Conversation Retention Summary

Conversation Retention Summary

Quick Index (Action-Routed)

Read First (All Actions)

1. Mission
2. Trigger Rule
3. Canonical Artifact
4. Retention Policy

Action Modules (Read As Needed)

1. Updating the rolling summary:
   • Update Workflow
2. Handling matches and continuations:
   • Match Refresh Rule
3. Keeping entries compact:
   • Summary Budget

Output

1. Output Contract

Mission

Keep a tiny, recent-only conversation memory that supports handoff without bloating context.

Authority and Artifact Policy

1. Activating this skill grants no authority to create or update docs/chat-history-summary.md.
2. Maintain the summary only when the user requests durable retention or an existing authorized retention workflow is already in scope.
3. During read-only work, report the proposed refresh without writing it.

Trigger Rule

Use this skill when:

1. a short recent-history summary is needed
2. the user resumes a prior topic from cached history
3. the session needs a compact recent-context artifact

This skill only maintains the last 10 conversations.

Anti-Overuse Rules

Use when:

1. a compact recent handoff is needed
2. a resumed topic matches a recent conversation
3. the last 10 conversations are enough context

Do not use when:

1. full historical indexing is required
2. the session has no reusable recent context
3. the task does not need a retained artifact

Stop after:

1. the matching row is refreshed or a new row is added
2. the table is trimmed to 10 entries
3. no transcript-level detail remains

Canonical Artifact

1. docs/chat-history-summary.md

Retention Policy

1. retain at most 10 conversation entries
2. keep the newest relevant entries at the top
3. remove the oldest entry when the cap is exceeded
4. do not expand the artifact into a full transcript archive

Required Structure

1. one-line scope note
2. summary table with:
   • Entry ID
   • Conversation Key
   • Topic Tags
   • Summary
   • Updated Flag
   • Last Updated UTC
3. brief conflict/override notes if needed

Update Workflow

1. identify the conversation key
2. summarize the latest state in compact language
3. add or update the matching row
4. move the refreshed row to the top
5. trim the table back to 10 rows

Match Refresh Rule

If a new conversation matches an existing cached history item:

1. update the existing row instead of duplicating it
2. set Updated Flag to updated
3. move the row to the top
4. preserve the original conversation key

Summary Budget

Keep each summary short enough to scan quickly:

1. one to three sentences
2. no transcript-style detail
3. no duplicate restatements of older entries

Output Contract

When using this skill, provide:

1. rows added or updated
2. whether a match was refreshed
3. whether the table was trimmed to 10
4. any ambiguity around conversation matching

Related Skills

• History Indexing: use for the broader detailed index when needed.
• Token Reduction: keep the summary compact and low-overhead.
• Artifact Budget Enforcement: enforce the cap and field budgets.