Continuous Learning v2 - Instinct-Based Architecture

An advanced learning system that turns your Claude Code sessions into reusable knowledge through atomic "instincts" - small learned behaviors with confidence scoring.

What's New in v2

| Feature | v1 | v2 | |---------|----|----| | Observation | Stop hook (session end) | PreToolUse/PostToolUse (100% reliable) | | Analysis | Main context | Background agent (Haiku) | | Granularity | Full skills | Atomic "instincts" | | Confidence | None | 0.3-0.9 weighted | | Evolution | Direct to skill | Instincts → cluster → skill/command/agent | | Sharing | None | Export/import instincts |

The Instinct Model

An instinct is a small learned behavior:

---
id: prefer-functional-style
trigger: "when writing new functions"
confidence: 0.7
domain: "code-style"
source: "session-observation"
---

# Prefer Functional Style

## Action
Use functional patterns over classes when appropriate.

## Evidence
- Observed 5 instances of functional pattern preference
- User corrected class-based approach to functional on 2025-01-15

Properties:

Atomic — one trigger, one action
Confidence-weighted — 0.3 = tentative, 0.9 = near certain
Domain-tagged — code-style, testing, git, debugging, workflow, etc.
Evidence-backed — tracks what observations created it

How It Works

Session Activity
      │
      │ Hooks capture prompts + tool use (100% reliable)
      ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│         observations.jsonl              │
│   (prompts, tool calls, outcomes)       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
      │
      │ Observer agent reads (background, Haiku)
      ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│          PATTERN DETECTION              │
│   • User corrections → instinct         │
│   • Error resolutions → instinct        │
│   • Repeated workflows → instinct       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
      │
      │ Creates/updates
      ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│         instincts/personal/             │
│   • prefer-functional.md (0.7)          │
│   • always-test-first.md (0.9)          │
│   • use-zod-validation.md (0.6)         │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘
      │
      │ /evolve clusters
      ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              evolved/                   │
│   • commands/new-feature.md             │
│   • skills/testing-workflow.md          │
│   • agents/refactor-specialist.md       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

Quick Start

1. Enable Observation Hooks

Add to your ~/.claude/settings.json:

{
  "hooks": {
    "PreToolUse": [{
      "matcher": "*",
      "hooks": [{
        "type": "command",
        "command": "~/.claude/skills/continuous-learning-v2/hooks/observe.sh pre"
      }]
    }],
    "PostToolUse": [{
      "matcher": "*",
      "hooks": [{
        "type": "command",
        "command": "~/.claude/skills/continuous-learning-v2/hooks/observe.sh post"
      }]
    }]
  }
}

2. Initialize Directory Structure

mkdir -p ~/.claude/homunculus/{instincts/{personal,inherited},evolved/{agents,skills,commands}}
touch ~/.claude/homunculus/observations.jsonl

3. Run the Observer Agent (Optional)

The observer can run in the background analyzing observations:

# Start background observer
~/.claude/skills/continuous-learning-v2/agents/start-observer.sh

Commands

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | /instinct-status | Show all learned instincts with confidence | | /evolve | Cluster related instincts into skills/commands | | /instinct-export | Export instincts for sharing | | /instinct-import <file> | Import instincts from others |

Configuration

Edit config.json:

{
  "version": "2.0",
  "observation": {
    "enabled": true,
    "store_path": "~/.claude/homunculus/observations.jsonl",
    "max_file_size_mb": 10,
    "archive_after_days": 7
  },
  "instincts": {
    "personal_path": "~/.claude/homunculus/instincts/personal/",
    "inherited_path": "~/.claude/homunculus/instincts/inherited/",
    "min_confidence": 0.3,
    "auto_approve_threshold": 0.7,
    "confidence_decay_rate": 0.05
  },
  "observer": {
    "enabled": true,
    "model": "haiku",
    "run_interval_minutes": 5,
    "patterns_to_detect": [
      "user_corrections",
      "error_resolutions",
      "repeated_workflows",
      "tool_preferences"
    ]
  },
  "evolution": {
    "cluster_threshold": 3,
    "evolved_path": "~/.claude/homunculus/evolved/"
  }
}

File Structure

~/.claude/homunculus/
├── identity.json           # Your profile, technical level
├── observations.jsonl      # Current session observations
├── observations.archive/   # Processed observations
├── instincts/
│   ├── personal/           # Auto-learned instincts
│   └── inherited/          # Imported from others
└── evolved/
    ├── agents/             # Generated specialist agents
    ├── skills/             # Generated skills
    └── commands/           # Generated commands

Integration with Skill Creator

When you use the Skill Creator GitHub App, it now generates both:

Traditional SKILL.md files (for backward compatibility)
Instinct collections (for v2 learning system)

Instincts from repo analysis have source: "repo-analysis" and include the source repository URL.

Confidence Scoring

Confidence evolves over time:

| Score | Meaning | Behavior | |-------|---------|----------| | 0.3 | Tentative | Suggested but not enforced | | 0.5 | Moderate | Applied when relevant | | 0.7 | Strong | Auto-approved for application | | 0.9 | Near-certain | Core behavior |

Confidence increases when:

Pattern is repeatedly observed
User doesn't correct the suggested behavior
Similar instincts from other sources agree

Confidence decreases when:

User explicitly corrects the behavior
Pattern isn't observed for extended periods
Contradicting evidence appears

Why Hooks vs Skills for Observation?

"v1 relied on skills to observe. Skills are probabilistic—they fire ~50-80% of the time based on Claude's judgment."

Hooks fire 100% of the time, deterministically. This means:

Every tool call is observed
No patterns are missed
Learning is comprehensive

Backward Compatibility

v2 is fully compatible with v1:

Existing ~/.claude/skills/learned/ skills still work
Stop hook still runs (but now also feeds into v2)
Gradual migration path: run both in parallel

Privacy

Observations stay local on your machine
Only instincts (patterns) can be exported
No actual code or conversation content is shared
You control what gets exported

Skill Creator - Generate instincts from repo history
Homunculus - Inspiration for v2 architecture
The Longform Guide - Continuous learning section

Instinct-based learning: teaching Claude your patterns, one observation at a time.

Continuous Learning V2

Skill Content