Usage

Log what you learn

Updated 6 Oct 2026

On this page

For agents

Load this page when: you need to record project learnings in a manuscript

  • At the end of a task, compare what you learned with each manuscript's "log when" line.
  • On a match, run trove ms show <id> and follow its instructions.
  • If auto-update is on, write the entry and report it in one line. If it is off, show the entry and wait for a yes.
  • If no manuscript matches, stay silent, or offer trove ms create when the topic will come back.

Keep every decision, pitfall and rule that you learn in a manuscript, so the next session can read it.

Before you start

  • Trove is installed (see Install).
  • You know what kind of learning the manuscript will hold, for example "a billing decision and its reason".
  • You know if the agent may write entries without asking. You set this for each manuscript. See Manuscripts.

Steps

  1. List the active manuscripts. Ask your agent: "Show me my active Trove manuscripts." Check if one already fits your topic.
  2. Create a manuscript if none fits. Ask your agent to create one. Give it a title and a "log when" line. The "log when" line says what kind of learning belongs in the book. You can also say how the agent writes an entry.
  3. Choose the approval rule. Tell the agent if it may write entries without asking. If you want to approve each entry, say so. Many people keep approval on while the book is in progress.
  4. Work as usual. At the end of a task, the agent compares what it learned with the "log when" line of each active manuscript. On a match, it writes or proposes an entry.
  5. Change the rule later. Ask your agent: "Let the agent write Billing decisions entries without asking me." or "Ask me before each Billing decisions entry." Each manuscript has its own rule.

Prompt to paste

text
Create a manuscript called "Billing decisions". Log when: a billing decision and its reason. Instructions: one dated entry per decision, with the current state first. Do not write entries without asking me.

What you will see

The agent creates the manuscript and prints it with its id and its book. Later, at the end of a task, the agent either reports one line about the entry it wrote or shows you the entry and waits for a yes. When the learning matches no manuscript, the agent says nothing.

โœ“ Created manuscript: Billing decisions (ID: <id>)
  Book: <book-id>

Reading your log later

When you need an old decision, ask your agent explicitly: "Search my Trove library for our billing decisions." That starts the librarian, which finds the manuscript book and reads the right pages. We are actively working on making the librarian start automatically and reliably, but today you should not rely on it.

Direct CLI

Your agent runs these through the trove command. You can run them yourself in a terminal, but asking your agent is the recommended way: it picks the right flags, waits for processing and checks the result.

TaskCommand
List active manuscriptstrove ms list --active
Create a manuscripttrove ms create with a title, --criteria, and optional --instructions and --auto-update
Show a manuscripttrove ms show <id>
Change the approval ruletrove ms update <id> --auto-update or --no-auto-update

See the CLI reference.

Next

    Log what you learn | Trove