# Meta Collect Knowledge > Use to pull in knowledge from your OTHER projects or trees that is relevant to the current one - on "collect knowledge", "/collect-knowledge", when starting/seeding a fresh project, or when a learning reveals a topic this project now touches. Cascade only flows down one ancestor chain, so useful knowledge filed in a sibling project or another knowledge tree is otherwise invisible here; this gathers it in safely. Also runs as the inbound pass of bitranox:meta-dream-crosstree. - Skill: `bitranox/meta-collect-knowledge` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 9 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add bitranox/meta-collect-knowledge` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/bitranox/meta-collect-knowledge/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: bitranox (https://skillmd.com/u/bitranox) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/bitranox/meta-collect-knowledge --- # meta-collect-knowledge Memory cascades DOWN one ancestor chain, so knowledge filed in a SIBLING project - or in a completely different knowledge TREE (a machine can carry several independent tree tops) - never reaches the current project on its own. This skill is the **inbound gather**: find knowledge elsewhere that is relevant here and bring it in safely. **REQUIRED BACKGROUND:** the storage spec (trees/anchors, slug store, engine fail-loud contract) is `bitranox:meta-self-improve` -> `references/memory-backend.md`. ## When to run - Manual: "collect knowledge", `/collect-knowledge`. - New-project init: seed a fresh project from the existing tree so it starts informed. - Opportunistic: a captured learning reveals a topic this project now touches - gather that topic. - As `bitranox:meta-dream-crosstree`'s inbound pass (the dream delegates here). ## Relevance needs a topic (descriptor-first) The query is the project's scope descriptor (the `bitranox:self-learning` block in its `CLAUDE.local.md`) or the topic of the triggering learning. At a brand-new project: first infer the descriptor (README, dir name, package metadata, the parent's descriptor); if scope is still unknown, defer - a blind gather pulls noise. ## Procedure (grep -> inspect -> import) 1. **Stage 1 - cheap grep (no model).** `python3 /gather_scan.py --topic "" --self ""`. It greps other projects' curated slug-store bodies + native memory and prints candidates GROUPED BY KNOWLEDGE TREE (`TREE: ` headers; the native tier is labeled `native-tier (machine-local)` - that whole string is the label, so grep for it, not for `machine-local` alone). With `cross_tree_search=false` (the knob defaults to true) the scan stays inside the CURRENT tree; pass `--cross-tree` for a deliberate cross-tree gather. Nothing matched -> stop (the whole gather cost one grep). - Optional MCP boost: with the `mcp_search` knob `auto` and a covering `basic-memory` index, the same command prints `MCP-CANDIDATES` (read-only search, never the store; the keyword grep is always the base). 2. **Stage 2 - inspect (model, context-isolated).** Dispatch a `sonnet` subagent to read the candidate files and return only what is genuinely useful to THIS project, privacy-scrubbed; discard near-misses. (Tier per `bitranox:process-agents-subagent-driven-development`.) 3. **Stage 3 - import by the tree rules:** - **Same tree, useful beyond this project** -> LIFT to the lowest common ancestor level (engine `move`/`add` at that level; honor the promotion corroboration gate; keep it concrete). - **Same tree, only relevant here** -> self-contained COPY into this project's memory (engine `add`). - **ANOTHER tree** -> ALWAYS a self-contained, labeled COPY; trees share no ancestor, so lifting is impossible and a cross-tree `[[reference]]` would dangle. Never link across trees. 4. **Privacy scrub on anything crossing a boundary.** Scrub secrets/PII before writing; never carry a credential across. Concrete operational detail (paths, hostnames) is the useful part - keep it. 5. **Debounce.** Record the (project, topic) as gathered so the same topic is not re-grepped on every trigger: `gather_scan.py --topic "" --mark`. Ask before spending a scan with `--seen` (exit 0 already gathered, 1 not), which answers from the record and walks nothing. Neither GATES a scan - a scan you ask for still runs, whatever the record says, so `--seen` is advice to the caller rather than a lock. The record lives OUT of the curated store on purpose: written into it, it would be a fact, and the next dream would tidy, promote or dedup a bookkeeping row. 6. **Verify + report.** `reconcile_memory_index.py --check ` (home: `/skills/meta-self-improve/reconcile_memory_index.py`, launch via `hooks/run-python.sh`) must end `TOTAL problems: 0`. Report lifted vs copied, one line each; nothing relevant -> one line. ## Deliverables (a completed gather has ALL of these) - [ ] A topic/descriptor stated BEFORE scanning (no blind gather). - [ ] Stage-1 candidate list with per-tree `TREE:` labels (or a one-line "nothing matched"). - [ ] Every import via the engine. - [ ] Privacy scrub applied to everything copied across a boundary (no credential carried across). - [ ] Zero cross-tree or downward `[[references]]` introduced (reconcile 0 problems). - [ ] The lifted-vs-copied report. ## Rationalizations (these do not fly) | Excuse | Reality | |---------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | "A reference to the other tree's fact is cheaper than a copy" | It is not loaded here and dangles when that tree moves or dies. Cross-tree is ALWAYS a copy. | | "Skip the TREE labels, the paths make it obvious" | The labels are the boundary-crossing audit trail; the dream and the user read them. | | "Seed everything, the project is new" | A blind gather imports noise the dream then has to prune. Descriptor first, topic-matched only. | | "cross_tree_search is false but this one fact is fine" | The wall is the user's setting. Cross it only with the explicit --cross-tree act, as a labeled copy. | ## Common mistakes - Gathering without a topic (blind, irrelevant pulls). - A cross-tree reference instead of a labeled copy (dangles on deletion). - Re-promoting a gathered copy on the next dream. The debounce is `gather_scan.py`'s own `gathered-topics.tsv`, kept OUT of the store so a dream does not tidy it away. A provenance mark never prevented this: nothing read it, and provenance was removed in 5.300.0. - Importing an ancestor's knowledge the cascade already provides (the scan groups it under this tree's top - check before copying).