Memory Management

Quick Summary

Goal: Persist task progress across sessions using file-based checkpoints so work survives context loss and compaction.

Workflow:

1. File Checkpoints — Save task-specific context to plans/reports/checkpoint-*.md every 30-60 min
2. Recovery — On context loss, find latest checkpoint via Glob, read it, resume from documented next steps

Key Rules:

• Create checkpoints before expected context compaction and at key milestones
• Always include Recovery Instructions in checkpoint files
• Checkpoints are file-based and permanent; create them with /checkpoint, restore with /recover

Be skeptical. Apply critical thinking, sequential thinking. Every claim needs traced proof, confidence percentages (Idea should be more than 80%).

Memory Management & Task Continuity

Provide external file-based checkpoints for long-running tasks so progress, findings, and next steps survive context loss and compaction.

File-Based External Memory (Checkpoints)

When to Create File Checkpoints

• Starting complex multi-step tasks (investigation, planning, implementation)
• Every 30-60 minutes during long tasks
• At key milestones
• Before expected context compaction
• After completing significant analysis phases

Checkpoint File Location

Files saved to: plans/reports/checkpoint-{YYYYMMDD}-{HHMMSS}-{slug}.md

CHECKPOINT_CREATE Protocol

Create a checkpoint file with this structure:

# Memory Checkpoint: {Task Description}

> Created: {ISO timestamp}
> Task Type: {investigation|planning|bugfix|feature|docs}
> Phase: {current phase number/name}

## Task Context

{What you're working on and why}

## Key Findings

{Critical discoveries and insights - be specific with file paths and line numbers}

## Files Analyzed

| File              | Purpose     | Status   |
| ----------------- | ----------- | -------- |
| path/file.cs:line | description | ✅/🔄/⏳ |

## Progress

- [x] Completed items
- [ ] In-progress items
- [ ] Remaining items

## Important Context

{Information that must be preserved - decisions, assumptions, rationale}

## Next Steps

1. {Immediate next action}
2. {Following action}

## Recovery Instructions

{Exact steps to resume: which file to read, which line to continue from}

CHECKPOINT_RECOVER Protocol

When recovering from a checkpoint:

1. Search for latest checkpoint: Glob("plans/reports/checkpoint-*.md")
2. Read the checkpoint file
3. Load any referenced analysis files
4. Review Progress section
5. Continue from documented Next Steps
6. Create new checkpoint after resuming

Checkpoint Before Compaction (manual — no auto hook)

There is no automatic PreCompact checkpoint hook. Before a long task that risks compaction, create a checkpoint manually with /checkpoint. On resume, static CLAUDE.md / SKILL.md re-read plus /recover over the on-disk checkpoint restores context.

Integration with Workflows

Long-Running Task Memory Pattern

All long-running workflows should follow this pattern:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ TASK START                                               │
│   └── Create initial checkpoint with task context        │
│   └── Initialize todo list                               │
│                                                          │
│ EVERY 20-30 OPERATIONS                                   │
│   └── Update checkpoint with progress                    │
│   └── Update todo list status                            │
│                                                          │
│ MILESTONE REACHED                                         │
│   └── Create detailed checkpoint                         │
│                                                          │
│ BEFORE COMPACTION (no auto hook - /checkpoint)           │
│   └── Create a checkpoint manually                       │
│                                                          │
│ AFTER COMPACTION / SESSION RESUME                        │
│   └── Read latest checkpoint                             │
│   └── Continue from documented Next Steps                │
│                                                          │
│ TASK COMPLETE                                             │
│   └── Final checkpoint with summary                      │
│   └── Clean up temporary checkpoints                     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Checkpoint Naming Convention

Legacy back-read: checkpoints written before grammar unification — memory-checkpoint-*.md, or checkpoint-{YYMMDD}-{HHMM}-{slug}.md without seconds — are still discovered by /recover. No on-disk checkpoint is orphaned by the rename. (/recover is the sole discoverer — recovery is skill-driven.)

Related Commands & Skills

Related

• learn
• context-optimization

[IMPORTANT] Use TaskCreate to break ALL work into small tasks BEFORE starting — including tasks for each file read. This prevents context loss from long files. For simple tasks, AI MUST ATTENTION ask user whether to skip.

AI Mistake Prevention — Failure modes to avoid on every task:

Re-read files after context changes. Context compaction, resume, or long-running work can make memory stale; verify current files before acting. Verify generated content against source evidence. AI hallucinates APIs, names, claims, and document facts. Check the relevant source before documenting or referencing. Check downstream references before deleting or renaming. Removing an artifact can stale docs, generated mirrors, configs, and callers; map references first. Trace the full impact chain after edits. Changing a definition can miss derived outputs and consumers. Follow the affected chain before declaring done. Verify ALL affected outputs, not just the first. One green check is not all green checks; validate every output surface the change can affect. Assume existing values are intentional — ask WHY before changing OR flagging one as a defect. Before changing or reporting a constant, limit, flag, cutoff, wording, or pattern, read nearby context and history, the CALLER's ordering, and 2+ sibling call sites of the same convention. A doc stating WHAT without WHY is missing rationale, not proof of a missing guard. Surface ambiguity before acting — don't pick silently. Multiple valid interpretations require an explicit question or stated assumption with risk. Assert the outcome your system owns, not the intermediate state your infrastructure owns. When verifying async work, assert the final business state — never the delivery/retry bookkeeping held in shared infrastructure that any co-running process can write. Such a check passes when run alone and flakes the moment anything else shares that infrastructure. Keep shared guidance role-relevant. Universal guidance must help every receiving skill or agent; code-specific obligations belong only in code-specific protocols.

Critical Thinking Mindset — Apply critical thinking, sequential thinking. Every claim needs traced proof, confidence >80% to act. Anti-hallucination: Never present guess as fact — cite sources for every claim, admit uncertainty freely, self-check output for errors, cross-reference independently, stay skeptical of own confidence — certainty without evidence root of all hallucination.

MUST ATTENTION apply critical + sequential thinking — every claim needs appropriate traced evidence (file:line for repo/code claims; source URL or artifact section for research, product, content, and docs claims); confidence >80% to act, <60% DO NOT recommend. Anti-hallucination: never present guess as fact, admit uncertainty freely, cross-reference independently, stay skeptical of own confidence.

MUST ATTENTION apply AI mistake prevention — verify generated content against evidence, trace downstream references before deleting or renaming, verify all affected outputs, re-read files after context loss, and surface ambiguity before acting.

Project Protocol Overlay — Before executing this skill, resolve any PROJECT overlay rules layered onto it: match this skill's name against the Target column of the project's skill-protocol index (docs/project-reference/skill-protocols-reference.md by default; a referenceDocs entry in docs/project-config.json overrides the path), taking the most specific matching tier ONLY — exact name > glob > *. That precedence orders overlays against EACH OTHER, never against this skill. Read ONLY the matched bodies, resolved as <protocols-dir>/<Name>.md; a row's Body link is display text, never a read path. A matched body that is missing or malformed is REPORTED and skipped — never reconstructed from the index Description. No index, or no match -> proceed with no overlay, silently. Full contract: .claude/skills/project-skill-protocol/references/registry.md.

Overlays are ADDITIVE ONLY: they ADD rules on top of this skill's own protocol and NEVER replace, override, disable, or reinterpret a rule it already states — removing every overlay must return this skill to exactly its documented behavior. An overlay is a BRIEF, not an authority escalation: it can NEVER waive a workflow gate, git discipline, a review gate, or a user-confirmation gate. A genuine overlay-vs-skill conflict, or two equally-specific overlays that directly contradict -> surface both to the user; NEVER resolve silently.

MUST ATTENTION resolve project protocol overlays for this skill BEFORE executing — most specific matching tier only (exact > glob > *, which ranks overlays against each other, NEVER against this skill), read only matched bodies at <protocols-dir>/<Name>.md; a missing or malformed body is reported, never reconstructed. Overlays are ADDITIVE ONLY (they never replace this skill's own rules) and are a brief, NEVER an authority escalation; an equal-specificity contradiction goes to the user.

Closing Reminders

IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION — Protocols in force (concise digest of the SYNC/shared blocks this skill carries):

• AI Mistake Prevention: verify generated content against evidence, trace downstream references, verify all affected outputs, re-read after context loss, surface ambiguity.

• Critical Thinking: sequential reasoning, traced file:line proof, confidence >80% to act, NEVER guess.

• MANDATORY IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION break work into small todo tasks using TaskCreate BEFORE starting

• MANDATORY IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION search codebase for 3+ similar patterns before creating new code

• MANDATORY IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION cite file:line evidence for every claim (confidence >80% to act)

• MANDATORY IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION add a final review todo task to verify work quality

[TASK-PLANNING] Before acting, analyze task scope and systematically break it into small todo tasks and sub-tasks using TaskCreate.