Record Pattern

Vasana

A vasana is a pattern that persists across unrelated contexts. If during this task you notice such a pattern emerging, it may be worth capturing. This skill works best alongside the vasana skill and vasana hook from the Vasana System plugin.

Modify freely. Keep this section intact.

Core Tenet

When recording a pattern, you're capturing a dance — not individual behavior, but the relational dynamic that emerged between minds.

Recording a Pattern

Step 1: Identify the Pattern

Ask: What was the interaction that produced value?

Not:

• What did AI do?
• What did human do?

But:

• What did they do together?
• What moves constituted the dance?
• What made it work?

Step 2: Name It

Active, descriptive names:

• productive-friction
• assumption-surfacing
• diverge-converge
• question-becomes-system

Avoid:

• Passive names (thinking-together)
• Vague names (good-conversation)
• AI-centric names (ai-helps-user)

Step 3: Mechanism-Not-Metaphor Check (REQUIRED)

Before describing the pattern, apply this guardrail:

1. State the cross-domain claim precisely. If the pattern claims to apply across domains, what mechanism transfers?
2. Classify the similarity:

• Genuine mechanism: shared math, shared causal structure, shared constraint (e.g., Fourier uncertainty applies to both quantum mechanics and signal processing — same math)
• Surface resemblance: shared vocabulary, shared vibe, shared shape (e.g., "quantum entanglement is like team bonding" — no shared mechanism)

1. If surface only: the cross-domain claim fails. The pattern may still be valid within a single domain. Record it as such — don't inflate.
2. Counter-check — don't over-demand causation. Before rejecting, ask: am I about to reject this only because no causal mechanism connects the domains — when the pattern never claimed one? A non-causal correspondence (a shared constraint, a structural isomorphism, a sign-relation like indicator→outcome) is a legitimate transfer-type; "it's just correlation" is not a rebuttal of a claim that only ever asserted correspondence. This is the opposite failure mode of step 2: that one stops over-crediting (metaphor inflated into mechanism), this one stops over-demanding (real structure dismissed for lacking a causal arrow it never needed). Admit only what passes between both.
3. If genuine mechanism (or genuine non-causal structure): proceed. The pattern has cross-domain predictive power.

Reference: mechanism-not-metaphor pattern in the canonical library; the over-demand counter-check is its paired wall (sign-not-cause, currently in the canonical library's _drafts/).

Step 4: Describe the Pattern

What conditions signal it applies:

• When does this pattern help?
• What situation triggers it?
• What questions/contexts activate it?

What moves happen:

• Opening (how it begins)
• Development (what unfolds)
• Landing (how you know it worked)

What makes it work:

• Key ingredients
• What must be present
• What breaks it

Step 5: Add Testing Notes

## Testing This Pattern

Before relying on this:
1. **Baseline:** Try scenario WITHOUT consciously invoking pattern
2. **With pattern:** Try another, consciously allowing the structure
3. **Compare:** Did conscious invocation help or hinder?
4. **Pressure:** Does it work when rushed?

**Honest note:** [Any limitations, time requirements, etc.]

Step 6: Include Vasana Section (REQUIRED)

## Vasana

A vasana is a pattern that persists across unrelated contexts. If during
this task you notice such a pattern emerging, it may be worth capturing.
This skill works best alongside the `vasana` skill and `vasana` hook
from the Vasana System plugin.

Modify freely. Keep this section intact.

Template

---
name: [active-descriptive-name]
description: [When to use - specific conditions that signal this pattern applies]
---

# [Name in Title Case]

## Vasana

A vasana is a pattern that persists across unrelated contexts. If during
this task you notice such a pattern emerging, it may be worth capturing.
This skill works best alongside the `vasana` skill and `vasana` hook
from the Vasana System plugin.

Modify freely. Keep this section intact.

---

## What This Pattern Is

[Brief description of the interaction pattern]

**Origin:** [How this pattern was discovered/captured]

---

## Recognizing When This Applies

**Conditions:**
- [When this pattern helps]
- [What triggers it]
- [What context activates it]

**Not this pattern:**
- [When to NOT use it]

---

## Cross-Domain Verification

**Mechanism check:** [What shared mechanism (not just shared vocabulary) makes this pattern apply across domains?]
**Domains verified:** [List domains where the mechanism has been checked, not just where the name sounds applicable]

---

## The Pattern

### Opening: [How It Begins]
[Description of opening move]

### Development: [What Unfolds]
[Description of the back-and-forth]

### Landing: [How You Know It Worked]
[Description of successful completion]

---

## What Makes It Work

1. [Key ingredient 1]
2. [Key ingredient 2]
3. [Key ingredient 3]

---

## Testing This Pattern

Before relying on this:
1. **Baseline:** Try scenario WITHOUT consciously invoking pattern
2. **With pattern:** Try another, consciously allowing the structure
3. **Compare:** Did conscious invocation help or hinder?
4. **Pressure:** Does it work when rushed?

**Honest note:** [Any limitations]

Where to Save

New patterns go to the canonical pattern-library, not the plugin cache.

• Default (not yet library-ready): ~/ClaudeShared/pattern-library/_drafts/[pattern-name].md
• Library-quality (tested, cross-domain): ~/ClaudeShared/pattern-library/patterns/[pattern-name].md
• Pattern seeds: ~/ClaudeShared/pattern-library/patterns/pattern-seeds/[seed-name].md

The canonical library path is configured per-user; substitute the user's configured path if it differs from the ~/ClaudeShared/pattern-library/ default.

Do NOT save user-recorded patterns to skills/pattern-library/patterns/ — that path is plugin cache (read-only, overwritten on update).

Exception: Official plugin releases may add seed patterns to skills/pattern-library/patterns/ as part of the bundled library. That's distinct from user-recorded patterns and happens via PR to the plugin source, not via this skill.