history-hygiene

Record final outcomes to history.md, not intermediate requests or reversed decisions

1,828 stars

Best use case

history-hygiene is best used when you need a repeatable AI agent workflow instead of a one-off prompt.

Record final outcomes to history.md, not intermediate requests or reversed decisions

Teams using history-hygiene should expect a more consistent output, faster repeated execution, less prompt rewriting.

When to use this skill

  • You want a reusable workflow that can be run more than once with consistent structure.

When not to use this skill

  • You only need a quick one-off answer and do not need a reusable workflow.
  • You cannot install or maintain the underlying files, dependencies, or repository context.

Installation

Claude Code / Cursor / Codex

$curl -o ~/.claude/skills/history-hygiene/SKILL.md --create-dirs "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bradygaster/squad/main/.copilot/skills/history-hygiene/SKILL.md"

Manual Installation

  1. Download SKILL.md from GitHub
  2. Place it in .claude/skills/history-hygiene/SKILL.md inside your project
  3. Restart your AI agent — it will auto-discover the skill

How history-hygiene Compares

Feature / Agenthistory-hygieneStandard Approach
Platform SupportNot specifiedLimited / Varies
Context Awareness High Baseline
Installation ComplexityUnknownN/A

Frequently Asked Questions

What does this skill do?

Record final outcomes to history.md, not intermediate requests or reversed decisions

Where can I find the source code?

You can find the source code on GitHub using the link provided at the top of the page.

SKILL.md Source

## Context

History files (.md files tracking decisions, spawns, outcomes) are read cold by future agents. Stale or incorrect entries poison decision-making downstream. The Kobayashi incident proved this: history said "Brady decided v0.6.0" when Brady had reversed that to v0.8.17. Future spawns read the wrong truth and repeated the mistake.

## Patterns

- **Record the final outcome**, not the initial request.
- **Wait for confirmation** before writing to history — don't log intermediate states.
- **If a decision reverses**, update the entry immediately — don't leave stale data.
- **One read = one truth.** A future agent should never need to cross-reference other files to understand what actually happened.

## Examples

✓ **Correct:**
- "Migration target: v0.8.17 (initially discussed as v0.6.0, corrected by Brady)"
- "Reverted to Node 18 per Brady's explicit request on 2024-01-15"

✗ **Incorrect:**
- "Brady directed v0.6.0" (when later reversed)
- Recording what was *requested* instead of what *actually happened*
- Logging entries before outcome is confirmed

## Anti-Patterns

- Writing intermediate or "for now" states to disk
- Attributing decisions without confirming final direction
- Treating history like a draft — history is the source of truth
- Assuming readers will cross-reference or verify; they won't

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