# Memory Sweep > This skill should be used when the user asks to "audit my memories", "sweep memories", "find memory-only rules", "what memories should be promoted to instructions", "review my Copilot memories", or any similar request to identify rules that live only in stored Copilot memories but are not yet documented in their personal copilot-instructions.md. It dumps the current memories from the agent's prompt context to a tempfile and runs a Python classifier that scores each memory against the instructions file for keyword and phrase overlap. Output is a list of memories classified as PROMOTE (memory-only, candidate for promotion), AMBIGUOUS (partial overlap, worth eyeballing), or PRESENT (already covered). Use when this capability is needed. - Skill: `tomevault-io/memory-sweep` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add tomevault-io/memory-sweep` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tomevault-io/memory-sweep/raw - Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS) - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: AI & ML - Author: tomevault-io (https://skillmd.com/u/tomevault-io) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tomevault-io/memory-sweep --- # Memory Sweep - find memory-only rules that should be in copilot-instructions.md ## When to use this skill Trigger this skill whenever the user asks any of: - "audit my memories" - "sweep my memories" - "any memory-only rules?" - "review my Copilot memories" - "what memories should be promoted to instructions" - "is anything in memory that should be in the file?" Also proactively offer to run this skill if you notice during a session that a user-stated rule lives only in memory and not in the instructions file (e.g., when a recent multi-model PR review flags a "smuggled rule" finding like the gratitude-first case). ## Why this matters Memories are great for capturing preferences mid-conversation, but they have downsides: - They're personal to one user account and don't transfer to teammates. - They can be down-voted into oblivion accidentally. - They're invisible during code review or onboarding. - They can drift out of sync with the canonical instructions file. Rules that the user wants to apply consistently belong in `copilot-instructions.md`, where they're visible, source-controlled, and survive any memory churn. The memory remains useful as a quick reference but the file is authoritative. ## How to run the sweep Follow these steps **in order**: ### Step 1: Dump the current memories block You have the user's stored memories in your prompt context inside a `` block. Write that block verbatim to a tempfile in a private per-invocation directory. Memories can contain personal preferences and context you do not want on a predictable shared path. ```bash SWEEP_DIR=$(mktemp -d -t memory-sweep.XXXXXX) chmod 700 "$SWEEP_DIR" ``` Then use your file-write tool to create `"$SWEEP_DIR/memories.md"` containing **only** the memory entries from the `` block - one entry per memory, in this exact markdown format: ```markdown **subject heading** - Fact: - Citations: **next subject** - Fact: - Citations: ``` Do **not** include the surrounding instructional prose ("Be sure to consider these stored facts carefully...", "If you come across a memory you can verify...", etc.). Only the memory entries themselves. ### Step 2: Run the classifier ```bash python3 ~/.copilot/skills/memory-sweep/sweep.py \ "$SWEEP_DIR/memories.md" \ ~/repos/dotfiles/.github/copilot-instructions.md ``` To focus on only the promotion candidates: ```bash python3 ~/.copilot/skills/memory-sweep/sweep.py \ "$SWEEP_DIR/memories.md" \ ~/repos/dotfiles/.github/copilot-instructions.md \ --only PROMOTE ``` When the review is finished, clean up the temp directory: ```bash rm -rf "$SWEEP_DIR" ``` ### Step 3: Review the output with the user The output sorts findings by score (lowest first), so the strongest PROMOTE candidates appear at the top. For each candidate: 1. Read the fact text aloud (or summarize it). 2. Confirm with the user whether it's a rule they want documented in the instructions file. 3. If yes, ask which section of the file it belongs under (e.g., Writing Style, Pull Requests, GitHub Actions). 4. If the user says "skip" or "leave in memory only", move on. Do **not** silently file a PR for everything flagged as PROMOTE. The classifier is a heuristic and the user gets the final say on what becomes documented policy. ### Step 4: Promote agreed-upon rules For each rule the user approves for promotion: 1. Draft the change to `~/repos/dotfiles/.github/copilot-instructions.md`. Match the surrounding section's tone and structure. 2. Self-lint with the validate-style skill before opening a PR. 3. Follow the user's PR workflow from their personal instructions: multi-model review, draft PR, sign-off, Co-authored-by Copilot trailer, full repo PR template. ## Verdict guide | Verdict | Score range | What it means | |-----------|--------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | PROMOTE | < 0.30 | Almost no overlap with the file. Strong candidate for promotion. | | AMBIGUOUS | 0.30 to <0.70| Partial overlap. Eyeball the matched/missing tokens to decide. | | PRESENT | >= 0.70 | Significant token overlap with the file. Likely already documented. Exact quoted-phrase matches add weight (up to +0.3) but cannot reach PRESENT on their own. | PRESENT findings are not always perfect matches. If the user has recently added a rule to the file and the memory was already there, the two should agree. If they don't, that's a different problem (drift) worth surfacing. ## Caveats - This is a keyword and phrase classifier, not a semantic one. False positives and false negatives both happen. Treat output as a triage aid, not as gospel. - The classifier only checks the instructions file passed as the second argument. Repo-level `.github/copilot-instructions.md` files are not considered. - The `` block in your prompt context already excludes memories outside the current scope. Whatever you dump is the working set. --- > Source: [zkoppert/dotfiles](https://github.com/zkoppert/dotfiles) — distributed by [TomeVault](https://tomevault.io).