← all field notes
SKILLNeill's Vibe · Field Notes

“Pull the claims, dedupe, filter, format…” again.

A procedure you re-type from memory is a procedure you'll eventually get wrong.

✓ what worked
01 · the learning

What I set out to add

There were multi-step routines I ran constantly, and every time I re-described them in prose — a little differently, a little worse. The fix was a skill: a saved, named procedure you trigger by name instead of re-explaining. The reliability comes from it being written once and frozen.

02 · the test

The thing I actually tried

I tested turning one of those routines into a skill file — the steps, the inputs, the output format, locked — invoked by a single slash command.

SKILL.mdSKILL-CHECKLIST.md
03 · the frustrations

Where it bit

"Pull the claims, dedupe them, filter to open, format the table…" — typed out again, slightly differently than last time.
04 · the verdict

What worked, what didn't

✓ worked

The saved procedure. Same steps, same order, every time, no re-typing and no drift.

✗ didn't

Trusting myself to re-describe a ten-step routine identically on the fortieth try. I never did.

the durable rule

If you've explained it twice, save it. A named skill beats a good memory.

🔒 this became a classT4·F32 — A Skill members