---

name: sharpening-the-knife description: Use when discovering a useful technique, pattern, or insight during work - pause to capture it as a skill before the knowledge evaporates, preventing the "I'll remember this" trap that causes expertise loss

Sharpening the Knife

Overview

When you discover something useful, STOP and document it immediately.

Like sharpening an axe before continuing to chop, creating a skill before continuing feature work is productive, not procrastination.

Core principle: Recognition without capture = knowledge loss. "I'll do it later" = it never gets done.

When to Pause and Create a Skill

STOP and create a skill when you:

• Develop a technique that saves significant time/effort
• Solve a problem you've never seen documented
• Discover a pattern you'd want to reference again
• Create something reusable across projects OR within current project
• Think "this is useful" or "I should remember this"

For project-specific patterns:

• Broadly reusable → Create skill
• Project-specific → Document in CLAUDE.md or README
• Either way: PAUSE and capture now

Recognition ≠ Capture. If you recognized it, pause now.

The Decision Rule

Recognized something useful?
  ├─ TRUE  → PAUSE. Create skill now (or capture if urgent).
  └─ FALSE → Continue working.

No middle ground. Either pause to document or continue working. "I'll do it later" is choosing NOT to document.

Uncertain if skill-worthy? Create capture anyway. Takes 2 minutes. Better to capture and decide later than lose the insight.

Urgency Exceptions

Only defer if BOTH true:

1. Production outage / customers blocked / critical deadline
2. You create a capture commitment (bd task, todo, note)

All other cases: Pause and document now. The 10-15 minutes pays off immediately.

Handling Multiple Discoveries

Found 2+ patterns?

1. Create bd tasks for each: bd create "Document [pattern-name] skill"
2. Document them one at a time
3. OR create quick capture notes, document properly within 24hrs

Don't let multiple discoveries cause paralysis. Document first one, then next.

Capture Mechanisms

If using bd:

bd create "Document [pattern-name] skill" -t task -p 1

If not using bd:

• Create markdown note in .claude/skills-todo.md with pattern details
• Add to project TODO.md with "SKILL:" prefix
• Create GitHub/GitLab issue
• Use any task tracking system you have

Key requirement: External capture that creates commitment, not just memory.

Common Rationalizations (All Wrong)

Excuse	Reality
"I'll document after finishing feature"	No you won't. Finish-line brain wants to move on, not document.
"I'm almost done, just need to..."	"Almost done" = when you're MOST likely to forget details.
"I'll remember this, it's simple"	Simple techniques are EASIEST to forget. Document them BECAUSE they're simple.
"Too urgent to pause for docs"	Unless production is down, 15min now saves hours later.
"I'm in execution mode"	Documenting reusable patterns IS execution. It's building tools.
"This is blocking the main work"	Creating reusable skills IS the main work. Features are temporary.
"I'm too tired/fatigued to document"	Create bd task now: "Document [pattern]". Do it within 24hrs while fresh.
"Multiple discoveries, too overwhelming"	Create bd task for each. Document one at a time.
"Mode switching is expensive"	Knowledge loss is MORE expensive. Switch modes.

Seeing yourself in this table? STOP. Create the skill now.

Quick Reference

Situation	Action
Found useful pattern	PAUSE → Use writing-skills skill → Document
Production emergency	Fix first → Create bd task immediately → Document within 24hrs
Multiple discoveries	Create bd task for each → Document first one now
Mentally fatigued	Create bd tasks now → Schedule documentation time
"Almost done" feeling	ESPECIALLY pause now before details fade
Simple technique	Document BECAUSE it's easy to forget

The Workflow

1. Recognize: "This is useful / I should remember this"
2. STOP: Pause current work immediately
3. Invoke: Use writing-skills skill
4. Document: Create skill with TDD approach
5. Return: Continue original work with better tool

Time investment: 10-30 minutes now, saves hours later.

Integration with Discovery Tree

When you create a skill:

# Create task in discovery tree
bd create "Document [skill-name] skill" -t task -p 1

# Claim it
bd update <task-id> --status in_progress

# After documenting
bd close <task-id> --reason "Skill created and tested"

This makes skill creation visible in your work tree.

Red Flags - You're Rationalizing

STOP if you catch yourself thinking:

• "I'll do this later"
• "I'll remember"
• "After I finish..."
• "Too simple to document"
• "Too complex for now"
• "I'm almost done"
• "This is urgent"
• "I'm too tired"
• "Too many to handle"

All of these mean: Create skill now or create capture commitment.

Why This Works

From baseline testing:

"I clearly recognized all three as valuable. The recognition wasn't the problem. Those three valuable patterns would likely be lost."

"The danger isn't choosing to fix first - that's correct. The danger is not having a capture mechanism and letting the insight evaporate."

"Simple techniques are often the MOST valuable because they're easy to teach, have high adoption rates, and are easy to forget precisely because they seem simple."

The truth: You recognize valuable patterns constantly. You document them rarely. This skill closes that gap.

The Bottom Line

Sharpening the knife = creating skills for the tools you just invented.

Stop when you discover something useful. Document it before the insight evaporates. Return to work with a sharper blade.

No exceptions. No "later". No "I'll remember".