How to use the Retrieval Reflex agent skill (retrieval-reflex)

What the Retrieval Reflex skill makes the agent do

The skill copies a habit people already have: before speaking about someone, you check your notes. When a named entity such as a person, company, project, place or deal becomes the subject of a conversation, the agent looks up its page in your brain (your personal knowledge store) instead of relying on memory.

The skill also limits how much the agent reads. It escalates only as far as the task needs: first a short pointer with the slug and a one-line summary, then the full page when details matter, and linked neighbours only when relationship context is required. It does not load everyone in your contacts at once.

• Pointer only: enough when the task just needs identity.
• Full page: opened when the entity is the subject or specifics matter.
• Linked neighbours: pulled only when relationships are part of the answer.

Install the retrieval-reflex skill

Download the ZIP for the retrieval-reflex skill from the item page. Then choose one of two ways to install it.

For Claude Code, unzip the folder into ~/.claude/skills/ to make it available everywhere, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder to make it available only in that project. The skill is a folder containing SKILL.md.

In the Claude apps, you can upload the ZIP instead under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

• Personal install: ~/.claude/skills/
• Project install: .claude/skills/ inside your project
• Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload the ZIP

What the skill needs before it works

The skill needs a GBrain instance with brain pages and four operations available: get_page, query, traverse_graph and get_backlinks. You can reach these through MCP or through the gbrain CLI. Over the CLI, traverse_graph and get_backlinks are exposed as gbrain graph and gbrain backlinks.

Without a populated brain, lookups will return little or nothing, so the skill will not add much value yet.

• A running GBrain instance with brain pages
• Operations: get_page, query, traverse_graph, get_backlinks (via MCP or the gbrain CLI)
• Note: the source lists no scripts and no network use for this skill

How to trigger the skill with natural requests

You do not need a special command. The skill fires on the ambient reflex of retrieving before answering. It is triggered when a named entity becomes the subject of the exchange, when a brain-page pointer appears in context, or when the agent is about to state a detail about an entity from memory.

Direct lookup questions such as 'who is' or 'tell me about' are routed to the separate query skill instead. If you want an explicit search, use that skill.

• Works on: 'Before I reply to Maria about the renewal, what do we have on her?'
• Works on: a request to draft a note about a company you have discussed for several messages
• Use the query skill for: direct lookups like 'who is Daniel Chen?'

Safety notes: automatic reads of personal records

The skill reads stored pages without asking you each time. That is the point, but it means it is not suited to contexts where automatic reads of personal records are unwanted.

The skill is marked as non-mutating and does not write pages, according to its metadata. It runs no scripts and uses no network, as listed in the item details.

• It reads brain pages automatically when triggers match.
• It does not write or change pages (writes_pages is false).
• Skip it in sensitive settings where you do not want records read without a prompt.

Tips for getting good results

Keep the brain populated with the people, companies and deals you discuss most, because the skill can only retrieve what exists. Ask about one entity at a time when you can, since the skill is designed to resolve only the names a task needs.

If the agent states a detail without checking, say 'let me check' or ask it to open the page. The skill's own guidance is to verify before asserting specifics.

• Populate the brain first; empty pages return nothing useful.
• Name the entity clearly so it is recognised as the subject.
• Ask for the page explicitly if a conversation has gone on without it being opened.