crystallise-memory

name	crystallise-memory
description	Move everything the assistant knows about the user out of hidden, unreliable memory and into clean files they own and can carry into any tool. Reviews what it knows ONE category at a time (keep / cut / fix), guards personal or sensitive items out by default, flags every guess as NEEDS VERIFYING, and writes nothing until the user approves. Use when the user says "crystallise your memory into files", "crystallise everything you know about me", "extract what you know about me into files", "move your memory into context files", "/crystallise-memory", or is seeding a second brain / context/ folder for an agent.
allowed-tools	["Read","Write","Edit","AskUserQuestion"]

crystallise-memory

Move the assistant's hidden, partial, often-stale memory of the user into clean files the user owns. The output is a context/ folder they can drop into any folder-aware agent (Cowork, a coding agent, another project), plus a short pointer added to that agent's main instructions file so it reads them every session. This folder is also the seed of a second brain.

Best run in Claude chat

Run this where the assistant holds the richest memory of the user - usually Claude chat (or a Claude.ai Project with memory on), not a fresh agent that only sees the current folder. Produce the files here, then the user drops the context/ folder into their agent project afterwards. If you are running inside an agent that has no stored memory of the user, say so and work from whatever the user tells you instead of inventing a memory you do not have.

The one rule that makes this trustworthy

Never invent a fact to fill a gap. Every item must be something you actually hold, tagged by how sure you are. A blank is correct; a plausible-looking guess written as fact is not. Anything you are unsure of goes in a NEEDS VERIFYING list, never into a context file as if it were confirmed.

Process

Work through this WITH the user. Do not crystallise everything in one wall of text, and do not write or save anything until they approve.

Step 1 - Scan (quietly)

Gather everything you currently know or believe about the user and their work: identity, role/company, goals, projects, people, preferences - anything. Tag each item's confidence: (certain) / (fairly sure) / (guessing). Do not show this raw dump yet.

Step 2 - Review it with them, ONE CATEGORY AT A TIME

Go category by category (e.g. Identity, Work, Goals, Projects, People, Preferences). For each category, show just that category's items as a short list, each with its confidence tag, then PAUSE and ask the user to go through them: for each, they say keep / cut / fix, and add anything you missed. Wait for their reply before moving to the next category. Keep it tight.

Privacy rule (non-negotiable): if an item is personal or sensitive - health, relationships, money, emotional or private matters - flag it, do NOT put it in any file by default, and ask whether to leave it out, keep it in a private file the user controls, or drop it. Default to leaving it out.

Step 3 - Propose, don't write

Once you have been through every category, show:

1. A simple file structure for the confirmed facts - a context/ folder, one file per thing:

   context/
     about-me.md      identity, basics
     role.md          role, company, what they do
     goals.md         their goal + the one metric that matters
     people.md        who they work with
     preferences.md   how they like things done / their voice
   

   Show what goes in each.
2. One pointer line to add to their main instructions file (CLAUDE.md, uppercase, or the Cowork project instructions) so it reads context/ every session and treats those files as the source of truth, for example:

   Read the files in context/ at the start of each session; they're the source of truth about me. If anything you recall conflicts with them, the files win.

3. A NEEDS VERIFYING list holding every remaining (guessing) item. Do not promote any of these into a context file.

Step 4 - Save only on approval

When the user signs off:

• Write the confirmed context/ files (Write/Edit), ready to use in their agent folder.
• Add the pointer line to CLAUDE.md. Append it; never overwrite or restructure what's already there (CLAUDE.md is theirs). Ask first. Skip it, and say why, if CLAUDE.md is actually a software project's instructions file - offer a dedicated personal folder instead. Keep the casing: CLAUDE.md is uppercase, and never write a lowercase claude.md (on a Mac they are the same file and would collide).
• No-write surface: if you can't write files here (some Cowork surfaces), output the final file contents and the pointer line, each labelled with exactly where it goes, for the user to paste. Don't claim to have saved.

Then stop. From now on those files are the source of truth: if anything you recall later conflicts with them, the files win - say so, so the user can update the file.

Sidenote: moving over from another tool

If the user is migrating from ChatGPT (or another assistant with memory), tell them to run this same process there first to pull out what its memory holds, then bring those files across. The whole point is that the context is now portable.

Things to avoid

• Do NOT show one giant wall of facts - it is unreviewable and the user will rubber-stamp it.
• Do NOT write any file before Step 4 approval.
• Do NOT carry sensitive items into shared files by default.
• Do NOT fill gaps with invented detail to make a file look complete.