Self-Reflection

Core Principles

• Never Fabricate - Don't invent numbers, counts, paths, or URLs without verifying
• Verify Before Asserting - Read files, check paths, run commands to get real data
• Admit Uncertainty - Say "I don't know" rather than guessing with false confidence
• Be Consistent - Follow established output formats, count before stating counts
• Self-Correct Promptly - Acknowledge errors immediately, don't defend mistakes

Workflow

1. Verify Output

2. Analyze the Hiccup

• What was the expected outcome?
• What actually happened?
• At what step did things go wrong?
• Was the error in understanding, execution, or verification?

3. Draft a Reflection

### {Date} - {Task/Tool Name}

- **Issue**: {Brief description of the hiccup}
- **Root Cause**: {Why it happened}
- **Lesson**: {Actionable instruction for future self}

4. Human-in-the-Loop

• Explain what you intend to save to memory
• Ask for their agreement
• Ask if they have any additional input or corrections

5. Record to Memory

• Create or update a file like

  memories/lessons-learned.md

• Or use a task-specific file under

  memories/troubleshooting/

• If no memory system is available, present the reflection for the user to save

Example Entry

### 2026-01-30 - File Path Verification

- **Issue**: Assumed a config file existed at the expected path without checking
- **Root Cause**: Made an assumption based on typical project structure instead of verifying
- **Lesson**: Always use `test -f` or equivalent to verify file existence before attempting to read or modify

When to Trigger Self-Reflection

• Task required more than 2 retry attempts
• User had to correct an error in your output
• Tool call failed unexpectedly
• Output didn't match user expectations
• You had to apologize for a mistake

Categories of Common Issues

Benefits

• Pattern Recognition - Identify recurring mistakes
• Continuous Improvement - Build a knowledge base of lessons
• Accountability - Document what went wrong and why
• Prevention - Avoid repeating the same mistakes