Practical notes: Your Agent Keeps Making the Same Mistake. Start With Its

This walkthrough rebuilds the path from raw materials to a working system for: Your Agent Keeps Making the Same Mistake. Start With Its Skills.. The focus is operable steps, explicit checks, and code that you can drop into a repo without guessing intent. For the Overview stage, define the inputs, the owner of the step, and the exit criteria before changing code. Operators should be able to re-run the step from a known checkpoint without guessing hidden state. Treat this stage as a contract between inputs and validated outputs. Name the artifacts, define success checks, and refuse silent partial completion.

The Part of the Agent You Can Improve

When working through the The Part of the stage, write down the contract first: required inputs, success signal, and what happens on partial failure. That checklist keeps later code changes honest. Record timings and token or query cost next to functional results. Cost visibility early prevents surprise bills when the path moves from demo to shared environments. Checkpoint after expensive steps. Resume should not re-bill the same LLM call when an operator retries a later node.

1. DRY: Save the Work That Already Succeeded

When working through the 1 DRY Save the stage, write down the contract first: required inputs, success signal, and what happens on partial failure. That checklist keeps later code changes honest. Keep configuration outside application code. Environment files, secret stores, and feature flags belong in one place operators can audit without reading the whole graph. Checkpoint after expensive steps. Resume should not re-bill the same LLM call when an operator retries a later node.

2. Make the Right Skill Easy to Select

When working through the 2 Make the Right stage, write down the contract first: required inputs, success signal, and what happens on partial failure. That checklist keeps later code changes honest. Document the happy path and the recovery path together. Retries, human gates, and dead-letter handling are part of the product, not later polish. Checkpoint after expensive steps. Resume should not re-bill the same LLM call when an operator retries a later node. When working through the 2 Make the Right stage, write down the contract first: required inputs, success signal, and what happens on partial failure. That checklist keeps later code changes honest. Treat this stage as a contract between inputs and validated outputs. Name the artifacts, define success checks, and refuse silent partial completion.

383 skills scanned
  missing description           0
  no trigger language         306
  colliding pairs               3
  duplicate names              23
  skills with >=1 defect      306  (79%)

Give Neighboring Skills Different Jobs

The Give Neighboring Skills Different stage works best when treated as a measurable surface. Capture one golden transcript, one failure case, and the rollback note before expanding scope. Record timings and token or query cost next to functional results. Cost visibility early prevents surprise bills when the path moves from demo to shared environments. Keep graph state flat and typed. Nested blobs hide which node wrote which field and break resume after interrupts.

name: vector-database-selection
description: >-
  Compare vector databases against workload, filtering,
  deployment, and operating-cost requirements. Use when
  choosing or replacing a vector store. For retrieval-pipeline
  design with an already chosen store, use rag-pipeline-design.

name: rag-pipeline-design
description: >-
  Design ingestion, chunking, retrieval, reranking, and
  evaluation for a RAG application. Use when building or
  diagnosing a retrieval pipeline. For a standalone vector
  database selection, use vector-database-selection.

3. Turn Experience Into Reusable Instructions

The 3 Turn Experience Into stage works best when treated as a measurable surface. Capture one golden transcript, one failure case, and the rollback note before expanding scope. Keep configuration outside application code. Environment files, secret stores, and feature flags belong in one place operators can audit without reading the whole graph. Keep graph state flat and typed. Nested blobs hide which node wrote which field and break resume after interrupts.

Sometimes the Shared Guide Needs the Repair

The Sometimes the Shared Guide stage works best when treated as a measurable surface. Capture one golden transcript, one failure case, and the rollback note before expanding scope. Document the happy path and the recovery path together. Retries, human gates, and dead-letter handling are part of the product, not later polish. Keep graph state flat and typed. Nested blobs hide which node wrote which field and break resume after interrupts. The Sometimes the Shared Guide stage works best when treated as a measurable surface. Capture one golden transcript, one failure case, and the rollback note before expanding scope. Treat this stage as a contract between inputs and validated outputs. Name the artifacts, define success checks, and refuse silent partial completion.

4. Verify Before the Handoff

For the 4 Verify Before the stage, define the inputs, the owner of the step, and the exit criteria before changing code. Operators should be able to re-run the step from a known checkpoint without guessing hidden state. Record timings and token or query cost next to functional results. Cost visibility early prevents surprise bills when the path moves from demo to shared environments. Put human approval on edges that spend money or change production data. Compile-time wiring does not equal business completeness.

What Testing the Auditor Changed

For the What Testing the Auditor stage, define the inputs, the owner of the step, and the exit criteria before changing code. Operators should be able to re-run the step from a known checkpoint without guessing hidden state. Keep configuration outside application code. Environment files, secret stores, and feature flags belong in one place operators can audit without reading the whole graph. Put human approval on edges that spend money or change production data. Compile-time wiring does not equal business completeness.

The Packaging Does Not Travel. The Skills Do.

For the The Packaging Does Not stage, define the inputs, the owner of the step, and the exit criteria before changing code. Operators should be able to re-run the step from a known checkpoint without guessing hidden state. Document the happy path and the recovery path together. Retries, human gates, and dead-letter handling are part of the product, not later polish. Put human approval on edges that spend money or change production data. Compile-time wiring does not equal business completeness. For the The Packaging Does Not stage, define the inputs, the owner of the step, and the exit criteria before changing code. Operators should be able to re-run the step from a known checkpoint without guessing hidden state. Treat this stage as a contract between inputs and validated outputs. Name the artifacts, define success checks, and refuse silent partial completion.

Try Whetstone on One Workflow

When working through the Try Whetstone on One stage, write down the contract first: required inputs, success signal, and what happens on partial failure. That checklist keeps later code changes honest. Record timings and token or query cost next to functional results. Cost visibility early prevents surprise bills when the path moves from demo to shared environments. Checkpoint after expensive steps. Resume should not re-bill the same LLM call when an operator retries a later node.

claude plugin marketplace add cdcore09/whetstone
claude plugin install whetstone@whetstone

python3 skills/skill-audit/scripts/audit_skills.py ./skills

Operational checklist

The Operational checklist stage works best when treated as a measurable surface. Capture one golden transcript, one failure case, and the rollback note before expanding scope.

Prefer small, testable units over sprawling scripts. When a step fails, the failure should point at a single responsibility rather than a tangled pipeline.

Keep graph state flat and typed. Nested blobs hide which node wrote which field and break resume after interrupts.

Add a smoke test that exercises the critical path in CI with fixtures, not live paid APIs, whenever budgets allow.

Treat this stage as a contract between inputs and validated outputs. Name the artifacts, define success checks, and refuse silent partial completion.

Keep graph state flat and typed. Nested blobs hide which node wrote which field and break resume after interrupts.

Before promoting the stack, freeze versions, capture a golden transcript for the critical path, and confirm rollback steps. Shared environments need rate limits, tenancy checks, and a clear owner for secret rotation. Prefer boring reliability over clever one-off demos.

Batch note for 89255a13dcea: keep provider keys out of the repo, set a per-session token ceiling, and store transcripts next to the eval fixtures so later model swaps stay comparable.

The hardening note 0 stage works best when treated as a measurable surface. Capture one golden transcript, one failure case, and the rollback note before expanding scope. Document the happy path and the recovery path together. Retries, human gates, and dead-letter handling are part of the product, not later polish.

Hardening detail 0/863: measure wall time, error class, and token spend for this note, then decide whether to keep the change based on a fixed question set rather than anecdote.

For the hardening note 1 stage, define the inputs, the owner of the step, and the exit criteria before changing code. Operators should be able to re-run the step from a known checkpoint without guessing hidden state. Treat this stage as a contract between inputs and validated outputs. Name the artifacts, define success checks, and refuse silent partial completion.

Hardening detail 1/863: measure wall time, error class, and token spend for this note, then decide whether to keep the change based on a fixed question set rather than anecdote.

When working through the hardening note 2 stage, write down the contract first: required inputs, success signal, and what happens on partial failure. That checklist keeps later code changes honest. Keep configuration outside application code. Environment files, secret stores, and feature flags belong in one place operators can audit without reading the whole graph.

Hardening detail 2/863: measure wall time, error class, and token spend for this note, then decide whether to keep the change based on a fixed question set rather than anecdote.

The hardening note 3 stage works best when treated as a measurable surface. Capture one golden transcript, one failure case, and the rollback note before expanding scope. Prefer small, testable units over sprawling scripts. When a step fails, the failure should point at a single responsibility rather than a tangled pipeline.

Hardening detail 3/863: measure wall time, error class, and token spend for this note, then decide whether to keep the change based on a fixed question set rather than anecdote.

For the hardening note 4 stage, define the inputs, the owner of the step, and the exit criteria before changing code. Operators should be able to re-run the step from a known checkpoint without guessing hidden state. Record timings and token or query cost next to functional results. Cost visibility early prevents surprise bills when the path moves from demo to shared environments.

Hardening detail 4/863: measure wall time, error class, and token spend for this note, then decide whether to keep the change based on a fixed question set rather than anecdote.

When working through the hardening note 5 stage, write down the contract first: required inputs, success signal, and what happens on partial failure. That checklist keeps later code changes honest. Document the happy path and the recovery path together. Retries, human gates, and dead-letter handling are part of the product, not later polish.

Hardening detail 5/863: measure wall time, error class, and token spend for this note, then decide whether to keep the change based on a fixed question set rather than anecdote.

The hardening note 6 stage works best when treated as a measurable surface. Capture one golden transcript, one failure case, and the rollback note before expanding scope. Treat this stage as a contract between inputs and validated outputs. Name the artifacts, define success checks, and refuse silent partial completion.

Hardening detail 6/863: measure wall time, error class, and token spend for this note, then decide whether to keep the change based on a fixed question set rather than anecdote.

For the hardening note 7 stage, define the inputs, the owner of the step, and the exit criteria before changing code. Operators should be able to re-run the step from a known checkpoint without guessing hidden state. Keep configuration outside application code. Environment files, secret stores, and feature flags belong in one place operators can audit without reading the whole graph.

Hardening detail 7/863: measure wall time, error class, and token spend for this note, then decide whether to keep the change based on a fixed question set rather than anecdote.

When working through the hardening note 8 stage, write down the contract first: required inputs, success signal, and what happens on partial failure. That checklist keeps later code changes honest. Prefer small, testable units over sprawling scripts. When a step fails, the failure should point at a single responsibility rather than a tangled pipeline.

Hardening detail 8/863: measure wall time, error class, and token spend for this note, then decide whether to keep the change based on a fixed question set rather than anecdote.

The hardening note 9 stage works best when treated as a measurable surface. Capture one golden transcript, one failure case, and the rollback note before expanding scope. Record timings and token or query cost next to functional results. Cost visibility early prevents surprise bills when the path moves from demo to shared environments.

Hardening detail 9/863: measure wall time, error class, and token spend for this note, then decide whether to keep the change based on a fixed question set rather than anecdote.

For the hardening note 10 stage, define the inputs, the owner of the step, and the exit criteria before changing code. Operators should be able to re-run the step from a known checkpoint without guessing hidden state. Document the happy path and the recovery path together. Retries, human gates, and dead-letter handling are part of the product, not later polish.

Hardening detail 10/863: measure wall time, error class, and token spend for this note, then decide whether to keep the change based on a fixed question set rather than anecdote.

When working through the hardening note 11 stage, write down the contract first: required inputs, success signal, and what happens on partial failure. That checklist keeps later code changes honest. Treat this stage as a contract between inputs and validated outputs. Name the artifacts, define success checks, and refuse silent partial completion.

Hardening detail 11/863: measure wall time, error class, and token spend for this note, then decide whether to keep the change based on a fixed question set rather than anecdote.

The hardening note 12 stage works best when treated as a measurable surface. Capture one golden transcript, one failure case, and the rollback note before expanding scope. Keep configuration outside application code. Environment files, secret stores, and feature flags belong in one place operators can audit without reading the whole graph.

Hardening detail 12/863: measure wall time, error class, and token spend for this note, then decide whether to keep the change based on a fixed question set rather than anecdote.