memory-system

name	memory-system
description	Use at the start and end of every task — read the canonical memory before acting and write the outcome after. Unifies OpenWolf files and claude-mem so knowledge persists across sessions instead of being re-derived.
origin	SkyyRose

Memory System

Knowledge that is not written down does not survive the session. This project runs three memory layers, and the recurring failure mode is not missing memory — it is memory that was never written, or written and never read: a session re-derives a fact already known, repeats a mistake already logged, or fixes a bug already fixed once.

Boot first: SOT.md → .wolf/anatomy.md → .wolf/cerebrum.md → .wolf/buglog.json → .wolf/claude-mem-digest.md. Same order every session — do not act on a task before this pass completes.

When to Use

• Start of every task: read canon before acting, before generating code, before claiming a fact about the codebase.
• End of every task: write the outcome before the session ends. If you learned something and didn't write it, the next session pays for the discovery again.
• Any bug fix, user correction, new convention, or architectural decision — mid-task, not batched to the end.

Method

Three layers, one discipline:

1. OpenWolf files (.wolf/) — fast, structured, per-repo.
   • .wolf/anatomy.md — 2-3 line description + token estimate per file. Read BEFORE reading any file; if the description answers the question, don't open the file.
   • .wolf/cerebrum.md — Do-Not-Repeat list, Key Learnings, User Preferences, Decision Log. Read BEFORE generating code.
   • .wolf/memory.md — append one row per significant action: | HH:MM | description | file(s) | outcome | ~tokens |.
   • .wolf/buglog.json — read BEFORE fixing any bug (the fix may already be known); append AFTER with error_message, root_cause, fix, tags.
2. claude-mem — cross-session observation DB, searched via the mem-search skill / get_observations([IDs]), synced into .wolf/claude-mem-digest.md at SessionStart. The digest holds only the newest 25 observations — for anything older, search the DB directly with mem-search / get_observations([IDs]) before re-deriving an answer it may already hold. Cross-reference direction: when an OpenWolf entry relates to a claude-mem observation, append [cmem #NNN] to the .wolf/memory.md row or the cerebrum.md entry.
3. The canonical sources registered in root SOT.md — catalog CSV, sot-images.json, brand canon, and this project's own OpenWolf memory. Never fork a second copy of a SOT.

READ before acting: SOT → anatomy → cerebrum → buglog → claude-mem-digest. WRITE after acting: append the .wolf/memory.md row; update cerebrum.md on any correction, convention, or preference; log .wolf/buglog.json on any fix; cross-ref [cmem #NNN] where a claude-mem observation covers the same event.

Token discipline: prefer an anatomy description over a full file read; never re-read a file already read this session.

Loop until memory is current

Bounded — a memory pass is not a research spiral:

1. Act (make the change, fix the bug, answer the question).
2. Write the lesson — the correct file(s) from Method, not a mental note.
3. Confirm the write landed (see Verify, below).
4. Next action, or done.

Verify from an authoritative source

A recalled memory is not authoritative on its own — cerebrum entries and claude-mem observations rot as the codebase moves under them.

• If a memory names a file, flag, function, or path, re-verify it against the live source (Read/Grep) before relying on it or repeating it as fact. A stale cerebrum entry pointing at a moved file is worse than no entry.
• Cite obs IDs ([cmem #NNN]) or the specific cerebrum.md heading you relied on — not "memory says," a traceable pointer.
• After writing, re-read the file (.wolf/memory.md, cerebrum.md, buglog.json) to confirm the entry actually persisted — a write that silently failed is the same as never writing.

Adversarial pass

[[adversarial-verification]] — assume the recalled memory is stale until ground truth confirms it. Before trusting a cerebrum "Do-Not-Repeat" or a claude-mem observation as settled, check whether the file/behavior it describes still matches the current source; don't propagate a stale lesson forward into a new cerebrum.md entry.

Guardrails · Handoff · Log

• The bar to log is LOW. A redundant cerebrum entry costs nothing; a missing one means the next session re-derives the discovery from scratch. When in doubt, write it.
• Cross-ref [[self-learning]] and [[continuous-learning]] — every pod's dispatch skill (see CROSS-PLUGIN.md) routes its lessons back through this memory system, not a plugin-local file.
• A task that ends without a .wolf/memory.md row is not done, even if the code is correct — the deliverable includes the memory write.