search-memory

name	search-memory
description	Search project memory: observations, decisions, problems. Query by type, file, concept, date. Use when: (1) "What decisions did we make about auth?", (2) "All bugs in project X", (3) "What do we know about caching?", (4) "Open problems across all projects". Triggers: "/search-memory", "search memory", "what do we know about".

Search Memory

Searches observations and dossiers across all projects. Like type:decision file:auth.ts from structured memory systems, with zero external dependencies.

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Query Syntax

Supports filter combinations:

Filter	Example	Searches
Free text	caching	Summary and details across all observations
type:	type:decision	By type: decision, bugfix, feature, discovery, problem
project:	project:my-app	Within a specific project
file:	file:auth.ts	By affected files
date:	date:2026-02	By date (year-month or year-month-day)
status:	status:open	Open problems (problem without resolution)

Example queries

/search-memory type:decision caching
/search-memory project:my-app type:problem
/search-memory file:dashboard
/search-memory type:problem status:open
/search-memory date:2026-02 type:feature
/search-memory what do we know about websockets

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Search Algorithm

Step 1: Determine scope

• If project: is specified, search only that project
• If not specified, search all projects

Step 2: Load indexes

For each project in scope:

Read ~/.claude/memory/projects/{project}.observations.md

Parse only the Index table first (progressive disclosure: do not load Details).

Step 3: Filter by index

Apply filters to index rows:

• type: matches the Type column
• date: matches the Date column
• file: matches the Files column
• Free text matches the Summary column

Step 4: Load details (on demand)

For matched entries, load the Details section only for those matches.

This is progressive disclosure: index costs ~40 tokens per entry, details cost ~150 tokens. With 100 observations, savings: 4,000 tokens instead of 15,000.

Step 5: Also search dossiers

Additionally check {project}.md dossier files:

• "Decisions Made" section
• "Unresolved Problems" section
• "Next Steps" section

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Output Format

## Search results: "{query}"
Found: {N} observations in {M} projects

### project-name ({n} matches)
| # | Date | Type | Summary |
|---|------|------|---------|
| 3 | 2026-01-02 | problem | Scraping too expensive |

**[3] Details:**
Before: High bills
After: Not resolved
Files: scheduler/*, worker/*

### another-project ({n} matches)
...

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Special Queries

"All open problems"

/search-memory type:problem status:open

Finds all entries of type problem where Details does not contain "Status: Resolved".

"What do we know about X?"

/search-memory {concept}

Searches all fields: summary, details, files. Also checks dossiers.

"Decision history for project"

/search-memory project:my-app type:decision

Chronological list of all decisions with before/after context.

"What changed in file X?"

/search-memory file:dashboard_api.py

All observations affecting that file.

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Important

• Progressive disclosure: always start with the index, load details only for matches
• Sort results by date (newest first)
• If nothing found, say so directly. Do not make things up
• Maximum 20 results. If more, show first 20 and state how many remain