The /retro (Retrospective) command is the final stage of a project’s lifecycle. It facilitates a structured review to harvest lessons learned, extract reusable assets, and officially move the project to the Archive/ directory.
Core Execution Steps
0. Rules Pre-flight (v1.5.4)
Before any step executes, the agent re-reads .agent/rules.md from disk to restore rule context. This is part of the Defense-in-Depth Layer 3 protection — ensuring rules survive context truncation in long sessions.
1. Goal Evaluation (v1.5.3 Hybrid)
Starting with version v1.5.3, the /retro workflow uses the artifacts/tasks/done.md file as its exclusive data source. The Agent automatically calculates:
- Velocity: Task completion rates.
- Timeline: Actual duration vs. original estimates.
- Completion %: Percentage of goals achieved against the project contract (
project.md).
2. Three-Dimensional Reflection
The Agent guides you through reflecting on three core areas:
- What went well? (Effective processes, tools, or decisions).
- What were the challenges? (Obstacles encountered and how they were overcome).
- Lessons for improvement? (What to do differently next time).
3. Asset Harvesting
The system “harvests” valuable outcomes:
- Move code snippets into the global
Resources/library. - Catalog specialized knowledge into
Areas/Learning. - Rule Graduation: If a specific lesson repeats 3+ times, the Agent suggests formalizing it as an official Rule via
/para-rule.
4. Retrospective Logging & Archiving
The Agent generates a sessions/RETROSPECTIVE.md summary file. Upon your confirmation, the entire project directory is safely moved from Projects/ to the Archive/ space.
Relationships
/end— Wrap up the final work session./learn— Deep dive into specific lessons./para-rule— Systematize experience into behavioral rules.