mempalace-recall

name	mempalace-recall
description	Recall protocol for MemPalace — search the palace before answering about past work, prior decisions, people, or projects. Use when the user asks what was decided, what happened before, who someone is, what was discussed last time, or anything that may already be filed in their memory palace.
allowed-tools	Bash

MemPalace Recall

Search-before-answer protocol for MemPalace. Read the user's memory palace before answering anything that may already be filed there, instead of guessing from model memory. This complements the mempalace skill (install / mine / status); this one covers recall only.

Step 0 — Verify MemPalace is available

mempalace --version

If the mempalace_* MCP tools are not available, tell the user the server is not connected and point them at the mempalace skill or /init. Do not silently fall back to answering from model memory.

When to recall

Search the palace before answering whenever the user asks about something that may be filed:

• Past work or prior decisions — "what did we decide / try / do?"
• A person, project, or entity — "who is …", "what is …"
• An earlier session — "remember when …", "last time …"
• A preference, fact, or relationship that could have changed over time

Skip recall for pure greenfield work with no memory relevance (renaming a variable, fixing a typo). Recall is question-driven, not reflexive.

Protocol

1. Before responding about people / projects / past events / prior decisions: call mempalace_search first. Use mempalace_kg_query for relational or time-bound facts.
2. If unsure about a fact: say "let me check the palace" and query.
3. Return the drawer's verbatim text — never summarize or paraphrase stored content.
4. After a substantive session, record continuity with mempalace_diary_write (skip if a background hook already saved).
5. When a fact changes: mempalace_kg_invalidate the old fact, then mempalace_kg_add the new one.

Unhappy paths

• Empty results — say the palace has nothing on this; do not invent an answer. Offer to widen the search or file the new information.
• MCP error / server down — surface the error, suggest mempalace status or re-running /init; never fall back to guessing.
• Conflicting facts — trust the knowledge graph's time-valid answer; invalidate-then-add rather than overwriting silently.

The canonical protocol, shared across all MemPalace integrations, lives in integrations/shared/recall-protocol.md.