Memex Retro

Memory Retro

You have access to a Zettelkasten memory system via the memex CLI. After completing this task, reflect on what you learned and save valuable insights.

Tools Available

Three equivalent interfaces — use whichever your environment supports:

Resolution order: Try memex in PATH first. If not found, define a shell function and use it:

# Define once per session — DO NOT use variable assignment ($VAR won't expand correctly in zsh)
memex() { node $HOME/.claude/plugins/cache/cc-plugins/memex/*/dist/cli.js "$@"; }

# Then use normally
memex search "some query"
memex read some-slug
memex write some-slug << 'EOF'
card content here
EOF

If both CLI approaches fail, use MCP tools (memex_search, memex_read, memex_write).

The rest of this skill uses memex CLI syntax for brevity.

Process

digraph retro {
    "Task completed" -> "Distill: what insights came from this task?";
    "Distill: what insights came from this task?" -> "Any insights worth keeping?" [shape=diamond];
    "Any insights worth keeping?" -> "Done, no card written" [label="no"];
    "Any insights worth keeping?" -> "For each insight: draft atomic card" [label="yes"];
    "For each insight: draft atomic card" -> "Fact Hygiene Check (WHO/WHAT-WHEN/RELATIONSHIP)";
    "Fact Hygiene Check (WHO/WHAT-WHEN/RELATIONSHIP)" -> "Ambiguity found?" [shape=diamond];
    "Ambiguity found?" -> "Fix draft: make implicit context explicit" [label="yes"];
    "Fix draft: make implicit context explicit" -> "Fact Hygiene Check (WHO/WHAT-WHEN/RELATIONSHIP)";
    "Ambiguity found?" -> "memex search for related existing cards" [label="no"];
    "memex search for related existing cards" -> "memex read candidates";
    "memex read candidates" -> "Existing card covers same insight?" [shape=diamond];
    "Existing card covers same insight?" -> "Update existing card (append new info)" [label="yes"];
    "Existing card covers same insight?" -> "Write new card with [[links]]" [label="no"];
    "Update existing card (append new info)" -> "memex write <existing-card>";
    "Write new card with [[links]]" -> "memex write <new-card>";
    "memex write <existing-card>" -> "More insights?" [shape=diamond];
    "memex write <new-card>" -> "More insights?" [shape=diamond];
    "More insights?" -> "For each insight: draft atomic card" [label="yes"];
    "More insights?" -> "Done" [label="no"];
}

1. Ask yourself: what did I learn from this task that would be useful in the future?
2. If nothing worth remembering, skip — not every task produces insights
3. For each insight, draft an atomic card (one insight per card)
4. Fact Hygiene Check — before writing, scan the draft for implicit context that a stranger (or future AI) couldn't decode. Ask three questions:
   • WHO: Every project/product/team mentioned — is it the user's own work or external? Would a reader with zero context know?
   • WHAT-WHEN: Every number (days, tokens, cost) — is it bound to a specific project name and time period?
   • RELATIONSHIP: Words like "对标/参照/基于/借鉴/reference" — spell out the actual relationship (authored, benchmarked against, forked from, inspired by, etc.)
   • If any answer is "a stranger couldn't tell", fix the draft before writing. One sentence of context prevents hallucinated narratives downstream.
5. Before writing, memex search for related existing cards
6. Dedup check: If an existing card already covers this insight, memex read it, then update it by appending new information (use memex write with the full updated content)
7. If it's genuinely new, write a new card with [[links]] to related cards in the prose

Card Format

---
title: <descriptive title>
created: <today's date YYYY-MM-DD>
source: <auto-filled by client>
category: <optional category>
---

<One atomic insight, written in your own words.>

<Natural language sentences with [[links]] to related cards, explaining WHY they're related.>

Note: You do NOT need to include modified — the CLI auto-sets it on write.

Rules

• Atomic: One insight per card. If you have 3 insights, write 3 cards.
• Own words: Don't copy-paste. Distill and rephrase — this is the Feynman method.
• Link in context: [[links]] must be embedded in sentences that explain the relationship.
  • Good: "This contradicts what we found in [[jwt-migration]] — stateless tokens can't be revoked."
  • Bad: "Related: [[jwt-migration]]"
• Slug: English kebab-case, descriptive. e.g., jwt-revocation-blacklist-pattern
• Don't over-record: Only save insights that would change how you approach a similar task in the future.
• Preserve frontmatter on update: When updating an existing card, preserve its original frontmatter fields (title, created). Only append to the body. source is auto-managed by the MCP server.
• No raw secrets: Never write actual secrets, credentials, tokens, or exact secret file contents into memory. Use redacted examples and abstract descriptions instead.

External Source Cards (Flomo, etc.)

When curating cards from external sources like flomo:

• Use source: flomo (not source: retro). This is critical for anti-loopback guards.
• Digest, don't copy. Read the raw memo, extract the genuine insight, rewrite as atomic Zettelkasten card.
• Merge multiple related memos into one card when they're about the same topic.
• Skip low-quality fragments — the bar for external imports is higher than session retro.
• These cards follow the same quality rules above (atomic, own words, linked).