Skip to content
Get packs

Session Retrospective

Reviews a past coding session and suggests fixes to the agent's setup (docs, checks, rules).

Source Download skill
Repository
mattpocock/skills
Stars
309,658
Licence
MIT
Files
2 files

What it does

When you ask for a retrospective, the agent looks back over a coding session (the current one by default, or one you name, possibly by searching session logs on your machine). It then looks for ways to make future runs smoother, such as clearer navigation pointers, automated checks like linting or tests that would have caught a mistake, new coding-standard rules for the reviewer agent, trimming bloated instruction files, or giving the agent better access to information. It presents these as a prioritised list of suggestions.

Great for

  • Developers who use a coding agent repeatedly on the same repository and want to reduce repeated mistakes
  • Teams tuning their AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, lint setup or CI for agent-driven work
  • Anyone who wants a structured post-mortem of an agent session

Skip it if

  • Quick one-off coding tasks, where a retrospective adds overhead without benefit
  • Non-developers or repos with no tooling to improve, since most suggestions depend on existing lint, test or CI setup
  • Sensitive sessions: it may read session logs on the machine, so review what it accesses before running it

Try asking

  • “Run a retro on the session where you fixed that flaky migration”
  • “Do a retrospective on today's session and suggest ways to stop the agent making the same type error”
  • “Look back at last session's logs and tell me what documentation the agent was missing”
Step-by-step guide: how to use Session RetrospectiveInstall, first run, examples, tips and FAQs

Install in 3 steps

  1. 1

    Download the skill

    The ZIP contains the 2 original files, the MIT licence and an attribution note.

    retro.zip
  2. 2

    Add it to your agent

    Claude Code (all projects)

    mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && unzip retro.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/

    Claude Code / Agent SDK (this project only)

    mkdir -p .claude/skills && unzip retro.zip -d .claude/skills/

    Claude apps (web/desktop): Settings → Capabilities → Skills → Upload skill, and choose the ZIP.

  3. 3

    Ask for the task

    No special command needed — the agent reads the skill's description and loads it when your request matches. Try one of the prompts above.

Get better results

  • Name the specific session you want reviewed; otherwise it defaults to the current one.
  • Ask for suggestions to be applied only after you have reviewed the prioritised list, since it proposes changes to repo files and tooling.
  • Run it right after a session with a clear mistake or slow search, so the evidence is fresh.

What's inside

  • agents/openai.yaml
  • SKILL.md

Redistributed unmodified from mattpocock/skills under the MIT licence. The assessment was drafted with AI from the skill's files on 2026-10-29. Skills can instruct your agent to run code — read SKILL.md and any scripts before installing.