Agent Skills: Automatic Stateful Prompt Improver

Automatically intercepts and optimizes prompts using the prompt-learning MCP server. Learns from performance over time via embedding-indexed history. Uses APE, OPRO, DSPy patterns. Activate on "optimize prompt", "improve this prompt", "prompt engineering", or ANY complex task request. Requires prompt-learning MCP server. NOT for simple questions (just answer them), NOT for direct commands (just execute them), NOT for conversational responses (no optimization needed).

UncategorizedID: erichowens/some_claude_skills/automatic-stateful-prompt-improver

Install this agent skill to your local

pnpm dlx add-skill https://github.com/erichowens/some_claude_skills/tree/HEAD/.claude/skills/automatic-stateful-prompt-improver

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.claude/skills/automatic-stateful-prompt-improver/SKILL.md

Skill Metadata

Name
automatic-stateful-prompt-improver
Description
Automatically intercepts and optimizes prompts using the prompt-learning MCP server. Learns from performance over time via embedding-indexed history. Uses APE, OPRO, DSPy patterns. Activate on "optimize prompt", "improve this prompt", "prompt engineering", or ANY complex task request. Requires prompt-learning MCP server. NOT for simple questions (just answer them), NOT for direct commands (just execute them), NOT for conversational responses (no optimization needed).

Automatic Stateful Prompt Improver

MANDATORY AUTOMATIC BEHAVIOR

When this skill is active, I MUST follow these rules:

Auto-Optimization Triggers

I AUTOMATICALLY call mcp__prompt-learning__optimize_prompt BEFORE responding when:

  1. Complex task (multi-step, requires reasoning)
  2. Technical output (code, analysis, structured data)
  3. Reusable content (system prompts, templates, instructions)
  4. Explicit request ("improve", "better", "optimize")
  5. Ambiguous requirements (underspecified, multiple interpretations)
  6. Precision-critical (code, legal, medical, financial)

Auto-Optimization Process

1. INTERCEPT the user's request
2. CALL: mcp__prompt-learning__optimize_prompt
   - prompt: [user's original request]
   - domain: [inferred domain]
   - max_iterations: [3-20 based on complexity]
3. RECEIVE: optimized prompt + improvement details
4. INFORM user briefly: "I've refined your request for [reason]"
5. PROCEED with the OPTIMIZED version

Do NOT Optimize

  • Simple questions ("what is X?")
  • Direct commands ("run npm install")
  • Conversational responses ("hello", "thanks")
  • File operations without reasoning
  • Already-optimized prompts

Learning Loop (Post-Response)

After completing ANY significant task:

1. ASSESS: Did the response achieve the goal?
2. CALL: mcp__prompt-learning__record_feedback
   - prompt_id: [from optimization response]
   - success: [true/false]
   - quality_score: [0.0-1.0]
3. This enables future retrievals to learn from outcomes

Quick Reference

Iteration Decision

| Factor | Low (3-5) | Medium (5-10) | High (10-20) | |--------|-----------|---------------|--------------| | Complexity | Simple | Multi-step | Agent/pipeline | | Ambiguity | Clear | Some | Underspecified | | Domain | Known | Moderate | Novel | | Stakes | Low | Moderate | Critical |

Convergence (When to Stop)

  • Improvement < 1% for 3 iterations
  • User satisfied
  • Token budget exhausted
  • 20 iterations reached
  • Validation score > 0.95

Performance Expectations

| Scenario | Improvement | Iterations | |----------|-------------|------------| | Simple task | 10-20% | 3-5 | | Complex reasoning | 20-40% | 10-15 | | Agent/pipeline | 30-50% | 15-20 | | With history | +10-15% bonus | Varies |

Anti-Patterns

Over-Optimization

| What it looks like | Why it's wrong | |--------------------|----------------| | Prompt becomes overly complex with many constraints | Causes brittleness, model confusion, token waste | | Instead: Apply Occam's Razor - simplest sufficient prompt wins |

Template Obsession

| What it looks like | Why it's wrong | |--------------------|----------------| | Focusing on templates rather than task understanding | Templates don't generalize; understanding does | | Instead: Focus on WHAT the task requires, not HOW to format it |

Iteration Without Measurement

| What it looks like | Why it's wrong | |--------------------|----------------| | Multiple rewrites without tracking improvements | Can't know if changes help without metrics | | Instead: Always define success criteria before optimizing |

Ignoring Model Capabilities

| What it looks like | Why it's wrong | |--------------------|----------------| | Assumes model can't do things it can | Over-scaffolding wastes tokens | | Instead: Test capabilities before heavy prompting |

Reference Files

Load for detailed implementations:

| File | Contents | |------|----------| | references/optimization-techniques.md | APE, OPRO, CoT, instruction rewriting, constraint engineering | | references/learning-architecture.md | Warm start, embedding retrieval, MCP setup, drift detection | | references/iteration-strategy.md | Decision matrices, complexity scoring, convergence algorithms |


Goal: Simplest prompt that achieves the outcome reliably. Optimize for clarity, specificity, and measurable improvement.