Persist

Core idea

• Context window = RAM (volatile, limited)
• Anything important gets written to disk.

Workflow

Step 1: Determine task type

Before doing any work, determine whether the user's request is primarily about understanding or documenting existing code in the current repository.

• If yes → invoke the research-codebase skill instead. Do not continue with this skill.
  • Examples: "how does the auth flow work?", "document the payment service", "explain the middleware chain", "what classes handle X?"
• If no → continue with Step 2.
  • Examples: no argument or "analyse this RFC", "summarise the compliance requirements", "investigate options for a new library", "compare approaches for X"

Step 2: Resolve the argument

If an argument was provided:

• Treat it as the topic/subject to persist — use it to derive {topic} and proceed to Step 3.

If no argument was provided:

• Summarise the conversation since the last persistence event (i.e. since the last invocation of persist, planning, planning-mode, research-mode, or any other skill that writes to .ai/). If no such event exists, summarise the entire conversation.
• The summary must be structured around learnings, insights, and decisions — not a chronological account of what was said. Extract the substance: what was established, what was ruled out, what trade-offs were identified, what conclusions were reached.
• Derive {topic} from the subject matter of that conversation segment.
• Use the summary as the content to persist.

Step 3: Determine output location

Check whether this skill is being invoked within the context of an existing plan (i.e. you are aware of/working on a plan with a folder under {repo root}/.ai/planning/).

Within an existing plan:

• Store output in {repo root}/.ai/planning/{existing plan folder}/{yyyy-mm-dd} {topic}.md
• Example: .ai/planning/2026-04-09 refactor-auth-flow/2026-04-10 auth-middleware-analysis.md

Standalone (no existing plan):

• Store output at: {repo root}/.ai/research/{yyyy-mm-dd} {topic}.md
• Create the .ai/research/ directory if it doesn't exist
• Example: .ai/research/2026-04-10 auth-middleware-analysis.md

Where:

• {repo root} is the root of the current repository
• {yyyy-mm-dd} is the date of the plan creation
• {topic} is an extremely succinct name of the topic in kebab-case

Step 4: Do the work

Conduct the research, analysis, or investigation the user requested.

Step 5: Write findings to disk

Create the markdown file containing the outcome of your work (analysis, findings, comparison, etc.).

• Structure the file in whatever way is most appropriate for the task
• Use markdown visualisations (tables, diagrams, lists) where they add clarity
• If you consulted external resources (URLs, API docs, RFCs, etc.), include a Resources section at the end of your findings file listing them with brief descriptions

Step 6: Keep findings current

If you continue investigating or learning new things in this conversation after the initial write:

• Update the research document on disk after each substantive discovery or conclusion
• Don't wait until the conversation ends — write incrementally as you learn
• Add new sections, update existing analysis, or note contradictions as they emerge
• If the document structure no longer fits the findings, restructure it