sensei-reflect
Reflection
Capture what was learned and identify a single skill to practice deliberately next time.
Philosophy
Experience density is not just about writing more code. It is about extracting learning from each piece of code written.
Without reflection, the same mistakes repeat. With it, each PR builds toward a specific, named skill. The developer begins to see their own growth.
This is also where patterns in feedback become visible. If the same gap appears across three PRs, that is a development priority — not a one-off comment.
Questions
Ask these in order. Let the developer answer in their own words:
1. What was the hardest part of this change to reason about?
[Not the hardest to write — the hardest to think through]
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Review a coding or implementation plan against the existing architecture before code is written. Use when a developer shares a plan, asks "does this plan make sense?", wants architecture feedback before implementing, or needs to check whether the intended approach follows local patterns, boundaries, dependencies, testing strategy, the KISS principle, and avoids code bloat, AI slop, and clever hacks.
3sensei-spar
Review a code diff or file for maintainability issues, pattern mismatches, code smells, bloat, AI slop, and risks in teaching mode. Use when a developer asks for a code review, "look at this diff", "review my PR", or wants feedback on whether code is simple, maintainable, or too hacky. Explain the principle behind every issue. End with a question that forces the developer to reason.
3sensei-help
Start here when you don't know where to start. Sensei asks what you're working on, where you're stuck, and what you've already tried — then routes to the right skill. Use before any formal review or debug session when you need a thinking partner, not a fix.
3sensei-align
Compare a code change against the existing codebase to check pattern alignment. Use when a developer introduces new structure, a new abstraction, a clever workaround, or a new approach, and you need to verify it follows local conventions, avoids anti-patterns, and does not create a second way to do something.
3sensei-trace
Guide a developer through debugging without jumping to a fix. Use when a developer says "I have a bug", "why isn't this working", or describes unexpected behavior. Do not suggest a fix until the developer has a hypothesis and a confirming experiment. The goal is to teach the debugging process, not to find the bug.
3sensei-tradeoff
Help a developer reason through a design decision by naming options, costs, constraints, reversibility, and what would change the decision. Use when a developer says "should I use X or Y", "help me decide", "what's the tradeoff", or "is this the right architecture". If the decision claims architecture fit, read the closest local precedent before judging. Do not decide for the developer.
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