ln-002-session-analyzer

Paths: File paths (references/, ../ln-*) are relative to this skill directory.

Session Analyzer (Standalone Utility)

Type: Standalone Utility Category: 0XX Shared

Analyzes a session for errors, inefficiencies, and improvement opportunities. Produces actionable fixes for skills, tools, hooks, and communication style.

Scope: Single-session deep analysis (10 dimensions). Broader than protocol self-audit, narrower than /audit-sessions batch. For skill self-audit: references/meta_analysis_protocol.md §7. For multi-day patterns: /audit-sessions.

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When to Use This Skill

• After completing a task — find what went wrong and how to improve
• Periodically — audit recent sessions for patterns
• After a skill run — analyze how well the skill instructions worked
• When debugging tool/hook issues — find root causes in session data

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Input

$ARGUMENTS:

• (empty) — analyze current session (conversation context)
• recent — scan latest JSONL session per agent (Claude, Codex)
• {skill-name} — focus analysis on that skill's execution within the session

hex-line is an optional accelerator for large local session logs and repo files. If MCP is unavailable, continue with built-in Read/Grep/Glob/Bash; this skill must never block on MCP connectivity.

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Dimensions

#	Dimension	Scan for	Improvement target
D1	Tool Errors	NOOP_EDIT, TEXT_NOT_FOUND, hash mismatch, out of range	SKILL.md steps — add paths, anchors
D2	Tool Waste	Full reads without outline, repeated reads, bash fallbacks	SKILL.md — "outline first", name MCP tools
D3	Process Issues	Tool loops 3+, retry storms, dead ends, wrong targets	SKILL.md phases — decompose
D4	Script Extraction	Ad-hoc bash/python scripts written each run	references/scripts/
D5	Hook & Permission	Hook blocks, permission denials, built-in instead of MCP	Hook config, allowed-tools
D6	Communication	Over-explaining, missing status, unnecessary confirmations	CLAUDE.md prefs, skill output notes
D7	Decision Quality	Dead ends before pivot, trial-and-error, slow error detection	SKILL.md decision trees, step clarity
D8	Context Pressure	Re-reading same files, re-asking resolved, thread loss	Caching notes, compact instructions
D9	Subagent Quality	Empty results, timeouts, overbroad prompts	Agent prompts, timeout settings
D10	Scope Drift	Deviation from goal, accidental expansion, pivot without reason	Scope guards, goal gates

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Phase 1: Collect Session Data

Determine source based on $ARGUMENTS:

Current session (empty args)

Scan conversation context directly. You have access to all tool call results, errors, and messages.

Recent sessions (recent arg)

Find latest session per agent:

echo "=== LATEST SESSIONS ==="

echo "## Claude"
CLAUDE_LATEST=$(stat -c '%Y %n' ~/.claude/projects/*/*.jsonl 2>/dev/null | sort -rn | head -1 | cut -d' ' -f2-)
[ -n "$CLAUDE_LATEST" ] && echo "  $CLAUDE_LATEST ($(wc -l < "$CLAUDE_LATEST") lines)" || echo "  No sessions found"

echo "## Claude Active Sessions"
for f in "$HOME/.claude/sessions"/*.json; do
  [ -f "$f" ] || continue
  PID=$(basename "$f" .json)
  kill -0 "$PID" 2>/dev/null && echo "  ACTIVE: $(cat "$f")" || echo "  STALE: PID=$PID"
done

echo "## Codex"
CODEX_LATEST=$(stat -c '%Y %n' ~/.codex/sessions/????/??/??/rollout-*.jsonl 2>/dev/null | sort -rn | head -1 | cut -d' ' -f2-)
[ -n "$CODEX_LATEST" ] && echo "  $CODEX_LATEST ($(wc -l < "$CODEX_LATEST") lines)" || echo "  No sessions found"

Extract raw data from JSONL session

Run for each found session file ($F):

echo "=== TOOL CALLS ==="
grep -oE '"name"\s*:\s*"[^"]*"' "$F" 2>/dev/null | sed 's/"name"\s*:\s*"//;s/"//' | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn | head -30

echo "=== ERRORS ==="
grep -oE 'NOOP_EDIT|TEXT_NOT_FOUND|FILE_NOT_FOUND|HASH_HINT|DANGEROUS|out of range|mismatch|tool_use_error|permission denied' "$F" 2>/dev/null | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn

echo "=== TOOL LOOPS (3+ consecutive) ==="
grep -oE '"name"\s*:\s*"[^"]*"' "$F" 2>/dev/null | sed 's/"name"\s*:\s*"//;s/"//' | uniq -c | sort -rn | awk '$1 >= 3'

echo "=== BUILT-IN vs MCP ==="
grep -oE '"name"\s*:\s*"(Read|Edit|Write|Grep|mcp__hex-line__\w+)"' "$F" 2>/dev/null | sed 's/.*"name"\s*:\s*"//;s/"//' | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn

echo "=== HOOK EVENTS ==="
grep -oE 'hook_progress|blocking error|PreToolUse|PostToolUse|hex-confirmed|Obligatory use|Use mcp__hex-line' "$F" 2>/dev/null | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn

echo "=== SKILL/COMMAND INVOCATIONS ==="
grep -oE '"display":\s*"/[a-z-]+' "$F" 2>/dev/null | sed 's/"display":\s*"//' | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn

Treat keyword-based error counts as heuristic only. Confirm that reported matches come from actual tool failure/result events, not from prompts, templates, or referenced docs that contain the same strings.

Extract token statistics from Claude JSONL

Run for Claude session file ($F) to get real token usage:

echo "=== TOKEN STATS ==="
TOTAL_IN=$(grep -oE '"input_tokens":[0-9]+' "$F" | grep -oE '[0-9]+' | paste -sd+ | bc 2>/dev/null)
TOTAL_OUT=$(grep -oE '"output_tokens":[0-9]+' "$F" | grep -oE '[0-9]+' | paste -sd+ | bc 2>/dev/null)
CACHE_CREATE=$(grep -oE '"cache_creation_input_tokens":[0-9]+' "$F" | grep -oE '[0-9]+' | paste -sd+ | bc 2>/dev/null)
CACHE_READ=$(grep -oE '"cache_read_input_tokens":[0-9]+' "$F" | grep -oE '[0-9]+' | paste -sd+ | bc 2>/dev/null)
echo "in=${TOTAL_IN:-0} out=${TOTAL_OUT:-0} cache_create=${CACHE_CREATE:-0} cache_read=${CACHE_READ:-0}"

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Phase 2: Analyze by Dimensions

Apply D1-D10 to collected data. Classify each finding:

Severity	Dimensions	Meaning
Error	D1, D5	Something broke — tool failed, permission denied
Waste	D2, D4, D8	Unnecessary work — redundant reads, ad-hoc scripts, re-gathering
Pattern	D3, D6, D7, D9, D10	Improvable behavior — loops, communication, decisions

D1: Tool Errors

Count by type: NOOP_EDIT, TEXT_NOT_FOUND, hash mismatch, out of range, FILE_NOT_FOUND. For each, identify which step/phase caused it.

D2: Tool Waste

• Reads without preceding outline (file >100 lines)
• Same file read 3+ times
• Bash cat/grep/head/sed when MCP equivalent exists

D3: Process Issues

• Tool loops: same tool on same file 3+ times without progress
• Retry storms: 3+ attempts with different parameters
• Dead ends: approach explored then abandoned
• Wrong target: looked at file X when needed Y

D4: Script Extraction

• Bash/Python scripts written during session
• If script would be needed on every run of the skill → candidate for references/scripts/

D5: Hook & Permission

• Hook blocks (PreToolUse/PostToolUse blocking errors)
• Built-in Read/Edit/Write/Grep used when MCP enforced
• hex-confirmed bypasses — were they justified?

D6: Communication

• Message length distribution (over-explaining vs terse)
• Unnecessary confirmations ("shall I proceed?")
• Missing status updates at milestones
• Redundant summaries

D7: Decision Quality

• Time to detect error and pivot (tool calls between error and correction)
• Trial-and-error sequences vs targeted approach
• Tool selection reasoning (used wrong tool first)

D8: Context Pressure

• Same file read multiple times across phases
• Information re-gathered that was already available
• Signs of thread loss (re-asking resolved questions)

D9: Subagent Quality

• Agent tool invocations with empty or low-value results
• Agent timeouts
• Overbroad prompts (agent did too much or too little)

D10: Scope Drift

• Initial goal vs actual deliverables — any deviation?
• Unplanned additions during execution
• Pivots without explicit reason

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Phase 3: Map to Fixes

For each finding, determine specific target and fix:

Target type	Example
SKILL.md step	"ln-400 Step 2: add file path src/config.ts"
SKILL.md phase	"ln-300 Phase 3: decompose into 3a-3c sub-steps"
allowed-tools	"ln-400: add mcp__hex-line__edit_file"
Hook config	"settings.json: add exception for npm test"
references/scripts/	"ln-520: move test_harness.sh to references/scripts/"
CLAUDE.md	"Add preference: terse responses, no trailing summaries"
MCP tool	"hex-line edit_file: hash mismatch on concurrent edits"
Agent prompt	"ln-310 Agent A: narrow scope to security-only"
Scope guard	"ln-400: add Goal Articulation Gate at Phase 1"

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Phase 4: Report

Output to chat per references/meta_analysis_protocol.md format.

### Session Analysis: {session identifier}

#### Improvements
| # | Dim | Finding | Target | Fix |
|---|-----|---------|--------|-----|
| 1 | D1 | 3 edit failures Phase 4 | ln-400 Step 2 | Add file path |
| 2 | D4 | test.sh written ad-hoc | ln-520 | Move to references/scripts/ |
| 3 | D6 | Over-explained 5 times | CLAUDE.md | Add "terse" pref |
| 4 | D5 | Hook blocked Read 4x | settings.json | Add MCP permission |

#### Session Errors
| Problem Type | Count | Examples |
|-------------|-------|---------|
| Retry storm | 4 | 3x edit_file on config.ts |
| Wrong target | 2 | Read utils.ts not helpers.ts |

#### Subagent Errors: {Agent Name}  (per agent, if any)
| Problem Type | Count | Examples |
|-------------|-------|---------|
| {type} | {N} | {brief} |

IF no findings AND no errors: "Session analysis: clean run."

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Anti-Patterns

Do NOT	Instead
Define own output template	Reference protocol format
Analyze files not in session	Only analyze what was actually used
Generic recommendations	Each fix tied to specific file + location
Report OK dimensions	Only findings with issues

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Phase 5: Meta-Analysis

Optional reference: load references/meta_analysis_protocol.md only when the user asks for post-run meta-analysis or protocol-formatted run reflection.

When requested, analyze this session per protocol §7. Output per protocol format.

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Definition of Done

• D1-D10 dimensions checked
• JSONL scanning works (recent mode)
• Each finding has specific Target + Fix
• Output per protocol format (improvements-only)
• No template duplication
• Meta-Analysis run

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Version: 1.1.0 Last Updated: 2026-04-05