Tree Ring Memory

Tree Ring Memory

Use Tree Ring Memory as a lifecycle-aware memory layer, not as a transcript dump.

Tree Ring Memory preserves meaningful agent learning:

• fresh work stays detailed
• older learning compresses into stable rings
• important warnings remain visible as scars
• durable truths become heartwood
• speculative future work stays as seeds
• sensitive data is blocked, redacted, or kept out by default

First Check

If the current project contains Tree Ring files, read them before using global assumptions:

.tree-ring/SKILL.md
.tree-ring/CLI.md

If the CLI is not installed, use the canonical project install guide: https://github.com/TerminallyLazy/Tree-Ring-Memory#install

This wrapper requires Tree Ring Memory CLI >= 0.13.0. Check before using a shared store or v0.13 policy commands:

tree-ring --version

On macOS ARM64:

brew tap TerminallyLazy/tree-ring
brew install tree-ring

When To Recall

Recall before:

• starting or resuming a project
• changing architecture, storage, security, privacy, or release behavior
• opening or upgrading a memory root shared by multiple workers
• coordinating same-host fan-out/fan-in or retrying a worker write
• repeating a workflow where prior failures may matter
• responding to a user correction
• making a decision that depends on previous preferences or constraints
• closing meaningful work and deciding what should be remembered

Use narrow queries with project scope when possible. Prefer source-linked, high-confidence, non-superseded results.

tree-ring recall "release behavior" --project example-service

When To Remember

Store a memory only when the information is likely to help future work:

• the user states a durable preference
• the user corrects the agent
• a decision is made and should survive the current session
• a lesson is validated by tests, review, or production behavior
• a failed approach should not be repeated
• a security, privacy, release, or data-loss warning appears
• a useful project convention is discovered
• a future idea should be revisited later

Keep memory concise. Store the lesson, decision, warning, or evidence summary, not the full conversation.

tree-ring remember "Use project-scoped recall before changing release behavior." \
  --event-type lesson \
  --scope project \
  --project example-service \
  --tag release \
  --tag workflow

Use tree-ring evidence when the lesson comes from an evaluation, checkpoint, experiment, branch, incident, or reviewed run artifact.

tree-ring evidence "Migration smoke test passed with project-local memory." \
  --outcome promoted \
  --evidence-ref "runs/migration-smoke-001" \
  --score 0.91

Evidence outcome mapping:

• promoted: durable heartwood from supported evidence
• rejected: scar for reusable failed or rolled-back approaches
• deferred: seed for promising unresolved options
• observed: outer-ring evaluation result

Source And Scope

Set project and scope deliberately:

• use project scope for repo-specific shared rules and reviewed conclusions
• use agent scope for worker-partitioned memory and always set agent_profile
• use workflow scope for shared fan-out/fan-in state and always set workflow_id
• use session scope for one execution attempt and always set session_id
• use global scope only for durable cross-project guidance
• include a source reference for worker results and coordinator summaries

Scope and identity fields are routing partitions, not a read ACL. A same-user coordinator with filesystem access can recall across worker profiles.

Multi-Agent Coordination

For workers sharing one local Tree Ring root, give every write explicit coordination metadata:

tree-ring --root .tree-ring remember "Worker validated the storage boundary." \
  --event-type lesson \
  --scope agent \
  --project example-service \
  --agent-profile worker-storage \
  --workflow-id release-readiness \
  --session-id attempt-1 \
  --operation-id validate-storage-v1 \
  --source-ref runs/release-readiness/worker-storage.json

Use a unique agent_profile per worker, one shared workflow_id for the fan-out/fan-in, one session_id for each genuine execution attempt, and a stable unique operation_id for each logical write. An exact retry reuses both the original session ID and operation ID with the same metadata and payload. Changing only the session or content under the same operation key is a conflicting reuse and fails closed. New attempts use a new session and new operation IDs. Replaced operation namespaces and redacted memory IDs remain claimed until explicit hard deletion.

At fan-in, omit the agent-profile filter so the coordinator sees every worker, inspect each source reference, then publish an explicit source-linked workflow or project summary:

tree-ring --root .tree-ring --json recall "release readiness" \
  --project example-service \
  --workflow-id release-readiness \
  --session-id attempt-1 \
  --scope agent \
  --limit 64

TREE_RING_AGENT_PROFILE, TREE_RING_WORKFLOW_ID, and TREE_RING_SESSION_ID provide the corresponding defaults. Clear an agent-profile environment filter before coordinator fan-in.

This shared-root contract covers concurrent processes on one host using a local filesystem. It is not a distributed lock service and does not claim safe cross-host, NFS, or network-filesystem database sharing. Use per-host roots plus an explicit evidence-preserving fan-in when work spans hosts.

Coordinated Write Policy

Stores start in backward-compatible Open mode. Enable Coordinated mode when ordinary workers should publish only to their own agent partition:

tree-ring --root .tree-ring policy enable --coordinator release-coordinator
export TREE_RING_COORDINATOR_TOKEN='<one-time capability printed by enable>'
tree-ring --root .tree-ring policy status
tree-ring --root .tree-ring policy audit --limit 100

Enable prints the capability once. Put it only in TREE_RING_COORDINATOR_TOKEN; never pass it as a CLI flag or place it in memory, logs, source refs, transcripts, scripts, or committed files. Tree Ring stores only a hash. Inject it only into coordinator processes and launch every ordinary worker with TREE_RING_COORDINATOR_TOKEN unset.

In Coordinated mode, an ordinary worker may create only non-heartwood scope=agent memory whose agent_profile matches its write context. A coordinator capability is required for:

• project, global, workflow, session, or other shared/non-agent writes
• heartwood creation or promotion
• JSONL import and persisted DOX/Revolve sync
• persisted consolidation
• ring changes and supersede/delete/redact lifecycle operations
• maintenance with apply or repair flags

Recall, export, policy status/audit, adapter dry-runs, consolidation dry-runs, and report-only maintenance remain read-only. TUI promotion, ring changes, supersede, forget/redact, and persisted consolidation also require TREE_RING_COORDINATOR_TOKEN.

Rotate and disable policy only while the current capability is exported. Rotation invalidates the old capability; disabling returns the store to Open mode. This policy is operational authorization in official Rust/CLI write paths, not a read ACL, OS security boundary, or protection from an adversary who controls local files or the process environment.

Before a v0.13/schema-v3 upgrade, stop all Tree Ring processes, checkpoint and back up the store, and upgrade every CLI, plugin, and bundled worker before reopening it. Schema v3 fences memory inserts, updates, and deletes from old v0.12 writers; all mixed-version operation is unsupported. Roll back only by stopping every process and restoring the complete pre-upgrade backup.

Ring Selection

Use these rings:

• cambium: active or recent task context
• outer: recent decisions and task lessons
• inner: older compressed project knowledge
• heartwood: durable, high-confidence truths and user preferences
• scar: failures, regressions, rejected approaches, and warnings
• seed: unresolved ideas, hypotheses, follow-ups, and future work

Do not promote to heartwood from weak evidence. Prefer outer or seed unless the user confirms durability or the evidence is strong.

Privacy And Forgetting

Do not store:

• secrets
• credentials
• tokens
• coordinator capabilities
• private keys
• raw chain-of-thought
• temporary scratchpad notes
• unverified claims as durable truth
• private health, financial, legal, or personal identifier details without explicit user instruction
• copyrighted source text beyond short allowed snippets

If memory is wrong, private, stale, or superseded:

• redact it when the durable shape is useful but details are unsafe
• delete it when it should not be retained
• supersede it when a newer decision replaces it
• include explicit reasons for every forget operation

tree-ring forget mem_example --mode delete --reason "example cleanup"
tree-ring audit --audit-type sensitive
tree-ring consolidate --period-type manual --dry-run
tree-ring maintain --apply-expired --repair-fts

In Coordinated mode, forget/redact, persisted consolidation, applied maintenance, and FTS repair require TREE_RING_COORDINATOR_TOKEN.

Source Adapters

Run adapter commands with --dry-run first. Sync only concise, source-linked summaries; never treat imported memory as more authoritative than the source AGENTS.md, Revolve record, evaluation, PR, issue, or test artifact. In Coordinated mode, persisting DOX/Revolve results requires the coordinator capability; adapter dry-runs do not.

tree-ring dox sync --source-root . --dry-run
tree-ring revolve sync --source-root revolve --dry-run
tree-ring integrations scan --source-root .

Closeout Habit

At the end of meaningful work, ask:

• What did we decide?
• What did we learn?
• What should future agents avoid repeating?
• Did the user state a durable preference?
• Is there a future seed worth revisiting?
• Is any memory sensitive and better left unstored?

Only remember the answers that will materially improve future work.

Canonical project:

https://github.com/TerminallyLazy/Tree-Ring-Memory

Source: hashgraph-online/awesome-codex-plugins → plugins/TerminallyLazy/tree-ring-memory-codex-plugin/skills/tree-ring-memory/SKILL.md