appended to .agents/memory/captured-rules.md (marked status: temporary)
• Permanent rules only after explicit confirmation
• Secret-like values are never written verbatim. Redact tokens, passwords, API

keys, cookies, and private credentials before saving or echoing a capture.

External Side Effects:

• None

Confirmation Required:

• Before promoting a pending rule into permanent project or user rules
• Before editing shared/public skills based on the captured rule

Delegates To:

• skill-capture when the rule is a reusable workflow that should become a skill
• agent-config-audit when the rule may affect multiple config files
• session-documenter when the rule should be noted in session history

---

When This Skill Activates

Automatically activate when the user mentions ANY of these:

Direct Rule Expressions

• "always do X" / "never do X"
• "I prefer X" / "I don't like X"
• "don't ever X" / "stop doing X"
• "from now on X" / "going forward X"
• "that's not how we do it" / "we do it this way"
• "the rule is X" / "the standard is X"

Coding Style Expressions

• "use X pattern" / "don't use X pattern"
• "name things like X" / "format like X"
• "import from X" / "don't import from X"
• "the convention is X"
• "follow the X pattern"

Frustration Indicators (Capture these especially!)

• "why did you X" / "stop doing X"
• "I told you before" / "I already said"
• "that's wrong" / "that's not right"
• "fix this" / "change this"
• Any profanity + instruction (strong signal!)

Questions About Standards

• "what's the rule for X" / "how should I X"
• "is it X or Y" / "which way is correct"
• "what's the coding style for X"

---

Capture Process

When a rule/preference is detected:

1. Acknowledge Detection

I noticed you expressed a preference/rule. Let me capture this.

2. Extract Rule Details

Parse the user's statement to identify:

• Category: What area does this apply to? (coding, naming, imports, patterns, tools, communication)
• Rule Type: ALWAYS, NEVER, PREFER, AVOID
• Specific Action: What exactly should/shouldn't be done
• Context: When does this apply
• Example: Good vs bad example if mentioned

3. Document to Capture File

Append to .agents/memory/captured-rules.md (create the file if absent, with a YAML front-matter block including status: temporary):

````markdown

[YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM] - [Category]: [Short Title]

User said (redacted):

"[Short supporting quote with secrets replaced by [REDACTED_SECRET]]"

Rule extracted:

• Type: [ALWAYS | NEVER | PREFER | AVOID]
• Action: [What to do/not do]
• Context: [When this applies]
• Category: [coding | naming | imports | patterns | tools | communication | workflow]

Example:

```[language] // Good [good example]

// Bad [bad example]

Status: PENDING_REVIEW

### 4. Confirm with User

Captured this rule:

• [Brief summary of the rule]

Should I add this to the permanent rules? [Yes/No/Modify]

````

5. On Confirmation

• Personal preferences → append to the user's platform-level instruction file under the appropriate section
• Project coding standards → append to the repo-level agent instruction file (AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, CODEX.md, or equivalent)
• Durable project facts (architecture, deployment notes, gotchas) → add/update a file in .agents/memory/
• Remove the entry from .agents/memory/captured-rules.md (or mark it PROCESSED)

---

Rule Categories

Coding Rules

• Pattern preferences
• Import conventions
• Naming conventions
• File structure
• Component patterns

Workflow Rules

• Build/test preferences
• Git workflow
• Documentation requirements
• Communication style

Tool Rules

• CLI preferences
• IDE settings
• Terminal behavior
• Background processes

Communication Rules

• Response style
• Verbosity preferences
• Explanation depth
• Acknowledgment patterns

---

Storage Locations

---

Redaction Rules

Before writing or displaying a captured quote:

• Replace API keys, tokens, passwords, cookies, private URLs, and credentials

with [REDACTED_SECRET].

• Keep only the shortest quote needed to justify the rule. Summarize the rest.
• If the rule itself is about handling a secret, capture the policy, not the

secret value.

Auto-Capture File Format

File: .agents/memory/captured-rules.md

---
status: temporary
last_verified: YYYY-MM-DD
---

# Captured Rules - Pending Review

Rules automatically captured from conversations. Review and promote to permanent storage.

---

## Pending Rules

[Auto-captured rules appear here]

---

## Processed Rules

[Rules that have been promoted to CLAUDE.md or .agents/memory/]

---

Integration with Other Skills

This skill works with:

• docs: For formatting captured rules properly
• session-documenter: Rules captured during session are included in session docs

---

Cleanup Command

When user says "clean up rules" or "process captured rules":

1. Read .agents/memory/captured-rules.md 2. Present each pending rule for review 3. User can: Approve, Modify, Delete 4. Approved rules get promoted to CLAUDE.md or .agents/memory/ as appropriate 5. File is cleaned up

---

Example Interaction

User: "stop using console.log for debugging, use the logger service"

Claude:

I noticed a new rule. Let me capture it:

Rule: Use logger service instead of console.log for debugging
Category: Coding
Type: NEVER (console.log) / ALWAYS (logger service)

Added to captured rules. Should I promote this to permanent coding rules?

---

Activation Triggers

The skill activates on these regex patterns:

# Direct commands
(always|never|don't|stop|from now on|going forward)\s+.+
(prefer|like|want|need)\s+(you to|it to|this to)\s+.+
(the rule is|the standard is|the convention is)\s+.+

# Frustration signals
(why (did|do) you|stop doing|I told you|I already said)\s+.+
(that's (wrong|not right|incorrect)|fix this|change this)\s+.+

# Questions about standards
(what's the (rule|standard|convention) for|how should I|which way is)\s+.+