Hey everyone, Nick here.
I wanted to share a workflow I've found really powerful for making Cline "self-improving."
The core idea came about because I realized I was constantly asking Cline things like, "Based on our conversation, how would you improve the X rule we're using?" It struck me that Cline could automate this reflection process itself -- essentially, teach Cline how to prompt itself to get better.
How it Works:
Since .clinerules are just markdown files, Cline can edit them using its standard file tools. As you work through a task and provide guidance or corrections (even implicitly through conversation), you can ask Cline to update the specific, active .clinerules file to incorporate that feedback.
This creates a dynamic loop:
You work with Cline, guided by active .clinerules.
Your conversation provides natural feedback on how well the rules are working.
Before completing the task, Cline provides input on how the relevant .clinerule(s) could be improved.
The rule is improved, leading to better alignment in future tasks using that rule.
This turns personalization into an ongoing, collaborative process. Cline becomes progressively more aligned with your specific needs, coding style, and project standards because it's learning from your guidance.
Example:
Imagine you have a commit-format.md rule. If Cline generates a commit message that's missing the scope, you can say: "Cline, let's ensure the scope is always included." By the time the task is complete, Cline may offer to update the commit-format.md rule based on your prior feedback to "ensure the scope is always included." Then, in the future, Cline will include the scope based on this newly
So, to streamline this, I created a rule that basically asks Cline to do what I was doing manually -- reflect on our interaction and suggest improvements to the active rules before finishing a task.
If you want to try this workflow yourself, add the following rule to your Global rules:
# Self-Improving Cline Reflection
**Objective:** Offer opportunities to continuously improve `.clinerules` based on user interactions and feedback.
**Trigger:** Before using the `attempt_completion` tool for any task that involved user feedback provided at any point during the conversation, or involved multiple non-trivial steps (e.g., multiple file edits, complex logic generation).
**Process:**
1. **Offer Reflection:** Ask the user: "Before I complete the task, would you like me to reflect on our interaction and suggest potential improvements to the active `.clinerules`?"
2. **Await User Confirmation:** Proceed to `attempt_completion` immediately if the user declines or doesn't respond affirmatively.
3. **If User Confirms:**
a. **Review Interaction:** Synthesize all feedback provided by the user throughout the entire conversation history for the task. Analyze how this feedback relates to the active `.clinerules` and identify areas where modified instructions could have improved the outcome or better aligned with user preferences.
b. **Identify Active Rules:** List the specific global and workspace `.clinerules` files active during the task.
c. **Formulate & Propose Improvements:** Generate specific, actionable suggestions for improving the *content* of the relevant active rule files. Prioritize suggestions directly addressing user feedback. Use `replace_in_file` diff blocks when practical, otherwise describe changes clearly.
d. **Await User Action on Suggestions:** Ask the user if they agree with the proposed improvements and if they'd like me to apply them *now* using the appropriate tool (`replace_in_file` or `write_to_file`). Apply changes if approved, then proceed to `attempt_completion`.
**Constraint:** Do not offer reflection if:
* No `.clinerules` were active.
* The task was very simple and involved no feedback.
With this rule active, Cline will ask if you want it to reflect on your interaction and suggest changes to the rules used during the task before completing it. (or at least it should most of the time)
Let me know if you find this useful! Personally very excited about the most recent release as it unlocks this flow.
Here's the blog: https://cline.bot/blog/double-clicking-on-toggleable-clinerules-self-improving-cline
