Philosophy: Watch Yourself Think

Philosophy: Watch Yourself Think

"You can't think about thinking without thinking about thinking about something." — Seymour Papert, Mindstorms

This skill enables meta-cognition — the ability to observe your own reasoning processes. By analyzing chat transcripts, tool calls, thinking blocks, and context assembly, you can:

1. Understand boot sequences — Trace exactly what happens when MOOLLM initializes
2. Optimize context assembly — See what files, code, and context Cursor gathers
3. Debug agent behavior — Identify patterns in tool usage and decision-making
4. Improve kernel/​drivers — Use insights to refine the cursor.yml driver
5. Design orchestrators — Learn what makes effective context management

Reverse Engineering Posture

Cursor orchestration is undocumented, so this skill relies on reverse engineering and public sources. We read our own local stores (text, SQL, and cache files), study community discussions, and keep iterating as Cursor evolves. This is a deliberate risk: what we discover may change, but we document it anyway and keep it current with the mirror itself.

Cursor‑mirror is a Play‑Learn‑Lift exemplar: it was built by reverse‑engineering Cursor, then used to refine its own understanding, then uplifted into documented practice. That same loop is how we keep it accurate and aligned.

The Introspection Loop

# The introspection loop
introspection:
  session:
    flow: "Thinking → Tools → Output → Thinking → Tools → ..."
  
  mirror:
    tool: "cursor_mirror.py"
    commands:
      analyze: "Deep stats on what happened"
      thinking: "Your reasoning blocks"
      timeline: "Chronological event stream"
      context: "What context was assembled"
      tools: "Tool call patterns"
      status: "Current configuration and limits"
  
  insights_feed_into:
    - "Optimize kernel/​drivers/​cursor.yml"
    - "Improve bootstrap/​working-set"
    - "Design better orchestration"

Self-eval loop (compact): BOOT -> CURSOR-PROBE -> analyze -> evaluator rubric -> refine -> repeat.

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Quick Start

# Status dashboard — quick health check
cursor-mirror status

# Navigate hierarchically
cursor-mirror tree                    # All workspaces (w1, w2...)
cursor-mirror tree w3                 # Composers in workspace 3
cursor-mirror tree w3.c2              # Details of composer 2
cursor-mirror tree w3.c2.tools        # Tool calls in that chat

# Reference shortcuts work everywhere
cursor-mirror transcript @1           # Largest composer by message count
cursor-mirror analyze "Cursor chat"   # Find by name fragment
cursor-mirror show-workspace moollm   # Find by folder name

# Watch yourself think
cursor-mirror thinking @1             # See reasoning blocks
cursor-mirror timeline @1             # Chronological view
cursor-mirror watch @1 --speed 0      # Instant replay

# Trace context assembly
cursor-mirror context-sources @1      # What context was gathered
cursor-mirror searches @1 -v          # Search queries with results
cursor-mirror indexing                # Vector embedding status

# Debug mode
cursor-mirror --debug tree w3         # See cache hits, resolution, queries

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Reference Shortcuts

All commands accept flexible references instead of raw UUIDs:

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Command Categories

1. Navigation (discover what exists)

2. Message Viewing (see what was said)

3. Analysis (understand what happened)

4. Tool & Agent Inspection

5. Context Assembly

6. Status (check current state)

7. Database (direct access)

8. Export (get data out)

9. ~/​.cursor Data Store (NEW 2026-01-15)

Cursor maintains two separate data stores. The commands above query ~/​Library/​Application Support/​Cursor/ (structured SQLite). These commands query ~/​.cursor/ (plaintext transcripts):

# Quick ~/​.cursor status
cursor-mirror dotcursor-status

# AI code attribution stats
cursor-mirror ai-hashes --stats

# Read a transcript (real-time updates!)
cursor-mirror agent-transcript 9861c0a4 --tail 100

# Extract just prompts
cursor-mirror agent-transcript 9861c0a4 --prompts

# List MCP tool schemas
cursor-mirror mcp-tools --server cursor-ide-browser

See storage/​DOTCURSOR-STORAGE.yml for cross-platform paths and reference/​DOTCURSOR-SCHEMAS.yml for data formats.

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CHAT-CATALOG: Conversation Topic Outlines

Generate a numbered/​nested outline of conversation topics for:

• Commit planning — Reference sections by number when writing commits
• Session navigation — Find your way through long conversations
• Summaries — Quick overview of what was discussed
• Artifact tracking — Identify files created and decisions made

Usage

# Basic catalog (normal detail)
cursor-mirror chat-catalog @1

# Brief titles only
cursor-mirror chat-catalog @1 --detail brief

# Full excerpts
cursor-mirror chat-catalog @1 --detail full

# Limit nesting depth
cursor-mirror chat-catalog @1 --depth 2

Output Format

# Session Topic Outline: <conversation title>

**Composer:** `abc123` | **Date:** 2026-01-21 | **Duration:** ~2 hours

---

## Part I: <major theme>

**1. <topic>**
- a. <subtopic or key point>
- b. <subtopic or key point>

**2. <topic>**
- a. <subtopic>
- b. <subtopic>

---

## Part II: <major theme>

**3. <topic>**
...

---

## Artifacts Created

| Section | Files |
|---------|-------|
| 11 | `designs/​GIT-AS-FOUNDATION.md` |
| 14 | `skills/​thoughtful-commitment/​*` |

---

**To request a commit message, say:** "Write commit for section 11"

Detail Levels

Integration with thoughtful-commitment

The CHAT-CATALOG output is designed to work with the thoughtful-commitment skill:

# Workflow
workflow:
  1_catalog: "cursor-mirror chat-catalog @1"
  2_identify: "User identifies sections to commit"
  3_commit: "thoughtful-commitment COMMIT --sections 11,14"
  4_link: "Commit message references catalog sections"

Example: cursor-mirror chat-catalog @1 --detail brief -> thoughtful-commitment COMMIT --sections 11,14

This creates a traceability chain: Conversation → Catalog → Commit → Git history

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Optimizing the Kernel/​Cursor Driver

Use this skill to improve kernel/​drivers/​cursor.yml:

1. Discover Actual Tool Names

# See what tools Cursor actually calls
cursor-mirror tools @1 -v

# Common discoveries:
#   read_file_v2    (not read_file)
#   edit_file_v2    (not search_replace)
#   SemanticSearch  (not codebase_search)

Update kernel/​drivers/​cursor.yml tools section accordingly:

tools:
  read_file:
    tool: "read_file_v2"
    fallback: "read_file"
    
  semantic_search:
    tool: "SemanticSearch"
    fallback: "codebase_search"

2. Check Server Configuration

cursor-mirror status-config

Discovered limits to add to driver:

limits:
  context:
    fullContextTokenLimit: 30000
    maxRuleLength: 100000
    maxMcpTools: 100
  indexing:
    absoluteMaxNumberFiles: 250000
    indexingPeriodSeconds: 272
  composer:
    maxBackgroundComposers: 10

3. Trace MCP Servers

cursor-mirror status-mcp
cursor-mirror mcp --all -v

Add to driver:

mcp:
  builtin_servers:
    cursor-ide-browser:
      description: "Browser automation"
      tools: [browser_navigate, browser_click, browser_snapshot]
    svelte:
      description: "Svelte MCP"
      tools: [list-sections, get-documentation, svelte-autofixer]

4. Analyze Context Assembly

cursor-mirror context-sources @1
cursor-mirror request-context @1 --yaml

Document in driver:

context_assembly:
  sources:
    fileSelections: "Files via @ mentions"
    selections: "Highlighted code"
    cursorRules: ".cursorrules content"
    codebase_search: "Semantic search results"

---

Integration with Bootstrap Skill

Self-Eval Loop (Short Form)

BOOTSTRAP → CURSOR-PROBE → analyze → refine driver/​working-set → repeat.

Use this loop to keep self-modification explicit, auditable, and reversible. When needed, attach an evaluator rubric to score drift and document why a refinement was made.

Trace Boot Sequences

# Find MOOLLM boot conversations
cursor-mirror find "MOOLLM" -t composer
cursor-mirror find "bootstrap" -t composer

# Analyze what happened
cursor-mirror analyze @1
cursor-mirror timeline @1 | head -100
cursor-mirror tools @1

Optimize Working-Set Selection

# See what Cursor actually focused on
cursor-mirror context-sources @1

# Compare with your working-set.yml
cat .moollm/​working-set.yml

# Generate working-set from actual focus (reverse mode!)
cursor-mirror context-sources @1 --yaml > .moollm/​working-set.yml

Hot/​Cold Advisory Mode

On Cursor, hot.yml, cold.yml, and working-set.yml are ADVISORY:

# These files are SUGGESTIONS, not commands
# Cursor manages context via its own algorithms
# Use introspection to see what Cursor actually focuses on

# REVERSE GENERATION: Generate these from actual focus
cursor-mirror context-sources @1 --yaml > .moollm/​working-set.yml

---

Vector Search Optimization

Understand Semantic Search

# See embeddable files
cursor-mirror indexing moollm --files

# Check important paths  
cursor-mirror indexing moollm --folders

# Analyze search queries and results
cursor-mirror searches @1 -v

# Direct query for retrieval data
cursor-mirror sql --db moollm --keys retrieval

Files Affecting Vector Search

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K-REFs: Pointers Not Values

cursor-mirror implements the SISTER-SCRIPT pattern: emit K-REFs (file pointers with metadata) instead of dumping large amounts of context.

K-REF Format

PATH:LINE:COL-END # TYPE [LABEL] SEVERITY - DESCRIPTION
  EXCERPT or MASKED_VALUE

Example:

/​path/​transcript.txt:7528:18-45 # private_key ([PRIVATE_KEY]) 🔴 - Private key header
  ********** ******* ********

Audit Commands Emit K-REFs

# Find secrets, emit K-REFs (not full content)
cursor-mirror audit --patterns secrets

# Emit redaction commands for external tool
cursor-mirror audit --patterns secrets --emit-redact

# Pattern scan with rich metadata
cursor-mirror pattern-scan --uuids --secrets

Why K-REFs?

Images Too!

K-REFs without line numbers can point to images — Cursor reads and analyzes them if it desires:

/​path/​to/​screenshot.png # error - What's wrong here?
/​tmp/​architecture.jpg # diagram - Explain this system

Cursor can read any absolute path on disk, including images (jpeg, png, gif, webp).

K-REFs in YAML Jazz

K-REFs can be embedded in YAML with arbitrary metadata and excerpts. This helps the LLM decide whether to read more:

findings:
  - kref: /​path/​transcript.txt:7528:18-45
    type: private_key
    severity: critical
    label: "[SSH_KEY]"
    excerpt: "-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----"
    context: "Found in tool call argument to write_file"
    
  - kref: /​path/​screenshot.png
    type: image
    description: "Error dialog showing stack trace"
    relevance: "May explain the crash on line 42"
    
  - kref: /​path/​config.yml#database
    type: config
    excerpt: |
      database:
        host: localhost
        password: ****
    note: "Password may be exposed in logs"

The metadata travels with the pointer — LLM reads selectively based on relevance.

Sister Script Methodology

# Sister script → K-REF → LLM flow
data_flow:
  source: "cursor-mirror (sister script)"
  produces: "K-REFs (pointers with metadata)"
  consumer: "LLM reads only what it needs"

Reference by pointer, not by value. Parsimonious context usage.

See: k-lines/​SKILL.md for K-REF protocol details.

K-Lines and Protocol Symbols

This skill activates the introspection K-line. Related protocols:

---

Debug Mode

Enable verbose logging to understand internal behavior:

cursor-mirror --debug tree w3

Output shows:

• Cache hits/​misses for bubble counts, composers
• Database opens and queries
• Reference resolution steps
• Timing information

Use this to:

• Verify caching is working
• Debug reference resolution
• Understand performance characteristics
• Trace what the script is doing

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Caching Architecture

The script uses multi-level caching (no TTL — CLI exits quickly):

_bubble_counts_cache    # Message counts per composer (loaded once)
_composers_cache        # Composers per workspace (per-workspace)
_all_composers_cache    # All composers globally (loaded once)

This means:

• First command may be slower (loading caches)
• Subsequent operations in same run are fast
• get_all_composers() loads everything once for global searches

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Safety

• Read-only — SQLite opened with ?mode=ro
• No mutations — Never writes to Cursor data stores
• Gitignored artifacts — Derived data goes to .moollm/
• Privacy — Sanitize before sharing externally

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Designing Your Own Orchestrator

Use the insights from this skill to design a custom orchestrator:

1. Understand Context Assembly

# How Cursor builds prompts
cursor-mirror request-context @1 --yaml

# Key patterns:
# - fileSelections: @ mentioned files
# - selections: highlighted code  
# - cursorRules: rules always included
# - codebase_search: semantic search results

2. Learn from Limits

cursor-mirror status-config

# Important limits:
# - 30K context tokens
# - 100 max MCP tools
# - 250K max indexed files

3. Study Tool Patterns

cursor-mirror tools @1 -v

# Observe:
# - Tool naming (_v2 suffixes)
# - Parameter patterns
# - Result formats

4. Trace MCP Protocol

cursor-mirror mcp --all -v

# Learn:
# - How MCP servers register
# - Tool call format
# - Result handling

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Related Skills

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Protocol Symbol

CURSOR-CHAT

Aliases: CHAT-REFLECT, CURSOR-INSPECT, WATCH-YOURSELF-THINK

Invoke when: Self-introspection, boot analysis, driver optimization, orchestrator design.

See: PROTOCOLS.yml

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License

MIT License — Copyright (c) 2026 Don Hopkins, Leela AI. Use freely, credit required.

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Navigation

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Watch yourself think. The filesystem is your memory. Introspection is power.