Practice

Select a question using spaced repetition, adopt an interviewer persona, coach the user's answer, then log a detailed session file.

Steps

1. Load Configuration

Read .claude/what-did-you-do.local.md to get settings. If missing:

No configuration found. Please run /what-did-you-do:setup first.

Then stop.

Read .claude/i-did-a-thing.local.md to get things_path. Extract building_skills, aspirational_skills, current_role, and target_roles.

2. Load the User's Arsenal

Read all files in <things_path>/arsenal/ to understand logged skills and evidence. Read <things_path>/targets/profile.md for professional goals.

If no logs exist:

You haven't logged any entries yet. Run /i-did-a-thing:thing-i-did first so I have your arsenal to coach you with. I can still ask questions, but my feedback will be much richer with your evidence loaded.

3. Load Session History

Run: bash <plugin_root>/scripts/search-sessions.sh --recent 10

Use recent session data for spaced repetition: avoid recently asked questions, weight toward weak dimensions.

4. Select Persona

If the user specified --persona, load that persona file from <plugin_root>/personas/<persona>.md.

If not, select based on the question's interviewer_types field. If no question yet, use AskUserQuestion:

Who's interviewing you today?

• •Staff Engineer — technical depth, architecture, tradeoffs
• •Engineering Manager — collaboration, communication, growth
• •Principal Engineer — system thinking, organizational impact
• •Bar Raiser — judgment, ownership, cross-functional depth
• •Recruiter — motivation, culture fit, communication clarity
• •Surprise — I'll pick based on the question

Read the selected persona file and adopt their voice, evaluation weights, and follow-up patterns.

5. Select Question Category

If the user provided a category argument, use it. Otherwise, use AskUserQuestion:

What kind of question?

• •behavioral — "Tell me about a time when..."
• •technical — Architecture, code quality, operations
• •system-design — End-to-end system architecture
• •leadership — Mentorship, decisions, strategy
• •situational — "What would you do if..."
• •surprise — Weighted toward your gaps

6. Select Question Using Spaced Repetition

Read <plugin_root>/questions/<category>.yaml (and <things_path>/interview-prep/question-overrides/custom.yaml for custom questions).

Selection algorithm:

1. •Filter by category (and stage if default_stage is set in config)
2. •Filter by level appropriate to current_role and target_roles
3. •Filter out questions asked in the last 7 days (from session history)
4. •Score remaining questions:
   • •weakness_weight = 5 - avg_score_for_skills_tested (from session history)
   • •recency_bonus = days_since_last_asked / 14 (capped at 2.0)
   • •aspirational_bonus = 1.5 if any skill_tested is in aspirational_skills, else 0
   • •total = weakness_weight + recency_bonus + aspirational_bonus
5. •Select from top-scored questions with some randomness (weighted random, not strictly top)

7. Ask the Question

Present the question in the persona's voice:

[Persona Name]: <question>

Take your time. Answer as if you're in an actual interview.

Note the question's time_budget_minutes and expected_format for coaching context, but don't display them to the user.

8. Receive and Analyze the Answer

After the user answers, analyze against five dimensions (from references/feedback-rubric.md):

1. •Specificity (1-5) — Concrete details vs vague claims
2. •Structure (1-5) — Clear narrative arc (STAR/CAR)
3. •Impact (1-5) — Quantified outcomes, scope of effect
4. •Relevance (1-5) — Actually answers the question asked
5. •Self-Advocacy (1-5) — Owns contribution without hogging credit

Check the answer against the question's red_flags and green_flags.

Cross-reference with arsenal, prioritizing evidence types by question theme:

• •If the question asks about failure or challenge → prioritize lesson entries from arsenal
• •If the question asks about expertise or technical depth → prioritize expertise entries
• •If the question asks about a technical or architectural decision → prioritize decision entries
• •If the question asks about influence, leadership without authority, or mentoring → prioritize influence entries
• •If the question asks about "what would you do" or vision → prioritize insight entries
• •Default to accomplishment entries for standard behavioral questions

For each relevant arsenal entry:

• •Find logged entries that could strengthen the answer
• •Identify skills demonstrated but not mentioned
• •Note metrics from logs they could have cited

9. Deliver Follow-Ups (Based on Depth Config)

Based on follow_up_depth in config:

If concise:

Skip follow-ups. Go directly to feedback.

If detailed:

Ask the question's depth: 2 follow-up in the persona's voice. Analyze the follow-up answer.

If coaching:

Ask depth: 2 follow-up, analyze, then ask depth: 3 follow-up. Continue the conversation until the user is satisfied.

10. Deliver Feedback

Use the persona's voice and evaluation weights. Reference references/feedback-rubric.md for scoring and references/answer-anti-patterns.md for anti-pattern detection. Use references/stage-coaching.md for stage-specific guidance.

Feedback format:

[Persona Name]'s Assessment

Dimension	Score	Notes
Specificity	x/5	<brief note>
Structure	x/5	<brief note>
Impact	x/5	<brief note>
Relevance	x/5	<brief note>
Self-Advocacy	x/5	<brief note>

What worked: <specific strength in the persona's voice>

To strengthen: <specific improvement in the persona's voice>

From your arsenal: <reference to logged entries that could enhance the answer, adapted by evidence type — e.g., "Your lesson about X is directly relevant here" or "Your expertise entry on X covers exactly what they're asking about" or "Your decision entry about X demonstrates the tradeoff analysis they want to see">

Anti-patterns detected: <any from the question's red_flags or references/answer-anti-patterns.md>

If coaching depth, also add:

Action items:

1. • <specific thing to practice>
2. • <accomplishment to log that would fill a gap>
3. • <skill to develop>

11. Log the Session

Write a session file at <things_path>/interview-prep/sessions/<date>-practice-<question-id>.md:

---
type: practice
date: <date>
question_id: <id>
question_category: <category>
question_text: "<text>"
persona: <persona used>
follow_up_depth: <concise|detailed|coaching>
scores:
  specificity: <1-5>
  structure: <1-5>
  impact: <1-5>
  relevance: <1-5>
  self_advocacy: <1-5>
  overall: <average>
anti_patterns_detected:
  - pattern: "<name>"
    example: "<quote from user's answer>"
green_flags_hit:
  - "<flag>"
arsenal_references:
  - file: "<log filename>"
    relevance: "<how it could strengthen the answer>"
skills_tested:
  - "<skill>"
unlogged_accomplishment_hints:
  - "<something the user mentioned that isn't in their logs>"
comparison_to_previous:
  same_question: <null or previous score>
  same_skills: <avg score for these skills across sessions>
---

# Practice Session: <date>

## Question
<question text>

## User's Answer
<summary of their answer>

## Feedback Given
<summary of feedback>

## Arsenal Connections
<which logs were referenced and how>

12. Update Progress Dashboard

Read and update <things_path>/interview-prep/progress.md:

• •Update dimension averages with new scores
• •Update category breakdown
• •Add to recent sessions list
• •Recalculate strongest/weakest categories

13. Suggest Logging Unlogged Accomplishments

If the user mentioned experiences during their answer that aren't in their arsenal:

I noticed you mentioned some experiences that aren't logged yet:

• •<experience summary> — this sounds like a <evidence type> entry

These would strengthen your arsenal. Run /i-did-a-thing:thing-i-did when you're ready to log them.

14. Offer Next Steps

Use AskUserQuestion:

What next?

• •Practice another question
• •Practice the same category again
• •Review my progress across sessions
• •Done for now

If another question, go back to Step 5. If review progress, display a summary from progress.md.