How do I install the Vestige Forget skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add conorluddy/vestige-forget in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

What does the Vestige Forget skill do?

Soft-delete a Vestige memory by its handle (`mem_ `) when the memory is wrong, superseded, or stale. Fire when a decision has been reversed, a note is no longer accurate, an open question has been answered, or the user says "forget memory ", "that's outdated", "remove ", "drop that memory", "we don't do that anymore". Flips status to `deleted` and drops the memory from search results — the row stays in the journal. Reversible via `vestige-restore`. It is listed under Coding & Dev Tools on SkillMD.

Is Vestige Forget safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Vestige Forget?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Vestige Forget free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Vestige Forget?

conorluddy (@conorluddy) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Vestige Forget by conorluddy — Agent Skill

Name: Vestige Forget
Author: conorluddy

Vestige Forget

Soft-delete a Vestige memory by its handle (`mem_<ULID>`) when the memory is wrong, superseded, or stale. Fire when a decision has been reversed, a note is no longer accurate, an open question has been answered, or the user says "forget memory <id>", "that's outdated", "remove <id>", "drop that memory", "we don't do that anymore". Flips status to `deleted` and drops the memory from search results — the row stays in the journal. Reversible via `vestige-restore`.

conorluddy a9b334f 3 files · 4.9 KB Updated Sep 17, 2026

File contents

Soft-delete a memory

Mark a memory as superseded so it stops surfacing in vestige-recall, vestige-context, and search. The memory itself stays in the durable journal — forget is reversible.

When to fire

A previously-recorded decision has been reversed. Capture the new decision with vestige-record-decision, then vestige-forget the old one.
A previously-recorded note is no longer accurate. Either capture an updated note first, or just forget the stale one.
An open question has been answered. Record the answer as a decision, then forget the question.
The user explicitly says "forget X" or "that's outdated".

Do NOT use this for routine cleanup. Forgetting too aggressively makes the project's history less useful for future-you. The default state of a memory is "kept forever".

How to invoke

vestige forget <mem_id> --json

<mem_id> (positional, required): the handle of the memory to forget. Exact match — no partials or globs.
--json (optional): structured envelope so the agent can parse the result.

When forgetting because of supersession, capture the replacement first:

vestige decision add "Use Postgres instead of SQLite" --rationale "…" --json
# → returns mem_<NEW>
vestige forget mem_<OLD> --json

That way the journal records both the supersession event and the new commitment.

After invocation

Surface the action briefly: "Forgot mem_… (soft-delete; restorable with vestige restore)." — explicit so the user knows it's reversible.

If you forgot a memory in error, fire vestige-restore immediately.

Idempotence & dedup

Soft-delete is idempotent in spirit: forgetting an already-deleted memory is a no-op (non-zero exit). The underlying row is never DELETEd — Vestige's hard rule is soft-delete only. Restore re-flips the status.

---name: vestige-forgetdescription: Soft-delete a Vestige memory by its handle (`mem_<ULID>`) when the memory is wrong, superseded, or stale. Fire when a decision has been reversed, a note is no longer accurate, an open question has been answered, or the user says "forget memory <id>", "that's outdated", "remove <id>", "drop that memory", "we don't do that anymore". Flips status to `deleted` and drops the memory from search results — the row stays in the journal. Reversible via `vestige-restore`.---# Soft-delete a memoryMark a memory as superseded so it stops surfacing in `vestige-recall`, `vestige-context`, and search. The memory itself stays in the durable journal — `forget` is reversible.## When to fire- A previously-recorded decision has been **reversed**. Capture the new decision with `vestige-record-decision`, then `vestige-forget` the old one.- A previously-recorded note is **no longer accurate**. Either capture an updated note first, or just forget the stale one.- An open question has been **answered**. Record the answer as a decision, then forget the question.- The user explicitly says **"forget X"** or **"that's outdated"**.Do NOT use this for routine cleanup. Forgetting too aggressively makes the project's history less useful for future-you. The default state of a memory is "kept forever".## How to invoke```bashvestige forget <mem_id> --json```- **`<mem_id>`** (positional, required): the handle of the memory to forget. Exact match — no partials or globs.- **`--json`** (optional): structured envelope so the agent can parse the result.When forgetting because of supersession, capture the replacement first:```bashvestige decision add "Use Postgres instead of SQLite" --rationale "…" --json# → returns mem_<NEW>vestige forget mem_<OLD> --json```That way the journal records both the supersession event and the new commitment.## After invocationSurface the action briefly: *"Forgot `mem_…` (soft-delete; restorable with `vestige restore`)."* — explicit so the user knows it's reversible.If you forgot a memory in error, fire `vestige-restore` immediately.## Idempotence & dedupSoft-delete is idempotent in spirit: forgetting an already-deleted memory is a no-op (non-zero exit). The underlying row is never `DELETE`d — Vestige's hard rule is soft-delete only. Restore re-flips the status.

Frequently asked questions