FAQ shortcuts from your own history
People working with an agent on one project type the same asks over and over: "how many
signed up", "did it go out?", "send a reminder to those who haven't…". Each time the agent
starts cold and has to relearn the traps. This skill mines what was actually asked and
turns the most repeated asks into short project skills (/joined, /sent, /remind…).
Each one records the right tool and the mistakes already made on that path.
Build from evidence, not from guesses about what might be useful.
1. Collect the asks
python3 scripts/extract_asks.py <project_dir> [--source all|claude|codex|cursor] [--since YYYY-MM-DD] > asks.tsv
On Windows, run it with python instead of python3. This prints every prompt typed in
that project's sessions, oldest first, as
date<TAB>source<TAB>prompt. It reads Claude Code (~/.claude/projects/, plus
~/.claude/history.jsonl for sessions older than the 30 days Claude Code keeps
transcripts), Codex (~/.codex/sessions/, or $CODEX_HOME) and Cursor (its
state.vscdb SQLite store) by default, and skips subagent turns and scripted runs such as
codex exec, because nobody typed those. An ask repeated across tools counts as one
cluster. Cursor chats opened without a folder belong to no project, so they are not read.
Write the output to a scratch location, not into the repo, because prompts can contain
names, emails and tokens.
Also read the commit subjects (git log --format='%ad %s' --date=short). Commits show which
operations recur, like repeated send-*, sync-* and import-* scripts. Prompts show how
the user phrases them.
2. Cluster by intent, then count
Read the whole list. Group prompts that want the same outcome whatever their wording
("how many joined", "how many confirmed", "how many members now" → one head-count ask).
Count each cluster and keep 2–3 verbatim phrasings, which become the description's triggers.
A cluster earns a shortcut when:
- it recurs (roughly 5+ times, or on most working days), and
- it takes more than one lookup to answer properly, or it has already gone wrong at least
once. Look for follow-ups like "you did it wrong", "why did you…", "did you check…".
Drop one-offs and anything a single command already answers.
3. Check what already exists
List .claude/skills/, .claude/commands/, .agents/skills/ and the project's CLAUDE.md
and AGENTS.md. Extend an existing skill instead of adding a near-duplicate. Then find the
project's existing tools for each cluster, such as scripts, CLI commands and API routes.
A shortcut should point to the tool that exists. Don't write a new one.
Read those tools' headers and the commits that fixed them. The traps you find there are the
most valuable part of each skill.
4. Propose before writing
Show the user a short table with shortcut name, the ask it replaces, and how often it
appeared. Let them pick. Short names beat descriptive ones here, because the point is less
typing. Use one lowercase word, and never shadow a built-in command.
5. Write each skill
.claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md, committed with the project so it travels. Claude Code
and Cursor load skills from .claude/skills/. Codex loads them from .agents/skills/, so
link each one there as well:
mkdir -p .agents/skills && ln -s ../../.claude/skills/<name> .agents/skills/<name>
Link each skill folder, not .agents/skills itself: Codex follows a symlinked skill folder
but does not scan a symlinked .agents/skills.
The skill file itself:
---
name: <short>
description: <what it does>. Use for "<verbatim phrasing 1>", "<phrasing 2>", "<phrasing 3>".
argument-hint: "[optional arg]"
---
# <What it answers>
Report only / Dry run first — **never <write/send> from this skill without a yes.**
## Query / tool ← the existing script or query, with its real flags
## Traps ← only ones that actually happened, each with the consequence
## Report ← exactly what to print, then ask
Rules:
- Split reading from acting. Question skills only report. Action skills dry-run, show the
list with every exclusion and its reason, then apply only after a yes.
- Point to the source for every trap, like the script header, commit or incident. If you
can't trace a trap to something that happened, leave it out.
- Verify every field, flag and file name against the code before you write it down. A
shortcut that cites a wrong column fails silently on the day it's needed.
- Keep a skill short enough to read in a minute. Leave out history, keep the lesson.
- Quote the frontmatter
description if it contains : or #, or YAML will truncate it.
6. Make them findable
Add a table to the project's CLAUDE.md (and AGENTS.md, if the project has one) that maps
each shortcut to the sentence it replaces. It serves as both documentation and a reminder
to use it.
Report
The shortcuts added, the ask each replaces with its count, and any frequent cluster you
deliberately left out and why.