Buff Counterfeit

buff-counterfeit v2

Counterfeit is buff's intelligence engine. It maintains a 3-tier memory system — global preferences, cross-project patterns and corrections, and per-project intelligence (dependency graph, decisions, learnings) — so every skill invocation makes the others smarter. Learns across projects, never repeats corrected mistakes.

Memory architecture

~/.buff/memory/                          <- GLOBAL (cross-project)
├── preferences.json                     <- existing: stack, style, communication
├── patterns.json                        <- NEW: architectural patterns, tech decisions
└── corrections.json                     <- NEW: user corrections to buff's output

.buff/memory/                            <- PROJECT (per-project)
├── context.json                         <- existing: session history, plan progress
├── graph.json                           <- NEW: lightweight project model
├── decisions.json                       <- NEW: architectural decisions + rationale
└── learnings.json                       <- NEW: project-specific patterns, mistakes

Resolution rule: Project-local overrides global. When the same key exists in both, the project value wins.

Tier 1 — Preferences

~/.buff/memory/preferences.json — global preferences that apply everywhere. Schema unchanged from v1:

{
  "stack": {
    "runtime": "bun",
    "language": "typescript",
    "frontend": "react",
    "backend": "elysia",
    "testing": "vitest",
    "package_manager": "bun"
  },
  "code_style": {
    "naming": "camelCase",
    "imports": "named-exports-preferred",
    "error_handling": "result-pattern",
    "file_organization": "feature-colocation"
  },
  "communication": {
    "verbosity": "terse",
    "language": "en",
    "explanations": "code-first"
  },
  "git": {
    "commit_style": "conventional",
    "commit_frequency": "feature"
  }
}

Tier 2 — Patterns & Corrections

Two new global files that capture cross-project intelligence.

~/.buff/memory/patterns.json

What buff learns across ALL projects — architectural patterns, technology decisions, and anti-patterns derived from corrections:

{
  "architecture": [
    {
      "pattern": "repository pattern for DB access",
      "frequency": 3,
      "last_used": "2026-03-20",
      "context": "API projects with relational databases"
    }
  ],
  "tech_decisions": [
    {
      "decision": "Elysia over Express",
      "frequency": 3,
      "last_used": "2026-03-20",
      "rationale": "user prefers performance-focused frameworks"
    }
  ],
  "anti_patterns": [
    {
      "pattern": "default exports",
      "reason": "user corrected: always use named exports",
      "source": "correction"
    }
  ]
}

Promotion rule: A pattern needs 2+ occurrences across projects to be saved here. Single instances stay in project-level decisions.json until repeated elsewhere.

~/.buff/memory/corrections.json

Every time the user corrects buff's output, capture it:

[
  {
    "date": "2026-03-20",
    "skill": "code",
    "what_buff_did": "used default export for AuthService",
    "what_user_wanted": "named export",
    "context": "TypeScript service files",
    "generalized": true
  }
]

• generalized: true — applies to all projects (e.g., naming conventions, export style)
• generalized: false — project-specific only (e.g., domain-specific naming)
• Max 50 entries. When exceeded, prune oldest. Keep high-frequency corrections (3+ occurrences of same correction type) forever.

Tier 3 — Project Intelligence

Three new project-local files that build per-project awareness.

.buff/memory/graph.json

Lightweight project dependency model. NOT a full AST — just exports, imports, line counts, and coverage. Enough for cross-file awareness without token bloat:

{
  "files": {
    "src/auth.ts": {
      "exports": ["AuthService", "validateToken", "createSession"],
      "imports_from": ["src/db.ts", "src/types.ts"],
      "imported_by": ["src/router.ts", "src/middleware.ts"],
      "lines": 142,
      "last_modified": "2026-03-20",
      "test_file": "src/auth.test.ts",
      "coverage": {
        "functions": 3,
        "tested": 2,
        "untested": ["createSession"]
      }
    }
  },
  "updated_at": "2026-03-20T14:00:00Z"
}

.buff/memory/decisions.json

Architectural decisions made during planning and development:

[
  {
    "decision": "Use repository pattern for all DB access",
    "rationale": "Separates persistence from business logic, easier testing",
    "date": "2026-03-20",
    "skill": "plan",
    "affects": ["src/repositories/"]
  }
]

.buff/memory/learnings.json

Project-specific patterns and mistakes captured during work:

[
  {
    "learning": "Middleware order matters — auth must come before rate limiter",
    "source": "user correction during code review",
    "date": "2026-03-20",
    "applies_to": "middleware ordering"
  }
]

Graph update triggers

The graph is updated at two points only — no polling, no watchers.

(a) Session start — staleness check

The session-start.sh hook checks if graph.json exists and whether graph.updated_at is older than the last git commit. If stale, it sets the .buff/memory/.graph-stale flag file. The SessionStart prompt hook then detects this flag and runs the incremental update algorithm (below) to rebuild the graph.

(b) Post-skill lazy update

Any skill that writes files (code, test) updates graph.json entries for the files it touched at the end of its execution. This is a prompt instruction in each skill's SKILL.md, not a hook.

Incremental update algorithm

Never do a full re-scan. Always incremental:

1. Run git log --name-only --since="<graph.updated_at>" --pretty=format:"" to get files changed since last update, plus git diff --name-only HEAD to catch uncommitted changes
2. For each changed file: re-read exports, imports, line count with Grep/Read. Update the file's entry in graph.json
3. For deleted files: remove their entries from graph.json
4. For new files: add minimal entry (exports, imports, lines)
5. Write updated graph.json with new updated_at timestamp
6. Expected time: 2-5 seconds for a medium project (~100 files changed)

Token budget

Max 3,000 tokens total counterfeit payload at session start. The graph is NOT injected at session start — it is read on-demand by individual skills.

Skills request only the slices they need. No skill loads the full graph into context.

Correction capture

Prompt-based detection mechanism — no hooks or external tooling required. Each upgraded skill includes a "Correction Detection" instruction block in its own SKILL.md.

Detection signals

Watch for these indicators that the user is correcting buff's output:

• Explicit rejection: "no", "not like that", "wrong", "don't do that"
• Code replacement: user provides alternative code immediately after buff's output
• Approach redirect: "instead, do X", "use Y not Z", "I prefer..."
• Style correction: "always use...", "never use...", formatting changes

On detection

1. Extract: what buff did wrong + what the user wanted + context (file type, skill, domain)
2. Write to .buff/memory/learnings.json (project-specific learning)
3. If generalizable (applies beyond this project): also write to ~/.buff/memory/corrections.json with generalized: true
4. If generalized (step 3 applied) and same correction appears 2+ times in corrections.json: promote the pattern to patterns.json anti_patterns array

Example flow

User says: "No, use named exports here, not default" after code skill outputs a default export.

1. Capture: what_buff_did: "default export", what_user_wanted: "named export", context: "TypeScript files"
2. Write to learnings.json: {"learning": "Use named exports, not default", ...}
3. Write to corrections.json: {"what_buff_did": "used default export", "what_user_wanted": "named export", "generalized": true, ...}
4. Check frequency in corrections.json — if 2+ similar: add to patterns.json anti_patterns

Skill integration map

Every upgraded skill both reads from and writes to counterfeit memory:

forge integration is out of scope for this upgrade — listed for completeness only.

Pruning rules

Session start

Auto-invoked by the SessionStart hook. Flow:

1. Check memory files exist — for all 7 files (preferences, patterns, corrections, context, graph, decisions, learnings). Create with empty defaults if missing.
2. Merge global + project — project values override global on conflicts.
3. Check graph staleness — if .buff/memory/.graph-stale flag exists, run the incremental update algorithm to rebuild graph.json, then delete the flag.
4. Inject payload — load preferences (full) + recent 10 corrections into context. Max 3,000 tokens total. Do NOT load graph, decisions, patterns, or learnings at start — skills load these on-demand.
5. Print greeting — only if context.json history has entries:

buff · Last session: [summary of most recent history entry]
Plan: [N]% complete · [N] tests passing

If no history exists, print nothing — no greeting for new projects.

Session end

Auto-invoked by the Stop hook. Flow:

1. Read .buff/session.log for this session's activity
2. Build session summary (1-2 sentences)
3. Append to history array in context.json
4. Update last_active, last_active_files, plan_progress
5. Check for corrections captured this session — if any correction's type now has frequency 2+ in corrections.json, promote to patterns.json
6. Prune all files per pruning rules (see table above)
7. Write updated files

Live capture

Counterfeit learns from patterns observed during development. Update memory immediately when detected — do not wait for session end.

Commands

show

/buff:counterfeit show

Print current memory (all tiers, merged):

## Counterfeit memory

### Global preferences
Stack: bun · typescript · react · elysia
Style: camelCase · named exports · result-pattern errors
Communication: terse · en · code-first

### Patterns (3 architectural, 2 tech, 1 anti-pattern)
Top: repository pattern (3x) · Elysia over Express (3x)
Anti: default exports (from correction)

### Recent corrections (3 of 12 total)
- code: used default export -> named export (TypeScript files)
- plan: suggested monolith -> user wanted modular (API projects)
- test: skipped edge cases -> user wants exhaustive (validators)

### Project context
Plan: 60% complete (Phase 2 of 3 done)
Last session: 2026-03-20 · implemented auth middleware
Decisions: 4 recorded · Learnings: 2 captured

show --graph

/buff:counterfeit show --graph

Print graph summary:

## Project graph

Files tracked: 24
Coverage: 78% (19/24 have tests)
Top untested: src/middleware.ts, src/utils/cache.ts, src/config.ts
Last updated: 2026-03-20T14:00:00Z

show --corrections

/buff:counterfeit show --corrections

List recent corrections:

## Corrections (12 total, showing recent 10)

1. [2026-03-20] code: default export -> named export (TypeScript files) [generalized]
2. [2026-03-19] plan: monolith -> modular architecture (API projects) [generalized]
3. [2026-03-18] test: basic tests -> exhaustive edge cases (validators) [project-only]
...

reset

/buff:counterfeit reset --global       # wipe global: preferences, patterns, corrections
/buff:counterfeit reset --project      # wipe project: context, graph, decisions, learnings
/buff:counterfeit reset --graph        # wipe graph.json only
/buff:counterfeit reset --corrections  # wipe corrections.json only
/buff:counterfeit reset                # wipe everything (confirm first)

prune

/buff:counterfeit prune

Manually trigger pruning on all files per the pruning rules table. Report what was removed.

Initialization

On first use (no memory files exist):

1. Create ~/.buff/memory/ directory
2. Write preferences.json with empty template: {"stack": {}, "code_style": {}, "communication": {}, "git": {}}
3. Write patterns.json with empty template: {"architecture": [], "tech_decisions": [], "anti_patterns": []}
4. Write corrections.json with empty template: []
5. Create .buff/memory/ in project root
6. Write context.json with empty template: {"project": {"name": "", "type": "", "stack": {}, "plan_path": ".buff/plan.md", "plan_progress": 0}, "session": {"last_active": "", "last_active_files": [], "recent_decisions": [], "unresolved_todos": []}, "tech": {"test_framework": "", "test_conventions": "", "doc_style": ""}, "history": []}
7. Write graph.json with empty template: {"files": {}, "updated_at": ""}
8. Write decisions.json with empty template: []
9. Write learnings.json with empty template: []
10. Add .buff/memory/ to project .gitignore (project memory is machine-local)
11. Print: "Counterfeit v2 initialized. Intelligence engine active — preferences, patterns, and project graph will build as you work."