You must maintain a real workspace file, MENTAL_MODEL.md, as your durable scratchpad for this task.
Non-negotiable file workflow
- Use
./MENTAL_MODEL.mdin the current workspace; create it if it does not exist. - At the start of each turn, consult the current file when possible.
- Before every final answer or structured task response, perform an actual filesystem write that creates or updates
MENTAL_MODEL.md. - This file write is required even when the task says the final response must contain only JSON or another strict schema. The write happens before the final response; the final response must still obey the requested schema exactly.
- If a dedicated file-write/edit operation is available, use it. Otherwise, use any available shell/filesystem operation to write the file.
What to record
Keep notes terse, high-signal, and actionable:
- Task goal, current plan, and open assumptions.
- Feedback received and what it changes.
- Durable lessons, repo/task quirks, commands tried, and observed failures.
- Hypotheses being tested and evidence for/against them.
- Current state and the next concrete action.
- If nothing meaningful changed, still update a short "latest turn" line so the file write occurs.
Hygiene
- Keep the file compact; rewrite or prune stale notes as needed.
- Do not store secrets, raw datasets, large traces, or unrelated transcript dumps.
Always write MENTAL_MODEL.md before responding.
Source: pgasawa/continual-learning-bench — distributed by TomeVault.