ai-memory-setup

type	skill
lifecycle	stable
inheritance	inheritable
name	ai-memory-setup
description	Detect, create, and manage the AI-Memory fleet communication channel. Fires on bootstrap, session start (announcements), and feedback writes.
tier	standard
applyTo	**/AI-Memory/**,**/cognitive-config*,**/*feedback*,**/*announcement*,**/*fleet*,**/*memory-setup*
currency	"2026-05-02T00:00:00.000Z"
lastReviewed	"2026-05-02T00:00:00.000Z"

AI-Memory Setup

AI-Memory is the shared folder on the user's cloud drive where ACT heirs exchange feedback, announcements, and registry data. This skill covers detection, creation, path resolution, and ongoing read/write operations.

Supported Cloud Providers

Provider	Folder patterns detected	Notes
OneDrive	OneDrive, OneDrive - * (personal, family, business)	Most common; multiple accounts create multiple folders
iCloud	iCloudDrive, iCloud Drive, iCloud~com~apple~CloudDocs	macOS and Windows variants
Dropbox	Dropbox, Dropbox (Personal), Dropbox (Business)	Personal and business variants
Google Drive	Google Drive, My Drive	Drive for Desktop sync folder
Box	Box, Box Sync	Enterprise cloud storage
MEGA	MEGA, MEGAsync	Encrypted cloud storage
pCloud	pCloud, pCloud Drive	European cloud storage
Nextcloud	Nextcloud	Self-hosted cloud

Discovery scans the user's HOME directory for any folder matching these patterns. Unknown cloud drives are ignored (the user can still point to them manually via ai_memory_root).

Path Resolution Algorithm

Resolve the AI-Memory root in this order:

1. Config override: read .github/config/cognitive-config.json. If ai_memory_root is set, use <HOME>/<ai_memory_root>/AI-Memory.
2. Auto-discovery: scan <HOME> for folders matching known cloud provider patterns. Skip any folder listed in ai_memory_exclude. Among matches, prefer drives that already contain an AI-Memory/ subfolder.
3. Local fallback: ~/AI-Memory (no cloud sync, still functional)
4. Exclusion list: ai_memory_exclude in cognitive-config.json lists folder names to skip (e.g., ["OneDrive - Microsoft"] to avoid the work account).

The resolution order matches _registry.cjs (the muscle used by bootstrap-heir.cjs and upgrade-self.cjs). LLM heirs and scripts must agree on the same path.

Folder Structure

<cloud-drive>/AI-Memory/
  README.md                           # Channel overview
  feedback/
    README.md
    alex-act/                         # Heir feedback inbox
      README.md
  announcements/
    alex-act/                         # Fleet-wide announcements
      README.md
  heirs/
    registry.json                     # Fleet registry (auto-maintained)
  knowledge/                          # Shared knowledge base (see index.json)
  insights/                           # Analytical insights

Knowledge Packages

AI-Memory/knowledge/ contains reference material installed from the Plugin Mall. These are not loaded into the brain -- they are consulted on demand when a task matches their domain.

Read AI-Memory/knowledge/index.json to discover available packages. Each entry has name, keywords, use_phase, and path. When a task involves a matching phase (planning, audit, review, implementation) or keyword, read the referenced reference.md for guidance.

This costs zero tokens until you actually read it.

Operations

Detect (session start)

On every session start, resolve the AI-Memory root. If found:

1. Check announcements/alex-act/ for unread files
2. Report any new announcements to the user (one line each)
3. Do NOT read or report feedback (that's the Supervisor's job)

If not found: note it silently. Do not prompt the user unless they explicitly ask about fleet communication.

Create (first time setup)

When AI-Memory is needed but doesn't exist (bootstrap, first feedback write):

1. Discover which cloud drives exist:

   node .github/scripts/_registry.cjs --discover
   

   Output lists all detected cloud drives with provider name and whether AI-Memory exists.

2. If multiple drives found, ask the user which one to use. If only one, use it. If none, offer ~/AI-Memory as local fallback.

3. Create the folder structure:

   node .github/scripts/_registry.cjs --init "<drive-name>"
   

   Or during bootstrap, use the --ai-memory flag:

   node bootstrap-heir.cjs --target . --heir-id my-project --ai-memory "Dropbox" --apply
   

4. The choice is automatically persisted in .github/config/cognitive-config.json:

   {
     "ai_memory_root": "Dropbox",
     "ai_memory_exclude": ["OneDrive - Microsoft"]
   }
   

5. Verify: node .github/scripts/_registry.cjs --resolve . should return the AI-Memory path.

Write Feedback

When the heir observes friction worth surfacing:

1. Resolve AI-Memory root
2. Write one markdown file per item to feedback/alex-act/
3. Filename format: YYYY-MM-DD-<short-slug>.md
4. Strip project specifics per cross-project-isolation.instructions.md
5. Required frontmatter: Date, Category (bug/friction/feature-request/success), Severity (critical/high/medium/low), Heir (redacted), Edition version

Read Announcements

On session start (triggered by greeting-checkin.instructions.md):

1. Resolve AI-Memory root
2. List files in announcements/alex-act/ (skip README.md)
3. For each unread file, report the title and date
4. Do NOT delete announcement files (they persist for all heirs)

Multi-Cloud-Drive Disambiguation

Users may have multiple OneDrive accounts (personal + work). The ai_memory_exclude field prevents heirs from writing to the wrong drive.

Scenario	Resolution
One OneDrive	Auto-detected, no config needed
Two OneDrives, AI-Memory in one	ai_memory_root pins the correct one
Two OneDrives, AI-Memory in both	ai_memory_exclude blocks the wrong one
No OneDrive, has iCloud	iCloud candidate resolves
No cloud drive at all	~/AI-Memory local fallback

Configuration Reference

cognitive-config.json fields (heir-owned, not overwritten on upgrade):

Field	Type	Default	Purpose
ai_memory_root	string	(auto-detect)	Cloud drive folder name to use
ai_memory_exclude	string[]	[]	Folder names to skip during detection

Anti-Patterns

Anti-pattern	Correction
Hardcoding an absolute path	Use the resolution algorithm; paths differ per user and OS
Creating AI-Memory in OneDrive - Microsoft (work account)	Personal cloud drive only; work drives may have retention policies
Writing feedback without stripping project context	Always apply cross-project-isolation before writing
Reading feedback as a heir	Feedback is for the Supervisor; heirs read announcements only
Creating AI-Memory on every session	Create once on bootstrap; subsequent sessions just resolve

Muscle Reference

The _registry.cjs script (shipped with Edition) provides both a programmatic API and a CLI:

Programmatic API

Function	Purpose
resolveAiMemoryRoot(heirRoot?)	Returns the AI-Memory path or null; honors cognitive-config.json
discoverCloudDrives(heirRoot?)	Scans HOME for cloud drive folders; returns [{ name, path, provider, hasAiMemory }]
initAiMemory(driveName)	Creates full folder structure + READMEs
upsertHeir(marker, repoPath)	Updates heirs/registry.json

CLI

node .github/scripts/_registry.cjs --discover          # List cloud drives
node .github/scripts/_registry.cjs --init "<name>"     # Create AI-Memory in named drive
node .github/scripts/_registry.cjs --resolve [dir]     # Resolve AI-Memory root

Bootstrap Flag

node .github/scripts/bootstrap-heir.cjs --ai-memory "<drive-name>" ...

Overrides auto-selection during bootstrap. Persists to cognitive-config.json.

Falsifiability

• This skill has failed if heirs report AI-Memory not loading, cross-project contamination, or irrelevant search results within 30 days of following the setup procedure
• The folder structure convention is wrong if OneDrive sync conflicts corrupt the knowledge store on multi-device setups
• The bootstrap sequence is stale if the cognitive-config.json schema changes and this skill references obsolete fields