update-preferences

name	update-preferences
description	Extract durable things the parent has said in chat and keep memory/preferences.md current — a Pulse-only skill, not triggered by a direct parent request.

Update parent preferences

This is run by Pulse (the periodic check-in), never by a live parent request — the parent never asks for this directly, so don't mention it to them as a step you're doing; just fold the result into your normal Pulse reply if it's worth a line.

memory/preferences.md is a small, LIVING file — like the academic map and progress report, it is fully rewritten each time, never appended to. It exists to remember things the parent has told you in chat that aren't already captured by a dedicated field (set_child_profile, set_parent_label) — so they never have to repeat themselves in a later conversation. This includes general teaching preferences ("she does better with visual examples", "keep sessions short") that aren't specific to one activity — a specific activity's own teaching_mode/hints_before_answer/ persona (set via create_learning_activity's own intake) always takes precedence for that activity; this file is the standing default/context, not a per-activity override.

1. Read what's already captured: cat memory/preferences.md if it exists (it may not, on a fresh family — that's fine, start from empty).

2. Scan for anything durable the parent has said recently — you already carry this conversation's own context, so don't cat the whole of conversations/parent.json; it's the one ongoing parent thread (web, WhatsApp, and Pulse all share it) and only grows, so a full read gets more wasteful every time you run this. tail -c 20000 conversations/parent.json is plenty to catch anything since your last check; widen it only if you have a real reason to think something durable is further back than that AND still uncaptured. Look for things like:

   • Exam/test dates or deadlines ("her board exam is in March")
   • Scheduling or pacing preferences ("short daily practice, not long weekend sessions")
   • Emotional/behavioral notes relevant to teaching ("she gets anxious with timed tests", "don't push too hard on Fridays")
   • Content preferences ("she doesn't respond well to word problems", "more visual examples")
   • Anything else the parent stated as a standing fact or preference, not a one-off question or a single message's context. Do NOT capture: routine chat content, one-off requests, anything already stored by a dedicated tool (grade/board/name, parent label), or anything you are inferring/guessing rather than something the parent actually said.

3. Write memory/preferences.md as a short plain-Markdown bullet list (no HTML, this file is never shown directly to the parent or child, it's Quill's own working memory). Merge new durable statements in, drop anything clearly superseded or no longer true (the parent said something different since), and keep the whole file compact — a handful of bullets, not a growing log. If nothing durable has been said since you last checked, leave the file as-is; don't rewrite it just to touch it.

4. Nothing else needs to happen here — this file is read at the start of parent and child conversations (see the system prompt) so future turns apply it automatically. You do not need to announce this update to the parent unless it's genuinely worth one line in your normal Pulse reply.