Observe Before Editing

Pattern

DO

1. Check if expected directories exist:

   ls -la .claude/cache/

2. Check if expected files were created:

   ls -la .claude/cache/learnings/

3. Check logs for errors:

   tail .claude/cache/*.log

4. Run the failing command manually to see actual error
5. Only then edit code

DON'T

• Assume "hook didn't run" without checking outputs
• Edit code based on what you think should happen
• Confuse global vs project paths (check both:

  .claude/

  and

  ~/.claude/

  )

Source Sessions

• a541f08a: Token limit error was invisible until manual run revealed it
• 6a9f2d7a: Looked in wrong cache path (

  ~/.claude/

  vs

  .claude/

  ), assumed hook failure
• a8bd5cea: Confirmed hook worked by finding output files in project cache
• 1c21e6c8: Verified Artifact Index indexing by checking DB file exists