How do I install the Vestige Trace Replay skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add conorluddy/vestige-trace-replay 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.

Is Vestige Trace Replay 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 Trace Replay?

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 Trace Replay free to use?

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

Who published Vestige Trace Replay?

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

Vestige Trace Replay by conorluddy — Agent Skill

Name: Vestige Trace Replay
Author: conorluddy

Vestige Trace Replay

Use this skill to re-run a stored trace against the current memory store and diff the results against the original — answering "would the agent get the same answer today?". Fire when the user says "re-run trace_X", "replay that search", "diff trace_X against current state", or "did the answers drift?". Read-only: writes a NEW query_events row tagged with replay_of; never mutates the original trace or any memory. provider_match=false flags embedding drift.

conorluddy Updated Sep 17, 2026

File contents

Replay a stored query trace

Re-run a stored query trace against the current store and current embedding provider. Produces an explicit diff — added/removed result IDs, score deltas — and flags whether the provider and corpus match the original. This is the "did memory drift?" command.

When to fire

Drift detection. After a major memory session (many records, approvals, or forgets) — confirm that prior recall results are stable.
Provider change. Switching embedding providers or models — replay key traces to quantify the impact.
Corpus growth audit. New memories were captured since a trace was written — replay shows what's been added to the result set.
Regression check. Before a PR that touches recall logic — replay a set of traces and surface score deltas.

Replay is read-only with respect to memories. It writes a new query_events row tagged caller=cli (or mcp) with replay_of: <original_trace_id> in params_json, making the replay chain inspectable. The original trace is never modified.

How to invoke

vestige trace replay <trace_id> [--json]

Accepts a trace_<ULID> — obtain one from vestige trace (list mode).
provider_match=false in the output signals that the current embedding provider or model differs from the one in the original trace. When this happens the mode may fall back to lexical and mode_fallback=true is set.

vestige trace replay trace_01JWXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX           # text diff
vestige trace replay trace_01JWXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX --json    # JSON diff

After invocation

{
  "trace_id": "trace_01JWXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX",
  "original": {
    "result_ids": ["mem_01JWXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX", "mem_01HVXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"],
    "scores":     [0.83, 0.61]
  },
  "current": {
    "result_ids": ["mem_01JWXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX", "mem_01HVXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX", "mem_01KAXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"],
    "scores":     [0.83, 0.61, 0.55]
  },
  "diff": {
    "added":         ["mem_01KAXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"],
    "removed":       [],
    "score_changes": []
  },
  "provider_match":  true,
  "mode_fallback":   false,
  "corpus_drift":    1,
  "replay_trace_id": "trace_01KBXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"
}

corpus_drift is the net change in result count. replay_trace_id is the ID of the new query_events row written for this replay run — inspect it with vestige-trace-show <replay_trace_id>.

---name: vestige-trace-replaydescription: Use this skill to re-run a stored trace against the current memory store and diff the results against the original — answering "would the agent get the same answer today?". Fire when the user says "re-run trace_X", "replay that search", "diff trace_X against current state", or "did the answers drift?". Read-only: writes a NEW query_events row tagged with replay_of; never mutates the original trace or any memory. provider_match=false flags embedding drift.---# Replay a stored query traceRe-run a stored query trace against the current store and current embedding provider. Produces an explicit diff — added/removed result IDs, score deltas — and flags whether the provider and corpus match the original. This is the "did memory drift?" command.## When to fire- **Drift detection.** After a major memory session (many records, approvals, or forgets) — confirm that prior recall results are stable.- **Provider change.** Switching embedding providers or models — replay key traces to quantify the impact.- **Corpus growth audit.** New memories were captured since a trace was written — replay shows what's been added to the result set.- **Regression check.** Before a PR that touches recall logic — replay a set of traces and surface score deltas.Replay is **read-only with respect to memories**. It writes a new `query_events` row tagged `caller=cli` (or `mcp`) with `replay_of: <original_trace_id>` in `params_json`, making the replay chain inspectable. The original trace is never modified.## How to invoke```bashvestige trace replay <trace_id> [--json]```- Accepts a `trace_<ULID>` — obtain one from `vestige trace` (list mode).- `provider_match=false` in the output signals that the current embedding provider or model differs from the one in the original trace. When this happens the mode may fall back to lexical and `mode_fallback=true` is set.```bashvestige trace replay trace_01JWXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX # text diffvestige trace replay trace_01JWXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX --json # JSON diff```## After invocation```json{ "trace_id": "trace_01JWXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX", "original": { "result_ids": ["mem_01JWXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX", "mem_01HVXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"], "scores": [0.83, 0.61] }, "current": { "result_ids": ["mem_01JWXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX", "mem_01HVXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX", "mem_01KAXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"], "scores": [0.83, 0.61, 0.55] }, "diff": { "added": ["mem_01KAXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"], "removed": [], "score_changes": [] }, "provider_match": true, "mode_fallback": false, "corpus_drift": 1, "replay_trace_id": "trace_01KBXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"}````corpus_drift` is the net change in result count. `replay_trace_id` is the ID of the new `query_events` row written for this replay run — inspect it with `vestige-trace-show <replay_trace_id>`.

Frequently asked questions