Agent skills: emphasize generalization and self-containment in lessons and skill updates#1810
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- usethis-lesson-create v1.0 → v1.1: add "Self-containment and abstraction" section; strengthen "Generalise the principle" step; update lesson template; add abstraction examples table - usethis-skills-modify v1.5 → v1.6: add "Generalise the instruction" procedure step; add "Generalising incoming instructions" section with examples table; add "Never reference memories" content guideline Resolves #1820 Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/usethis-python/usethis-python/sessions/a66b4b24-94c2-491f-ac7c-dd02c6b3ca53 Co-authored-by: nathanjmcdougall <18602289+nathanjmcdougall@users.noreply.github.com>
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[WIP] Update agent skills to emphasize generalization of lessons
Agent skills: emphasize generalization and self-containment in lessons and skill updates
Apr 4, 2026
nathanjmcdougall
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Apr 4, 2026
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Lessons and skill updates were being written with stiff, highly-specific content (exact function names, file paths, memory references) that narrows applicability and breaks self-containment. This tightens both skills to enforce abstraction.
usethis-lesson-create(v1.0 → v1.1)New "Self-containment and abstraction" section with three rules: never reference memories, never name specific code objects unless they are the subject, and state principles at the right abstraction level
Comparison table showing "too specific" vs generalised rewrites:
clear_functools_caches()after@functools.cachevalidate_or_raiseacceptserr=, noterror_clsUpdated lesson template placeholder for "Generalised principle" to explicitly prohibit specific names and memory references
Strengthened procedure step 3 with the same guidance
usethis-skills-modify(v1.5 → v1.6)