--- name: memory-curator description: Use at session-close when a session captured several new memories, or on-demand, to consolidate, deduplicate, prune, and structure the beads memory store. Triggers on "curate memories", "clean up memories", "memory sweep". --- # Memory Curator Turn a session's raw `bd remember` notes into deduplicated, consolidated, well-structured memories — and prune the pile — using `bd` over text already in context. No runtime, no embeddings. **Announce at start:** "I'm using the memory-curator skill to consolidate and structure the memory store." ## When to Use - **Session-close** — when the session produced ~3+ new `bd remember` calls. Offered, never automatic. - **On-demand** — a full-store sweep: `Skill(memory-curator)`. ## When NOT to Use - Sessions with 0–2 new memories — not worth a pass. - Mid-task — run at a clean stopping point, not while work is in flight. ## Memory taxonomy Two classes; **procedural** memory (how-to / workflow) lives in the **skills**, never the memory store. - **semantic** — durable facts that stay true. Subtypes: `design`, `lesson`, `pattern`, `decision`, `root-cause`, `research`, `correction`. The durable core of the store. - **episodic** — time-bound records of what happened. Subtypes: `done`, `continuation`, `cleanup`, `review`. Consolidate and retire as they age; a cluster often distills into one semantic fact. Map a non-canonical prefix to the nearest canonical subtype — e.g. `stress-test`/`plan-stress-test`→`design`, `bug`→`root-cause`, `sdd`→`lesson`, `upstream`→`research`, `docs`→`pattern`. If none fits, ask — don't invent. If an extracted "memory" is really procedural, flag it for a skill — don't store it. ## Memory header Every memory keeps its existing key and carries one greppable header line: ``` @type=semantic:lesson @created=2026-06-28 @salience=4 @refs=, @tags=memory,curation ``` - `@type` — `:` from the taxonomy. `@created` — ISO date. `@salience` — 1–5, best-effort. `@refs` — related bead IDs / memory keys. `@tags` — lexical filter. One line. The class makes the prune signal greppable (`bd memories | grep '@type=episodic:'`); `@salience`/`@tags` filter recall. ## The sweep One pass. Input: the session (in context) + `bd memories --json`. Output: a **reviewed** list of `bd remember` / `bd forget` commands. Propose least-destructive changes first (enrich + exact-duplicate dedup); cross-cluster consolidation and pruning come after, and only where clearly safe. 1. **Gather** — `bd memories --json` for the full store; `bd dolt status` to record the pre-sweep state for rollback. 2. **Extract** — pull salient, self-contained, date-grounded facts; classify each by the taxonomy and normalize its `@type` to `class:subtype` (correcting any malformed `@type` it encounters). Store a fact ONLY if it carries checkable evidence (cited `file:line`, passing test, command output, closed bead) — the same bar as Agent-Filed Bead Discipline in `verification-before-completion`. No evidence → drop, or store at low `@salience`. Procedural how-to → flag for a skill, don't store. **Never persist secrets, credentials, tokens, keys, or PII** — `bd prime` injects every memory into future sessions and Dolt history outlives `bd forget`. 3. **Reconcile** — ADD new facts; UPDATE a same-topic memory in place with `bd remember --key `, merging so the result keeps the MOST information (never silently shrink); skip what's already present. 4. **Consolidate** — collapse a themed cluster of **episodic** memories into one timeless **semantic** fact with `@refs` to its sources, then retire the cluster. The only step that shrinks the pile. Extract a record's durable content into a semantic memory BEFORE retiring it — never drop an episodic record that still holds an un-consolidated fact. 5. **Forget** — soft-tombstone a superseded memory (`[superseded YYYY-MM-DD by ]`) rather than delete — Dolt keeps history either way, and a tombstone is reversible if the supersede was wrong. Episodic records are the prune-first *candidates*, but never retire the most-recent `continuation` / active handoff. Reserve hard `bd forget` for exact duplicates or true noise, with a cited reason. ## Iron rule: propose, then apply This mutates the store `bd prime` injects into every future session — a bad run corrupts the context layer invisibly. So: - Emit the full planned command list — every ADD / UPDATE / CONSOLIDATE / FORGET with a one-line reason — and get the user's approval before running ANY of it. The on-demand sweep is dry-run-first, always. - Surface the pre-sweep Dolt state (step 1) as the rollback path. - No hard `bd forget` without an exact-duplicate match or a cited supersede reason. ## Red Flags | Thought | Reality | |---------|---------| | "I'll just apply the merges" | Never mutate silently. Propose the list; the user approves first. | | "This memory is probably fine to store" | No cited evidence → it doesn't meet the bar. Drop or low-salience. | | "I'll keep the shorter version on UPDATE" | UPDATE keeps the MOST information. Never silently shrink. | | "Consolidate hard to shrink fast" | Lose no distinct fact; extract durable content to semantic first, then retire. | | "Episodic, so safe to drop" | Never retire the latest continuation/handoff; soft-tombstone, never hard-delete. | | "There might be a token in here, but it's internal" | Never persist secrets/PII. Redact or skip. | ## Beads Integration ```bash bd create "Memory curation: " -t chore # after the user approved + you applied: bd close --reason "Curated: ; pre-sweep Dolt " ``` Run this as the session/ledger-owning agent; a dispatched single-task subagent does not. ## Integration **Invoked at:** session-close (offered when a session produced ~3+ new memories — see `finishing-a-development-branch` Step 7) and on-demand by the user. **Pairs with:** `verification-before-completion` (supplies the evidence bar) and `getting-up-to-speed` (its session-start `bd forget` is lightweight cleanup; this skill owns curation). Memories arrive header-less from other skills; the curator assigns `@type` on contact. Do not add `@type` emission to other skills — header-less-until-curated is the intended state.