dream-consolidation

name	dream-consolidation
description	Memory consolidation cycle — Orient, Gather, Consolidate, Prune. Run periodically to keep memory files clean, deduplicated, and under size limits.

Dream Consolidation

A 4-phase memory maintenance cycle that mirrors biological memory consolidation.

When to Trigger

• After major project milestones
• When MEMORY.md exceeds 200 lines
• Every 2 weeks of active use
• When the user says "consolidate memory" or "dream"

Phase 1: Orient

Read ALL memory files to understand current state:

• Global memory (~/.claude/memory/*)
• Project memory (~/.claude/projects//memory/)
• MEMORY.md index file

Assess: line counts, staleness, duplicates, outdated entries.

Phase 2: Gather

Identify what to keep, compress, and discard:

• Keep: Active project details, current priorities, hard rules
• Compress: Session summaries → archive file with key takeaways
• Discard: Completed tasks, stale priorities, resolved issues
• Deduplicate: Info in MEMORY.md that's already in topic files

Phase 3: Consolidate

Execute the changes:

• Archive old session summaries to archive file
• Update MEMORY.md with compressed references
• Backfill learning-log.md with missing entries
• Clean up session-handoff.md
• Extract cross-cutting technical lessons into MEMORY.md

Phase 4: Prune

Verify the results:

• MEMORY.md under 200 lines
• No duplicate information across files
• All topic files still accurate and accessible
• Archive file preserves important details
• Report: before/after line counts, what changed

Key Principles

• Deduplication through indirection: MEMORY.md points to topic files, doesn't repeat them
• Cross-cutting consolidation: Scattered lessons get one reusable section
• Nothing important lost: Archive preserves details, MEMORY.md keeps pointers