Use this skill when performing manual memory consolidation (Dream-equivalent). Reviews, consolidates, and prunes memory files under ~/.claude/projects/*/memory/. Run after major refactors, every 5+ sessions, or when memory quality degrades (broken links, stale references, contradictions, MEMORY.md > 200 lines). Invoke with /memory-cleanup.
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[{"flag":"--dry-run","description":"Produce diff in .orchestrator/pending-dream.md, no mutations."},{"flag":"--apply-pending","description":"Consume .orchestrator/pending-dream.md (atomic apply)."}]
description
Use this skill when performing manual memory consolidation (Dream-equivalent). Reviews, consolidates, and prunes memory files under ~/.claude/projects/*/memory/. Run after major refactors, every 5+ sessions, or when memory quality degrades (broken links, stale references, contradictions, MEMORY.md > 200 lines). Invoke with /memory-cleanup.
Memory Cleanup — Manual Dream Process
Implements the 4-phase memory consolidation process modelled after Claude Code's Auto Dream feature. Run after major refactors, framework migrations, or every 5+ sessions in a repo.
The memory system lives at ~/.claude/projects/<encoded-cwd>/memory/ and consists of:
MEMORY.md — index file (must stay under 200 lines; lines after 200 are truncated by the harness).
Topic files — one Markdown file per memory entry with YAML frontmatter (name, description, metadata.type).
The four memory types are user, feedback, project, reference (see global auto memory instructions for semantics). This skill never invents new types.
Argument Handling (Phase 0)
This skill accepts two optional flags. Default (no flag) runs the interactive 4-phase consolidation defined below.
Flag
Behavior
--dry-run
Run Phases 1-3 read-only; instead of mutating MEMORY.md / topic files, write a unified-diff proposal to .orchestrator/pending-dream.md (atomic). Exit 0.
Version drift — package versions stored in memory vs reality:
cat package.json | grep '"version"'
Test/issue-count drift — claims like "5001 passed" or "8 open issues" age fast. Cross-check with current state if mentioned.
Phase 3: Consolidate
Apply maintenance operations to memory files.
3a: Merge overlapping entries
If multiple files or entries describe the same thing, combine them into one authoritative entry. Update inbound [[wiki-link]]s accordingly.
3b: Convert relative dates to absolute
"Yesterday we decided X" → "On 2026-03-24 we decided X". Always use ISO date format (YYYY-MM-DD). This rule applies on write, but cleanup catches what slipped through.
3c: Remove stale references
Delete entries about files that were removed during refactors.
Remove debugging notes for bugs that are fixed.
Update function/file paths that were renamed (git log --diff-filter=R surfaces renames).
3d: Update outdated facts
Package versions that have been bumped.
Test counts, issue counts, line counts that changed.
Feature flags that were toggled.
Architecture decisions that were reversed (keep a decisions.md-style note that the decision was reversed, with the reason — don't silently overwrite).
3e: Resolve contradictions
If two memory entries conflict, check the codebase to determine which is current. Delete the outdated entry. Never leave contradictions.
Phase 4: Prune & Index
Keep MEMORY.md clean and under the 200-line limit.
Check line count:
wc -l <memory-dir>/MEMORY.md
If over 180 lines, extract detailed content into topic files. Suggested naming:
Session summaries → project_sessions.md or session-YYYY-MM-DD-<slug>.md
Architecture decisions → reference_decisions.md
Package/tooling details → reference_packages.md
Use the convention: {type}_{topic}.md
Topic file frontmatter (required):
---name:descriptive-namedescription:one-linedescriptionforrelevancematchingmetadata:type:project# one of: user | feedback | project | reference---
Update the index:
MEMORY.md is an index, not a dump.
One-line - [Title](file.md) — hook entries.
Remove stale pointers to deleted files.
Add links for new topic files.
Reorder by relevance (most-accessed topics first).
Final verification:
wc -l <memory-dir>/MEMORY.md # must be < 200# verify all index links resolve to existing files
grep -oP '\]\(([^)]+\.md)\)' <memory-dir>/MEMORY.md | sed 's/](\(.*\))/\1/' | whileread f; do
[ -f "<memory-dir>/$f" ] || echo"BROKEN: $f"done
Phase 4.5: Worktree-Stale-Sweep (#575 P3.2)
Skip if persistence: false in Session Config. Silent no-op if no Auto-promoted sibling worktrees exist or none are stale.
Detect stale Auto-promoted worktrees (older than stale-branch-days from Session Config, default 7 days) and offer them for batch-removal alongside the other housekeeping prune actions from Phase 4. This sub-phase is additive — it appends candidates to the existing prune flow rather than introducing a separate independent confirmation cycle.
Detection: list candidate auto-promoted worktrees
Auto-promoted worktrees follow the layout <parentDir>/<repoName>-<sessionId>/, where <sessionId> is a semantic session-id (per parseSessionId() from scripts/lib/session-id.mjs). Random-suffix worktrees (UUID-format) are NOT auto-promoted and MUST be ignored.
Authoritative impl:scripts/lib/memory-cleanup/worktree-sweep.mjs — listAutoPromotedWorktrees(repoRoot, mainCheckoutRoot, opts). Import and call; do NOT re-implement from this doc.
Algorithm: split git worktree list --porcelain on the blank-line delimiter; for each worktree entry, skip the main checkout, then require the basename to start with <repoName>- and the suffix to parse as a semantic session-id via parseSessionId() (UUID / random suffixes excluded). Each match yields { wtPath, sessionId, branch }. Any git failure → [] (conservative no-op). Git invocation is via the injection-safe opts.execFileFn (default execFileSync with an args array — #577 HARDEN-001).
Staleness check
A worktree is stale iff mtime(worktree-dir) < now - stale-branch-days × 86400 × 1000. Read stale-branch-days from Session Config (default 7):
Authoritative impl:scripts/lib/memory-cleanup/worktree-sweep.mjs — isWorktreeStale(wtPath, staleBranchDays). Import and call; do NOT re-implement from this doc.
Algorithm: statSync(wtPath); stale iff Date.now() - stat.mtimeMs > staleBranchDays × 24 × 60 × 60 × 1000. A missing or unreadable path → false (conservative no-op).
Integration with the existing housekeeping prune AUQ
After Phase 4 (Prune & Index) compiles its list of items to offer for removal, ALSO include any stale auto-promoted worktrees. The user sees them in the same AUQ ("batch-decide" per PRD §3 P3 Gherkin row 4):
import { execFileSync } from'node:child_process';
import { listAutoPromotedWorktrees, isWorktreeStale } from'$PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/lib/memory-cleanup/worktree-sweep.mjs';
import { discoverActiveSessions } from'$PLUGIN_ROOT/scripts/lib/session-discovery.mjs';
const staleBranchDays = $CONFIG['stale-branch-days'] ?? 7;
const candidates = listAutoPromotedWorktrees(process.cwd(), mainCheckoutRoot);
const stale = candidates.filter((c) =>isWorktreeStale(c.wtPath, staleBranchDays));
if (stale.length === 0) {
// Silent no-op — no stale worktrees to offer.
} else {
// #580-HARDEN-002: cross-check candidates against LIVE peer sessions before offering removal.// A stale-by-mtime worktree may still be the checkout of an active parallel session — removing// it would disrupt that session (PSA-002 overlap). Flag any such candidate so the AUQ can warn.const active = awaitdiscoverActiveSessions(mainCheckoutRoot);
const livePaths = newSet(active.map((s) => s.worktreePath));
const annotated = stale.map((wt) => ({ ...wt, activePeer: livePaths.has(wt.wtPath) }));
// Add to the existing housekeeping prune AUQ. Each stale worktree becomes one option line:// Format: `[ ] Stale auto-promoted worktree: <basename> (age <N>d) — remove via 'git worktree remove --force'`// If `activePeer` is true, prefix the option with "⚠ ACTIVE PEER SESSION" and make Behalten the default.//// If memory-cleanup currently presents per-item AUQs (one question per prune candidate),// append one question per stale worktree.//// If memory-cleanup uses a single multiSelect AUQ for the whole batch,// add stale worktrees as additional options.//// Operator selects which to remove; coordinator runs (arg-array, no shell — #577 HARDEN-001):// execFileSync('git', ['-C', mainCheckoutRoot, 'worktree', 'remove', '--force', wtPath])// for each selected. WARN line per removal.
}
AUQ example (per-item)
When the candidate's wtPath matches a LIVE peer session (wt.activePeer === true, from discoverActiveSessions() above), the AUQ MUST surface a ⚠ ACTIVE PEER SESSION warning and keep Behalten as the safe default — removing a live session's worktree mid-flight is a PSA-002 overlap that can corrupt another session's working state.
const peerWarning = wt.activePeer
? ' ⚠ ACTIVE PEER SESSION — removing may disrupt a live session.'
: '';
AskUserQuestion({
questions: [{
question: `Stale auto-promoted worktree found: ${path.basename(wt.wtPath)} (age ${ageDays}d, branch=${wt.branch}).${peerWarning} Remove?`,
header: "Stale-Worktree",
multiSelect: false,
options: [
{
label: "Behalten (Recommended)",
description: wt.activePeer
? "Keep this worktree — a LIVE peer session is using it. Removal would disrupt the active session."
: "Keep this worktree. Re-evaluate at next /memory-cleanup run.",
},
{
label: "Entfernen",
description: wt.activePeer
? `⚠ ACTIVE PEER SESSION detected. Only choose this if you have confirmed no live session needs it, then run 'git worktree remove --force ${wt.wtPath}'.`
: `Run 'git worktree remove --force ${wt.wtPath}'.`,
},
],
}],
});
PSA-003 compliance
Per .claude/rules/parallel-sessions.md PSA-003: every git worktree remove is destructive — operator must explicitly authorize. The AUQ above satisfies this. Never auto-remove without user confirmation, even for stale worktrees. The --force flag is acceptable here only because the AUQ already secured explicit per-worktree consent; never apply --force to worktrees the operator did not select.
Detection helper: parseSessionId() from scripts/lib/session-id.mjs
Stale-sweep helpers: listAutoPromotedWorktrees() + isWorktreeStale() from scripts/lib/memory-cleanup/worktree-sweep.mjs
Live-peer detection (#580-HARDEN-002): discoverActiveSessions(repoRoot) from scripts/lib/session-discovery.mjs — flags stale candidates whose wtPath matches an active session so the AUQ warns before removal
PSA-003: .claude/rules/parallel-sessions.md
Output
After completing all four phases, report:
Files created / updated / deleted (paths only — no full diffs in the chat output).
