Continuous Learning V2

---
name: continuous-learning-v2
description: Instinct-based learning system that observes sessions via hooks, creates atomic instincts with confidence scoring, and evolves them into skills/commands/agents. v2.1 adds project-scoped instincts to prevent cross-project contamination.
origin: EGC
version: 2.1.0
---

# Continuous Learning v2.1 - Instinct
-Based Architecture

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

**v2.1** adds **project-scoped instincts**: React patterns stay in your React project, Python conventions stay in your Python project, and universal patterns (like "always validate input") are shared globally.

## When to Activate

- Setting up automatic learning from AI coding sessions
- Configuring instinct-based behavior extraction via hooks
- Tuning confidence thresholds for learned behaviors
- Reviewing, exporting, or importing instinct libraries
- Evolving instincts into full skills, commands, or agents
- Managing project-scoped vs global instincts
- Promoting instincts from project to global scope

## What's New in v2.1

| Feature | v2.0 | v2.1 |
|---------|------|------|
| Storage | Global (~/.gemini/homunculus/) | Project-scoped (projects/<hash>/) |
| Scope | All instincts apply everywhere | Project-scoped + global |
| Detection | None | git remote URL / repo path |
| Promotion | N/A | Project → global when seen in 2+ projects |
| Commands | 4 (status/evolve/export/import) | 6 (+promote/projects) |
| Cross-project | Contamination risk | Isolated by default |

## What's New in v2 (vs v1)

| 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:

```yaml
---
id: prefer-functional-style
trigger: "when writing new functions"
confidence: 0.7
domain: "code-style"
source: "session-observation"
scope: project
project_id: "a1b2c3d4e5f6"
project_name: "my-react-app"
---

# 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
- **Scope-aware** -- `project` (default) or `global`

## How It Works

```
Session Activity (in a git repo)
      |
      | Hooks capture prompts + tool use (100% reliable)
      | + detect project context (git remote / repo path)
      v
+---------------------------------------------+
|  projects/<project-hash>/observations.jsonl  |
|   (prompts, tool calls, outcomes, project)   |
+---------------------------------------------+
      |
      | Observer agent reads (background, Haiku)
      v
+---------------------------------------------+
|          PATTERN DETECTION                   |
|   * User corrections -> instinct             |
|   * Error resolutions -> instinct            |
|   * Repeated workflows -> instinct           |
|   * Scope decision: project or global?       |
+---------------------------------------------+
      |
      | Creates/updates
      v
+---------------------------------------------+
|  projects/<project-hash>/instincts/personal/ |
|   * prefer-functional.yaml (0.7) [project]   |
|   * use-react-hooks.yaml (0.9) [project]     |
+---------------------------------------------+
|  instincts/personal/  (GLOBAL)               |
|   * always-validate-input.yaml (0.85) [global]|
|   * grep-before-edit.yaml (0.6) [global]     |
+---------------------------------------------+
      |
      | /evolve clusters + /promote
      v
+---------------------------------------------+
|  projects/<hash>/evolved/ (project-scoped)   |
|  evolved/ (global)                           |
|   * commands/new-feature.md                  |
|   * skills/testing-workflow.md               |
|   * agents/refactor-specialist.md            |
+---------------------------------------------+
```

## Project Detection

The system automatically detects your current project:

1. **`GEMINI_PROJECT_DIR` env var** (highest priority)
2. **`git remote get-url origin`** -- hashed to create a portable project ID (same repo on different machines gets the same ID)
3. **`git rev-parse --show-toplevel`** -- fallback using repo path (machine-specific)
4. **Global fallback** -- if no project is detected, instincts go to global scope

Each project gets a 12-character hash ID (e.g., `a1b2c3d4e5f6`). A registry file at `~/.egc-learning/projects.json` maps IDs to human-readable names.

## Quick Start

### 1. Enable Observation Hooks

**If installed as a plugin** (recommended):

No extra `settings.json` hook block is required. Claude Code v2.1+ auto-loads the plugin `hooks/hooks.json`, and `observe.sh` is already registered there.

If you previously copied `observe.sh` into `~/.gemini/settings.json`, remove that duplicate `PreToolUse` / `PostToolUse` block. Duplicating the plugin hook causes double execution and `${GEMINI_PLUGIN_ROOT}` resolution errors because that variable is only available inside plugin-managed `hooks/hooks.json` entries.

**If installed manually** to `~/.gemini/skills`, add this to your `~/.gemini/settings.json`:

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

### 2. Initialize Directory Structure

The system creates directories automatically on first use, but you can also create them manually:

```bash
# Global directories
mkdir -p ~/.egc-learning/{instincts/{personal,inherited},evolved/{agents,skills,commands},projects}

# Project directories are auto-created when the hook first runs in a git repo
```

### 3. Use the Instinct Commands

```bash
/instinct-status     # Show learned instincts (project + global)
/evolve              # Cluster related instincts into skills/commands
/instinct-export     # Export instincts to file
/instinct-import     # Import instincts from others
/promote             # Promote project instincts to global scope
/projects            # List all known projects and their instinct counts
```

## Commands

| Command | Description |
|---------|-------------|
| `/instinct-status` | Show all instincts (project-scoped + global) with confidence |
| `/evolve` | Cluster related instincts into skills/commands, suggest promotions |
| `/instinct-export` | Export instincts (filterable by scope/domain) |
| `/instinct-import <file>` | Import instincts with scope control |
| `/promote [id]` | Promote project instincts to global scope |
| `/projects` | List all known projects and their instinct counts |

## Configuration

Edit `config.json` to control the background observer:

```json
{
  "version": "2.1",
  "observer": {
    "enabled": false,
    "run_interval_minutes": 5,
    "min_observations_to_analyze": 20
  }
}
```

| Key | Default | Description |
|-----|---------|-------------|
| `observer.enabled` | `false` | Enable the background observer agent |
| `observer.run_interval_minutes` | `5` | How often the observer analyzes observations |
| `observer.min_observations_to_analyze` | `20` | Minimum observations before analysis runs |

Other behavior (observation capture, instinct thresholds, project scoping, promotion criteria) is configured via code defaults in `instinct-cli.py` and `observe.sh`.

## File Structure

```
~/.egc-learning/
+-- identity.json           # Your profile, technical level
+-- projects.json           # Registry: project hash -> name/path/remote
+-- observations.jsonl      # Global observations (fallback)
+-- instincts/
|   +-- personal/           # Global auto-learned instincts
|   +-- inherited/          # Global imported instincts
+-- evolved/
|   +-- agents/             # Global generated agents
|   +-- skills/             # Global generated skills
|   +-- commands/           # Global generated commands
+-- projects/
    +-- a1b2c3d4e5f6/       # Project hash (from git remote URL)
    |   +-- project.json    # Per-project metadata mirror (id/name/root/remote)
    |   +-- observations.jsonl
    |   +-- observations.archive/
    |   +-- instincts/
    |   |   +-- personal/   # Project-specific auto-learned
    |   |   +-- inherited/  # Project-specific imported
    |   +-- evolved/
    |       +-- skills/
    |       +-- commands/
    |       +-- agents/
    +-- f6e5d4c3b2a1/       # Another project
        +-- ...
```

## Scope Decision Guide

| Pattern Type | Scope | Examples |
|-------------|-------|---------|
| Language/framework conventions | **project** | "Use React hooks", "Follow Django REST patterns" |
| File structure preferences | **project** | "Tests in `__tests__`/", "Components in src/components/" |
| Code style | **project** | "Use functional style", "Prefer dataclasses" |
| Error handling strategies | **project** | "Use Result type for errors" |
| Security practices | **global** | "Validate user input", "Sanitize SQL" |
| General best practices | **global** | "Write tests first", "Always handle errors" |
| Tool workflow preferences | **global** | "Grep before Edit", "Read before Write" |
| Git practices | **global** | "Conventional commits", "Small focused commits" |

## Instinct Promotion (Project -> Global)

When the same instinct appears in multiple projects with high confidence, it's a candidate for promotion to global scope.

**Auto-promotion criteria:**
- Same instinct ID in 2+ projects
- Average confidence >= 0.8

**How to promote:**

```bash
# Promote a specific instinct
python3 instinct-cli.py promote prefer-explicit-errors

# Auto-promote all qualifying instincts
python3 instinct-cli.py promote

# Preview without changes
python3 instinct-cli.py promote --dry-run
```

The `/evolve` command also suggests promotion candidates.

## 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 Gemini'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

v2.1 is fully compatible with v2.0 and v1:
- Global instincts kept in `~/.gemini/homunculus/instincts/` (or any other tool's own `homunculus/` folder) by earlier versions are copied into `~/.egc-learning/instincts/` once, at the first session start after the upgrade, and still work as global instincts
- The copy is one-time and marker-gated: anything written to the old folder after that first copy is never picked up again, so every tool should move to the new store rather than keep writing the old one
- Existing `~/.gemini/skills/learned/` skills from v1 still work
- Stop hook still runs (but now also feeds into v2)

## Privacy

- Observations stay **local** on your machine
- Project-scoped instincts are isolated per project
- Only **instincts** (patterns) can be exported: not raw observations
- No actual code or conversation content is shared
- You control what gets exported and promoted

## Related

- [EGC-Tools GitHub App](https://github.com/apps/egc-tools) - Generate instincts from repo history
- [Felipe Marzochi](https://x.com/MarzochiFelipe) - Continuous learning section

---

*Instinct-based learning: teaching Gemini your patterns, one project at a time.*