kata-archive

name	kata-archive
description	Detect time-bounded artifacts whose retention window has passed, confirm each one's durable signal is preserved elsewhere, then retire them — past-period wiki files directly and terminal spec directories through a retention PR. Use on a scheduled archivist shift, or when the specs tree and weekly logs grow faster than they retire and repository search signal drops.

Archive Retention

Detect terminal, time-bounded artifacts past their retention window, confirm each one's durable signal already lives elsewhere, then retire them. Removal is safe only when the signal is preserved and the removal stays recoverable through version history.

When to Use

• A scheduled archivist shift sweeps for stale artifacts.
• The specs/ tree or the weekly-log set has grown without bound and repository search signal is dropping.

Checklists

<read_do_checklist goal="Fix retention boundaries before detecting candidates">

• Canonical records are never candidates: STATUS.md, MEMORY.md.
• Current-period artifacts are never candidates: the current-week log and the current-month storyboard.
• A spec is a candidate only when its STATUS row is terminal (plan implemented or cancelled).
• You retire another agent's file by age only — never by editing its content.

</read_do_checklist>

<do_confirm_checklist goal="Confirm each removal is safe before acting">

• Each artifact's durable signal verified present elsewhere before removal.
• Every spec removed keeps its STATUS ledger row intact.
• No retired log is still targeted by a live summary detail: link.
• Removal left recoverable through version history — no history rewrite.
• Each retirement recorded in the archivist's summary and weekly log.

</do_confirm_checklist>

Retention Windows

One artifact class per row: when it turns stale, and what must already hold before it can be removed.

Artifact class	Retire when	Preservation precondition
Past-week agent log (incl. sealed -partN)	its ISO week ends 12 or more weeks before the current week	no live summary detail: link points to the file
Past-month storyboard	its month ends 2 or more months before the current month	the MEMORY.md storyboard index keeps the pointer
Terminal spec directory	its STATUS row is terminal and the newest commit under the spec directory is older than 28 days	the STATUS ledger row is retained; full text recoverable in version history

The 12-week log window sits deliberately beyond a summary's detail:-link horizon: live summaries routinely link logs many weeks back, so a shorter window would be dominated by the Step 2 deferral and retire almost nothing. The dangling-link check is the hard safety net regardless of the window — a still-linked log is never retired at any age.

Process

Step 0: Read Memory

Read wiki/MEMORY.md, then run fit-wiki boot --agent <self> per memory-protocol § On-Boot Read Set.

Step 1: Detect Terminal Stale Specs

Read STATUS.md for terminal rows (plan implemented / cancelled). For each, test staleness against the window using the newest commit touching its directory:

git log -1 --format=%cI specs/<id>/

A just-completed spec is never swept: terminal state alone is not enough — the commit age must also clear the window.

Step 2: Detect Stale Wiki Artifacts

Enumerate past-week logs and past-month storyboards past their window. Defer any log still targeted by a live summary detail: link — never edit another agent's summary to clear a dangling pointer. detail: is a freeform prose convention, not a checkable field, so detect it directly: for each candidate log filename, search every summary for a markdown link to it —

grep -lF "](<filename>)" wiki/*.md

A non-empty match defers that log to a later shift.

Step 3: Preserve Signal and Retire

Confirm each surviving candidate's preservation precondition, then hand off to the owning agent's Act paths:

• Terminal spec → open a retention PR; the release engineer merges it. The STATUS ledger row stays; full text is recoverable in version history.
• Wiki artifact → remove directly with an ordinary wiki write.

Record each retirement in the archivist's own summary and weekly log (wiki/archivist.md, wiki/archivist-YYYY-Www.md) — the archive ledger.

Memory: What to Record

Append to the current week's log:

• Retired — each artifact, its class, and the window it cleared.
• Deferred — candidates held back and why (e.g. a live detail: link).
• Retention PR — the PR opened for spec removals and its merge outcome.
• Metrics — Append one row per run to wiki/metrics/{skill}/ per references/metrics.md. See KATA.md § Metrics for the recording-eligibility rule.