How do I install the Vestige Record Decision skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add conorluddy/vestige-record-decision 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.

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Which AI agents work with Vestige Record Decision?

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 Record Decision free to use?

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

Who published Vestige Record Decision?

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

Vestige Record Decision by conorluddy

Name: Vestige Record Decision
Author: conorluddy

Vestige Record Decision

Capture a project decision to Vestige memory when committing to an architectural choice, picking approach A over B, settling a tradeoff, or choosing a library / framework / pattern. Fire on "we'll go with…", "let's use…", "decision:…", "I'm choosing X over Y because…", "settled — we use…", "going with X", or when the user says "capture that decision", "remember this", "record it". Decisions ground future reasoning and feed every `vestige context` pack. Captures body, rationale (the why), and importance (default 0.7). Returns the new handle (`mem_<ULID>`).

conorluddy Updated Sep 17, 2026

File contents

Record a project decision

Write a project decision into durable, repo-scoped Vestige memory. Decisions are commitments with a why — the kind of thing future-you would regret losing.

When to fire

The conversation has just produced a commitment to a specific approach, library, pattern, or architectural shape.
The user said "we'll go with X" / "decision: X" / "let's use X" / "settled".
You wrote ## Decision or Decision: in your own response.
You explicitly chose A over B and gave a reason.

Tie-breakers vs siblings:

Decision vs note — does it carry a commitment and a why? If both yes, decision. If just useful info, use vestige-record-note.
Decision vs preference — preferences come from the user's voice ("I prefer …", "always …"). Decisions can come from either side and have an explicit rationale.
Decision vs question — if there's still ambiguity, the answer isn't a decision yet. Use vestige-record-question.

How to invoke

vestige decision add "<one-line decision>" \
  --rationale "<the why; cite tradeoffs, alternatives, constraints>" \
  --importance 0.7 \
  --json

body (positional, required): one-line statement of what was decided. Imperative or declarative ("Use SQLite for local persistence", "Adopt FTS5 for lexical search").
--rationale (recommended): the why. Without rationale a decision degrades to a note.
--importance (optional, 0.0–1.0, default 0.7): bump to 0.85+ for decisions that shape major surface area; leave at default for routine choices.
--source (optional): file path or external ref (crates/vestige-store/src/lib.rs:42, https://...) when the decision was prompted by something inspectable.
--source-content (optional): inline snippet, capped at 2 KiB by the CLI.

After invocation

The JSON envelope returns { "id": "mem_<ULID>", ... }. Read id and surface a one-line confirmation: "Recorded decision mem_…." Don't read the body back — the user just said it.

The decision is immediately searchable via vestige-recall and will appear in the next vestige context pack.

Idempotence & dedup

Every vestige decision add is a fresh write — there is no upsert. Before capturing, run a quick dedup probe if you suspect overlap:

vestige recall "<key phrase from the decision>" --json --limit 3

If the top hit's score is high and type is decision and the one_liner is essentially the same commitment, skip the write and cite the existing handle instead. Otherwise capture; soft-delete (vestige-forget) the prior one if it's been superseded.

---name: vestige-record-decisiondescription: Capture a project decision to Vestige memory when committing to an architectural choice, picking approach A over B, settling a tradeoff, or choosing a library / framework / pattern. Fire on "we'll go with…", "let's use…", "decision:…", "I'm choosing X over Y because…", "settled — we use…", "going with X", or when the user says "capture that decision", "remember this", "record it". Decisions ground future reasoning and feed every `vestige context` pack. Captures body, rationale (the why), and importance (default 0.7). Returns the new handle (`mem_<ULID>`).---# Record a project decisionWrite a project decision into durable, repo-scoped Vestige memory. Decisions are commitments with a why — the kind of thing future-you would regret losing.## When to fire- The conversation has just produced a commitment to a specific approach, library, pattern, or architectural shape.- The user said "we'll go with X" / "decision: X" / "let's use X" / "settled".- You wrote `## Decision` or `Decision:` in your own response.- You explicitly chose A over B and gave a reason.Tie-breakers vs siblings:- *Decision vs note* — does it carry a commitment **and** a why? If both yes, decision. If just useful info, use `vestige-record-note`.- *Decision vs preference* — preferences come from the user's voice ("I prefer …", "always …"). Decisions can come from either side and have an explicit rationale.- *Decision vs question* — if there's still ambiguity, the answer isn't a decision yet. Use `vestige-record-question`.## How to invoke```bashvestige decision add "<one-line decision>" \ --rationale "<the why; cite tradeoffs, alternatives, constraints>" \ --importance 0.7 \ --json```- **body** (positional, required): one-line statement of what was decided. Imperative or declarative ("Use SQLite for local persistence", "Adopt FTS5 for lexical search").- **`--rationale`** (recommended): the why. Without rationale a decision degrades to a note.- **`--importance`** (optional, 0.0–1.0, default 0.7): bump to 0.85+ for decisions that shape major surface area; leave at default for routine choices.- **`--source`** (optional): file path or external ref (`crates/vestige-store/src/lib.rs:42`, `https://...`) when the decision was prompted by something inspectable.- **`--source-content`** (optional): inline snippet, capped at 2 KiB by the CLI.## After invocationThe JSON envelope returns `{ "id": "mem_<ULID>", ... }`. Read `id` and surface a one-line confirmation: *"Recorded decision `mem_…`."* Don't read the body back — the user just said it.The decision is immediately searchable via `vestige-recall` and will appear in the next `vestige context` pack.## Idempotence & dedupEvery `vestige decision add` is a fresh write — there is no upsert. Before capturing, run a quick dedup probe if you suspect overlap:```bashvestige recall "<key phrase from the decision>" --json --limit 3```If the top hit's `score` is high *and* `type` is `decision` *and* the `one_liner` is essentially the same commitment, skip the write and cite the existing handle instead. Otherwise capture; soft-delete (`vestige-forget`) the prior one if it's been superseded.

Frequently asked questions