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/crystallize

Distils repeating patterns from session logs and lessons.md into draft skill files. Run after ≥10 sessions to extract durable knowledge. Output: draft skills/ files + promotion report.

From plugin
great-cto
11537 skills73 agents21 commands1 hook

Claude Code

$ npx -y skills add avelikiy/great_cto --skill crystallize --agent claude-code

SKILL.md

crystallize.SKILL.md
name: crystallize
description: "Distils repeating patterns from session logs and lessons.md into draft skill files. Run after ≥10 sessions to extract durable knowledge. Output: draft skills/ files + promotion report."
when_to_use: |
  Apply when:
  - CTO says /crystallize, "crystallize", or "extract knowledge"
  - Session count in .great_cto/logs/ reaches a multiple of 10 (auto-suggest)
  - User asks "what have we learned?" or "turn lessons into skills"
effort: high
allowed-tools: Read, Write, Glob, Grep, Bash, Agent
paths:
  - ".great_cto/logs/**"
  - ".great_cto/lessons.md"
  - "~/.great_cto/decisions.md"
  - "skills/**"

Crystallize — distil session patterns into reusable skills

Invoke when the CTO says `/crystallize`, "crystallize", "extract knowledge", or "what have we learned?". Also auto-suggested when session count is a multiple of 10 (the session-end hook checks `.great_cto/.last-crystallize`).

The `knowledge-extractor` agent (Opus) does the heavy lifting. This skill orchestrates the workflow and emits the final report.

**Session-end hint integration:** The session-end hook checks `.great_cto/.last-crystallize` and suggests running `/crystallize` when the session count exceeds `last_sessions + 10`. Run this skill after ≥10 sessions to keep extracted skills current.

---

Step 1 — Gather raw material

# Count sessions
SESSION_COUNT=$(ls .great_cto/logs/session-*-end.md 2>/dev/null | wc -l | tr -d ' ')
echo "Sessions: $SESSION_COUNT"

# Read lessons
cat .great_cto/lessons.md 2>/dev/null || echo "(no lessons yet)"

# Read cross-project decisions
D=$(head -200 ~/.great_cto/decisions.md 2>/dev/null); [ -n "$D" ] && printf '%s\n' "$D" || echo "(none)"

# Find patterns that appear in ≥3 sessions
grep -h "^## pattern:" .great_cto/logs/session-*-end.md 2>/dev/null | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn | head -20

# Recent git log for context
git log --oneline --since="30 days ago" | head -30

If `SESSION_COUNT` is 0, tell the CTO: "No session logs found in `.great_cto/logs/`. Run at least 10 sessions before crystallizing." Exit.

If `SESSION_COUNT` < 10, tell the CTO: "Only `{N}` sessions found. Patterns are more reliable after ≥10 sessions. Proceed anyway? [yes/no]" Wait for confirmation before continuing.

---

Step 2 — Cluster patterns (via knowledge-extractor agent)

Spawn the `knowledge-extractor` agent with the gathered data as context:

Agent: knowledge-extractor
Task: |
  Read .great_cto/lessons.md and all files in .great_cto/logs/.
  Cluster lesson entries by pattern slug.
  For each cluster with ≥3 occurrences, write a draft skill file to
  skills/{domain}/SKILL.md (status: draft in frontmatter).
  If a skill for that domain already exists, append a new ## section instead
  of replacing the file.
  Infer domain from the pattern slug and its archetype tags.
  Return a structured summary: clusters found, drafts written, already-covered.

Wait for the agent to complete before proceeding to Step 3.

---

Step 3 — Emit promotion report

After the agent completes, print:

CRYSTALLIZE REPORT
════════════════════════════════════════
Sessions analysed: {SESSION_COUNT}
Lessons found:     {LESSON_COUNT}
Clusters:          {CLUSTER_COUNT}
Draft skills:      {DRAFT_COUNT}  (in skills/{domain}/SKILL.md)
Already covered:   {COVERED_COUNT}  (pattern already in existing skill)
════════════════════════════════════════
Draft files:
  {list of paths and brief description per draft}

Next: review drafts, remove `status: draft` when satisfied.
Run /crystallize again after 10 more sessions.
════════════════════════════════════════

---

Step 4 — Write .last-crystallize marker

After emitting the report, write the marker file:

SESSION_COUNT=$(ls .great_cto/logs/session-*-end.md 2>/dev/null | wc -l | tr -d ' ')
DRAFT_COUNT={P}   # from agent output
mkdir -p .great_cto
node -e "
const fs = require('fs');
fs.writeFileSync('.great_cto/.last-crystallize', JSON.stringify({
  ts: new Date().toISOString(),
  sessions: parseInt('$SESSION_COUNT') || 0,
  drafts: parseInt('$DRAFT_COUNT') || 0
}) + '\n');
"

---

Step 5 — Auto-run cadence suggestion

If `SESSION_COUNT` is a multiple of 10 (and > 0), append to the report:

Auto-suggestion: you've completed {SESSION_COUNT} sessions. Consider running
`/crystallize` every 10 sessions to keep skills current.
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Questions about crystallize.

Which coding agents can use crystallize?
crystallize installs in Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot, OpenCode and Windsurf with the skills CLI, using each agent's flag shown on this page. Flowy's auto-invocation, which fires a skill when your prompt matches, runs in Claude Code only.