selftune

selftune

Observe real agent sessions, detect missed triggers, grade execution quality, evolve skills through package evaluation (replay, baseline, grading, body, unit tests, and post-deploy watch), and scaffold workflow skills from repeated telemetry patterns.

You are the operator. The user installed this skill so YOU can manage their skill health autonomously. They will say things like "set up selftune", "improve my skills", or "how are my skills doing?" — and you route to the correct workflow below. The user does not run CLI commands directly; you do.

Bootstrap

Search, load, and task-scoped activation do not require telemetry initialization. Do not run setup merely to use existing local packages through SkillSearch.

If ~/.selftune/config.json does not exist, read workflows/Initialize.md first. The CLI must be installed (selftune on PATH) before other commands will work. Do not proceed with other commands until initialization is complete.

Primary Lifecycle

Default to this lifecycle unless the user explicitly asks for a low-level workflow:

1. status

   • use selftune status
   • for draft packages, use selftune create status --skill-path <path>

2. verify

   • use selftune verify --skill-path <path>
   • if verify reports missing readiness or evidence, follow the returned next low-level command instead of rerunning the full chain

3. publish

   • for draft packages, use selftune publish --skill-path <path>
   • for already-live skills, publish usually means a validated Improve action plus Watch

4. improve

   • use selftune improve --skill <name> --skill-path <path>
   • let --scope auto choose bounded package search automatically when the skill already has package evidence or a draft package manifest
   • set --scope description|routing|body|package when the measured gap is already clear and you want to force the mutation surface
   • use --scope package when the problem spans routing and body together or you want measured frontier comparison before deciding what to publish
   • omit --dry-run when you want the winning package candidate promoted back into the draft automatically

5. run

   • use selftune run

Treat eval generate, unit-test, replay, baseline, watch, and body-specific evolution as advanced supporting workflows unless the user asks for them directly or the default lifecycle fails.

Command Execution Policy

selftune <command> [options]

Commands vary in output format:

• JSON by default: selftune doctor and selftune watch emit structured JSON on stdout.
• Text by default: selftune status, selftune last, selftune verify, selftune publish, and selftune improve print human-readable text when stdout is a TTY.
• Mixed runtime output: selftune run / selftune orchestrate emit JSON on stdout and a human report on stderr.
• JSON opt-in: selftune sync --json enables structured JSON output.
• Server: selftune dashboard starts a local SPA server — it does not emit data.
• MCP server: selftune mcp serve exposes the read-only local skill registry over stdio.
• JSON: selftune library reconciles installed, cached, draft, and archived packages.
• Search: selftune skills search "task or collection" --json finds local skills without activating them; see workflows/SkillSearch.md.

For health remediation, prefer machine-readable guidance.next_command or top-level next_command from selftune doctor output instead of inferring the next step from prose.

Run selftune <command> --help for exact flags. Read references/cli-quick-reference.md when you need the full flag reference.

Package Evaluation Pipeline (Creator Trust Loop)

When the user wants to improve a skill, default to this package evaluation pipeline before jumping straight to mutation. Each step builds measured evidence that the package is ready to publish:

• draft — the package exists but is still incomplete
• verify_blocked — the draft is still in one of the concrete readiness states: needs_spec_validation, needs_package_resources, needs_evals, needs_unit_tests, needs_routing_replay, or needs_baseline
• verified — the trust gates pass and the skill is ready to ship
• published — the skill was shipped successfully
• watching — post-deploy monitoring is active
• needs_improvement — measured evidence shows trigger, routing, body, or value gaps
• unhealthy — hooks, telemetry, config, or selftune itself is broken

If the user asks "how do I know this skill works?" or "can I trust this skill yet?", start with this pipeline, then use selftune status, the dashboard, or the skill report to explain what is still missing, whether the package is ready to publish, or whether it is already being watched live.

Device-Backed Proof Standard

When the user asks for proof using actual data, a before-and-after, or evidence from their device, do not substitute synthetic fixtures, aggregate scores, or a Git-only correction for the requested evidence.

1. Resolve one genuine local session or trace to the original user input and observed assistant output before evaluating a candidate.
2. Freeze the source path, session ID, event timestamps, harness, model/config, exact input, and relevant skill revisions or policy digests.
3. Display a faithful baseline excerpt and the concrete candidate output side by side. A pass-rate summary is not a substitute for the visible outputs.
4. Grade both outputs against the same explicit behavioral checks and cite the source events that satisfy or violate each check.
5. Treat synthetic and Git-backed cases as plumbing or regression evidence, not as proof that a real user trajectory improved.
6. Do not declare the real-data requirement complete until at least one on-device case has been shown. If an isolated hosted replay would expose local data without approval, use an already-observed correction trajectory or a local harness and state the harness limitation instead of fabricating equivalence.

Workflow Routing

For find/search skills, use a collection for this task, temporary project skills, or cleanup of task skills, use workflows/SkillSearch.md. Search first, load only selected instructions, and clean up the task's activation before finishing.

Trigger keywords	Workflow	File
create skill, new skill package, author skill, bootstrap skill, scaffold package, benchmark report, package report, publish report	Create	workflows/Create.md
verify skill, creator loop, can I trust this skill, how do I know this skill works, test this skill, ready to ship, ready to deploy	Verify	workflows/Verify.md
publish skill, ship skill, deploy skill, go live, release skill	Publish	workflows/Publish.md
search run, package frontier, candidate search, bounded package evolution, compare package candidates, optimize package, improve routing and body together, bounded evolution	SearchRun	workflows/SearchRun.md
grade, score, evaluate, assess session, auto-grade	Grade	workflows/Grade.md
evals, eval set, undertriggering, skill stats, eval generate	Evals	workflows/Evals.md
improve, optimize skills, make skills better, triggers, catch more queries, apply proposal, apply contributor proposal	Improve	workflows/Improve.md
evolve description, description-only evolution, improve trigger wording	Evolve	workflows/Evolve.md
evolve body, evolve routing, full body evolution, rewrite skill, teacher student, review local trace candidate, prepare candidate	EvolveBody	workflows/EvolveBody.md
evolve rollback, undo, restore, revert evolution, go back, undo last change	Rollback	workflows/Rollback.md
watch, monitor, regression, post-deploy, keep an eye on	Watch	workflows/Watch.md
doctor, health, hooks, broken, diagnose, not working, something wrong	Doctor	workflows/Doctor.md
ingest, import, codex logs, opencode, openclaw, pi, wrap codex	Ingest	workflows/Ingest.md
replay, backfill, claude transcripts, historical sessions	Replay	workflows/Replay.md
contributions, sharing preferences, opt in/out creator sharing, approve/revoke contributions	Contributions	workflows/Contributions.md
creator contributions, selftune.contribute.json, enable/disable creator contribution	CreatorContributions	workflows/CreatorContributions.md
signals dashboard, contributor signals, signals page, community dashboard, community data, contributor stats, signal health, how are signals, how is community	SignalsDashboard	workflows/SignalsDashboard.md
contribute, share, export bundle, export data, anonymized, give back	Contribute	workflows/Contribute.md
init, setup, set up, bootstrap, first time, install, configure selftune	Initialize	workflows/Initialize.md
cron, schedule, automate evolution, run automatically	Cron	workflows/Cron.md
schedule, selftune schedule, launchd, systemd, crontab, automation setup	Schedule	workflows/Schedule.md
background service, daemon, launch at login, persistent dashboard, menu bar service, service unavailable, stale service lock, repair lock, rotate local token	Service	workflows/Service.md
auto-activate, suggestions, activation rules, nag, why suggest	AutoActivation	workflows/AutoActivation.md
dashboard, visual, open dashboard, show dashboard, serve dashboard	Dashboard	workflows/Dashboard.md
evolution memory, session continuity, what happened last	EvolutionMemory	workflows/EvolutionMemory.md
grade baseline, baseline lift, adds value, skill value, no-skill comparison	Baseline	workflows/Baseline.md
eval unit-test, skill test, test skill, generate tests, run tests	UnitTest	workflows/UnitTest.md
run output evals, compare with no skill, benchmark skill output, eval iteration, blind comparison	EvalRun	workflows/EvalRun.md
eval composability, co-occurrence, skill conflicts, family overlap, sibling confusion	Composability	workflows/Composability.md
eval import, skillsbench, external evals, benchmark tasks	ImportSkillsBench	workflows/ImportSkillsBench.md
telemetry, analytics, disable analytics, opt out, tracking, privacy	Telemetry	workflows/Telemetry.md
orchestrate, autonomous, full loop, improve all skills, run selftune, run selftune loop, run with package search, automatic package improvement	Run	workflows/Run.md
sync, refresh, source truth, rescan sessions	Sync	workflows/Sync.md
badge, readme badge, skill badge, health badge	Badge	workflows/Badge.md
workflows, discover workflows, scaffold workflow skill, build skill from logs	Workflows	workflows/Workflows.md
recover, rebuild sqlite, recover db, legacy backfill	Recover	workflows/Recover.md
quickstart, getting started, onboard, first time setup, new user	Quickstart	workflows/Quickstart.md
uninstall, remove selftune, clean up, teardown	Uninstall	workflows/Uninstall.md
repair, rebuild usage, fix skill usage, trustworthy usage	RepairSkillUsage	workflows/RepairSkillUsage.md
unused skills, inactive skills, duplicate installations, outdated skill versions, consolidate skills, remove skill, prune skills, clean up skills, skill portfolio, quarantine skill, restore skill	SkillPortfolio	workflows/SkillPortfolio.md
skill library, all skills, installed locations, cached skills, archived skills, reconcile skills	Library	workflows/Library.md
skill set, suggest skill sets, classify skills, skill categories, co-used skills, project skills, reusable skill setup, link skills, symlink skills, apply skills to project, project profile, add skill set to project, set up project skills	SkillSets	workflows/SkillSets.md
export canonical, canonical export, canonical telemetry, push payload	ExportCanonical	workflows/ExportCanonical.md
hook, run hook, invoke hook, manual hook, debug hook	Hook	workflows/Hook.md
codex/opencode/cline/pi hooks, platform hooks, non-claude hooks, multi-agent	PlatformHooks	workflows/PlatformHooks.md
registry, distribute, push/suggest/install/sync/rollback skill, submit local skill changes, team skills	Registry	workflows/Registry.md
export, dump, jsonl, export sqlite, debug export	Export	(direct: selftune export)
status, health summary, skill health, how are skills, run selftune	Status	(direct: selftune status)
last, last session, recent session, what happened	Last	(direct: selftune last)

Workflows Grade, Improve, Watch, and Ingest also run autonomously via selftune orchestrate. When package evaluation evidence exists, selftune orchestrate (aliased as selftune run) can automatically select package-level bounded search instead of description-level evolve.

Interactive Configuration

Before running mutating workflows (evolve, evolve-body, evals, baseline), consult references/interactive-config.md for the pre-flight configuration pattern, model tier reference, and quick-path rules.

Specialized Agents

selftune bundles focused agents in agents/. Read the relevant agent file and follow its instructions — either inline or by spawning a subagent.

Trigger keywords	Agent file	When to use
diagnose, root cause, why failing, debug performance	agents/diagnosis-analyst.md	Recurring low grades or unclear failures after doctor/status
patterns, conflicts, cross-skill, overlap	agents/pattern-analyst.md	Skills overlap, misroute, or interfere
review evolution, check proposal, safe to deploy	agents/evolution-reviewer.md	Before deploying high-stakes or marginal evolutions
set up selftune, integrate, configure project	agents/integration-guide.md	Complex setup: monorepos, multi-skill, mixed-platform
local trace candidate, evidence cohort proposal	agents/evidence-cohort-teacher.md	Prepare a bounded review-only body candidate from trace patterns

Advanced Workflows

Load these when the user explicitly asks for a low-level step, when the primary lifecycle fails, or when debugging needs deeper evidence:

• workflows/Evals.md
• workflows/UnitTest.md
• workflows/EvalRun.md
• workflows/Baseline.md
• workflows/Replay.md
• workflows/Watch.md
• workflows/Evolve.md
• workflows/EvolveBody.md
• workflows/Composability.md
• workflows/ImportSkillsBench.md
• workflows/SkillPortfolio.md
• workflows/SkillSearch.md
• workflows/SkillSets.md
• workflows/Service.md

Negative Examples

These should NOT trigger selftune — near-misses that share keywords:

• "Fix this React hydration bug" — general debugging, not skill improvement
• "Create a PowerPoint about Q3 results" — pptx skill, not selftune
• "Run my unit tests" — project tests, not skill eval tests
• "How do I use the Research skill?" — skill usage, not improvement
• "Generate a report from this data" — content generation, not skill evolution
• "My build is failing" — project issue, not selftune health
• "Evaluate this code for security issues" — code review, not session grading
• "Improve this function's performance" — code optimization, not skill optimization

If a requested skill is already available, follow it directly. If the user asks to find skills, bring a collection into this project, or use it temporarily, route to SkillSearch. Improvement requests still use the evaluation lifecycle.

Creator-Directed Contribution

This skill ships a selftune.contribute.json config that enables creator-directed signal relay. When users install selftune and approve contribution, anonymous usage signals (trigger, grade, miss_category) are relayed to the selftune creator to improve the skill for everyone.

• The creator_id in the bundled config is the creator's public Creator ID.
• Users opt in via selftune contributions approve selftune.
• No raw session content is ever shared -- only privacy-safe aggregate signals.
• See workflows/CreatorContributions.md for creator-side setup.
• See workflows/Contributions.md for end-user opt-in/opt-out.

Routing keywords: creator contribution, selftune signals, dogfood relay, community contribution, signal sharing, opt in creator, creator UUID.

Additional References

Load these on demand — do not read unless needed for the current task:

Reference	When to read
references/cli-quick-reference.md	Need exact CLI flags beyond --help
references/troubleshooting.md	Diagnosing common errors
references/examples.md	Need step-by-step scenario walkthroughs
references/creator-playbook.md	Publishing skills others install; before-ship vs after-ship pipeline
references/interactive-config.md	Before mutating workflows
references/grading-methodology.md	Grading sessions or interpreting grades
references/invocation-taxonomy.md	Analyzing trigger coverage
references/logs.md	Parsing or debugging log files
references/setup-patterns.md	Complex platform-specific setup
references/version-history.md	Checking what changed between versions
settings_snippet.json	During initialization