| name | archive-fact |
| description | Safely move a decayed fact or completed thread from continuity.md into the archive — the mechanical half of a memory review, done deterministically. Use during the REVIEW.md ritual (step 4) or whenever a specific fact must be archived, instead of hand-editing continuity.md (which has truncated the file twice). The agent decides what to archive; this performs the move safely. |
| provenance | agent-memory-builtin |
⚠️ Tool-managed skill provided by agent-memory (provenance: agent-memory-builtin). Don't edit it
in place — fork under a new name, or upstream a fix to the agent-memory project (see SKILLS.md).
This skill is the safe archive-move. It performs REVIEW.md step 4 — moving a faded/superseded fact's
block out of continuity.md and into the quarter archive — as a runnable script, so the move can't be
botched. Don't hand-edit continuity.md to do this (the read-modify-write open(f,"w").write(open(f).read()+…)
truncates the file before the read — it has wiped a version.md stamp and then this repo's archive,
50 facts → 6, once each). This script reads the whole file into memory first and writes once, so truncation
is structurally impossible.
What it does NOT do
It does not decide what to archive — that judgment (which facts have faded, contradiction scans,
supersession) stays with the agent and the REVIEW.md ritual (never-pick-a-winner). This is the
mechanical executor only: you name the id(s); it moves them. Same split as memory-lint (the script counts;
the agent judges).
How to run
From the repo root, use whichever runtime the machine has (output is byte-identical):
python3 agent-skills/archive-fact/scripts/archive-fact.py --id <fact-id> [--id <fact-id> …]
node agent-skills/archive-fact/scripts/archive-fact.mjs --id <fact-id> [--id <fact-id> …]
Flags:
--id ID — the fact/thread id to archive (repeatable; the move is all-or-nothing — if any id is
missing it refuses and changes nothing).--reason — faded (default) or e.g. "superseded by <new-id>".--quarter YYYY-Qn — target memory/archive/<quarter>.md (default: derived from today, UTC).--note TEXT — the INDEX.md one-liner (single --id only; otherwise derived from the block).--dry-run — print what would move; change nothing. Preview first when unsure.
It (1) extracts each id's block (the column-0 - bullet down through its <!-- id: … --> footer, whole),
(2) appends it to the quarter archive under a dated heading and adds an INDEX.md line (append mode —
never truncates), and (3) rewrites continuity.md without those blocks (read-into-variable, single write).
Always run memory-lint afterward (it confirms no id ended up in both places and no link dangles). The
helper is safe by construction; the lint is the deterministic proof.
Guards (it refuses, exit 1)
- an id with no footer in
continuity.md (typo / already moved);
- an id already present in the archive (no double-archive);
- a move that would leave
continuity.md empty.
Notes
- No runtime? Don't hand-roll the truncating write. Fall back to the manual safe method
REVIEW.md
documents (append-mode / read-into-variable), then run memory-lint. (Same stance as memory-lint:
install Python or Node rather than improvise the dangerous step.)
- Two runtimes at output parity, with mirror tests (
test_archive_fact.py / .mjs) — the deterministic
guarantee shouldn't depend on which runtime the machine happens to have.
- Superseded facts: pass
--reason "superseded by <new-id>"; mark the supersession links in the footers
(DECAY.md §9) before or after — the helper moves the block as-is.
