Matt Van Horn
10f61c503d
Feature audit found 11 things v2 dropped from v1. Restored the 7 that affect output quality: quality checklist for prompts, anti-pattern examples, self-check instruction, "don't re-search" context memory, prompt format anti-pattern, multi-prompt guidance, and emoji footer with engagement counts. Also adds visible query parsing display (🔍 **{TOPIC}** · {QUERY_TYPE}) and the full v1-vs-v2 comparison test plan with all 17 test queries from README. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
3.3 KiB
title, type, date
| title | type | date |
|---|---|---|
| feat: Add visible query parsing display before research starts | feat | 2026-02-06 |
feat: Add Visible Query Parsing Display
Overview
The last30days skill parses user intent (TOPIC, QUERY_TYPE, TARGET_TOOL) internally but never shows the user what it understood. The agent jumps straight from the user's /last30days kanye west into running tools with a generic "I'll start the research script and web searches in parallel."
Users expect to see a reformulation of their query — confirming what the agent understood before it starts searching. This builds trust and lets users course-correct before waiting for results.
Problem Statement
Current behavior:
User: /last30days kanye west
Agent: I'll start the research script and web searches in parallel.
[immediately runs bash + WebSearch]
Expected behavior:
User: /last30days kanye west
Agent: 🔍 **kanye west** · News
Searching Reddit, X, and the web for the latest on kanye west...
[then runs bash + WebSearch]
The "Parse User Intent" section in SKILL.md tells the agent to store variables internally but never instructs it to display them.
Proposed Solution
Add an explicit "Display your parsing" instruction between the "Parse User Intent" section and "Research Execution" section in SKILL.md. One new block of text — no code changes, no script changes.
Acceptance Criteria
- Agent displays parsed TOPIC and QUERY_TYPE before running any tools
- Display is concise (1-2 lines, not a verbose block)
- Agent still runs script + WebSearch in parallel after displaying
- No changes to Python scripts — SKILL.md only
Implementation
SKILL.md Change
File: /Users/mvanhorn/last30days-skill-private/SKILL.md
After the "Store these variables" block (line ~38) and before "Research Execution" (line ~42), add:
**DISPLAY your parsing to the user.** Before running any tools, output a single line:
🔍 **{TOPIC}** · {QUERY_TYPE}
Searching Reddit, X, and the web for {natural language description of what you'll look for}...
Example outputs:
- 🔍 **kanye west** · News — Searching Reddit, X, and the web for the latest kanye west news and discussions...
- 🔍 **best MCP servers** · Recommendations — Searching Reddit, X, and the web for the most recommended MCP servers...
- 🔍 **nano banana pro prompting** · Prompting — Searching Reddit, X, and the web for nano banana pro prompting techniques and tips...
- 🔍 **open claw** · General — Searching Reddit, X, and the web for what people are saying about open claw...
If TARGET_TOOL is known, mention it: "...for nano banana pro prompting techniques to use in ChatGPT..."
This text MUST appear before you call any tools. It confirms to the user that you understood their request.
Sync
After editing SKILL.md:
cp /Users/mvanhorn/last30days-skill-private/SKILL.md ~/.claude/skills/last30days/SKILL.md
Test Plan
Run in a NEW Claude Code session:
/last30days kanye west— should display: 🔍 kanye west · News/last30days best MCP servers— should display: 🔍 best MCP servers · Recommendations/last30days nano banana pro prompting for ChatGPT— should display with tool mention
Files to Modify
| File | Change |
|---|---|
SKILL.md |
Add display instruction between Parse User Intent and Research Execution |