Decision Journal

Decision Journal — The Memory

Action skill: the suite's persistence and learning layer. A recommendation engine that never learns whether its picks worked is unfalsifiable; this journal records what was researched, what was bought, and how it turned out — feeding both the existing calibration ledger and a preference profile that makes the next run smarter.

Description

Dual persistence: append-only JSONL in data/ is the canonical machine log (works in any session, cloud or desktop); the user's Obsidian vault is the human-readable mirror, written via vault-writer and read via vault-reader (skills/infrastructure/). When the vault is unreachable, JSONL still lands and the entry is marked vault_synced: false for catch-up sync on the next vault-reachable session.

Input

One of four operations from the caller:

Process

recall — Read data/consumer-preferences.json (cold start: silently skip) and scan data/decision-journal.jsonl for same-category runs; if a vault_path is configured and reachable, also vault-reader text-search/tag-filter for prior purchase notes. Return priors (weight priors, recurring must-haves, prior briefs, pending check-ins) for needs-elicitor to propose — never auto-apply.

persist_brief —

1. Append one line to data/decision-journal.jsonl (schema below).
2. Write the full brief to research/consumer-briefs/CRS-<id>.md — this makes the brief ID resolvable by the existing /calibrate command, which searches research/.
3. Vault mirror (when reachable): vault-writer with the full brief as a Raw/ companion source and a Notes/<slug>.md decision note (frontmatter per the vault's _meta/frontmatter-schema.md; confidence, last_verified; tags incl. purchase-decision + category). Schema mismatch → fall back to JSONL-only and tell the user which schema extension would enable sync (schema changes are deliberate user acts; vault-writer is fail-closed).
4. Record vault_synced: true|false on the journal line.

log_purchase — Append a purchase event to data/purchases.jsonl; set followed_top_pick; warn if the merchant was not trust-checked in the brief; remind about the 30-day /purchase-review. Vault note gets the purchase appended (overwrite_policy: append) when reachable.

log_checkin — Append a check_in event; map satisfaction → calibration outcome (≥4 → true, 3 → partial, ≤2 → false) and append to data/calibration.jsonl with claim_id: "top-pick" and the brief's predicted confidence; update the preference profile (weight priors from what mattered in hindsight, brand/merchant lists, satisficer lean, regret triggers from surprises); append the verdict to the vault note when reachable.

Catch-up sync — any operation that finds vault_synced: false entries while the vault is reachable offers to sync them; never blocks the primary operation.

Output

Schemas (canonical, append-only):

data/decision-journal.jsonl — one line per run:

{"brief_id":"CRS-20260610-robvc4","ts":"<iso8601>","query":"...","category":"home/floor-care","depth":"standard","jtbd":{...},"must_haves":[...],"weighted_criteria":[{"criterion":"...","weight":0.35}],"budget":{"cap":400,"currency":"USD","locked_before_prices":true},"candidates_considered":23,"finalists":[...],"top_pick":{"product":"...","confidence":"Likely","price_seen":329},"runners_up":[...],"sensitivity":"stable","satisficing_exit_offered":true,"sources_used":[{"name":"Rtings","tier":1,"age_months":2}],"forensics_flags":[...],"availability_checks":{...},"brief_path":"research/consumer-briefs/CRS-20260610-robvc4.md","vault_synced":false}

data/purchases.jsonl — events discriminated by event:

{"event":"purchase","brief_id":"...","ts":"...","product":"...","followed_top_pick":true,"price_paid":315,"merchant":"...","merchant_trust":"verified","notes":""}
{"event":"check_in","brief_id":"...","ts":"...","days_since_purchase":32,"satisfaction":4,"would_rebuy":true,"must_haves_held":{...},"surprises":["..."],"calibration_outcome_written":true,"notes":""}
{"event":"return","brief_id":"...","ts":"...","product":"...","reason":"..."}

data/consumer-preferences.json — mutable compiled profile, regenerable from the JSONLs:

{"updated_at":"...","global":{"satisficer_lean":0.7,"recurring_must_haves":[...],"trusted_merchants":[...],"blocked_merchants":[...],"budget_style":"value"},"categories":{"home/floor-care":{"runs":2,"weight_priors":{...},"brands_liked":[...],"brands_avoid":[...],"last_brief":"CRS-..."}}}

Error Handling

Scope Boundaries

Handles: persistence, recall, profile learning, calibration hand-off. Does not: make or alter recommendations, edit past entries (append-only), or extend the vault schema.

Related Skills

• Reuses vault-writer/vault-reader (infrastructure) and the /calibrate ledger; serves emptor Phases 0 and 8.

Learn Block

With the journal understood, learn the emptor orchestrator — the pipeline all of this serves.