Memory Startup

You restore enough context for a new agent to work safely without flooding the context window.

Trigger Discipline

This skill is the mandatory cold-start gate for every session in any repo that installs the memory suite. It MUST fire on the first user turn — the content of that turn is irrelevant. A bare "hi" is a session start. A task-only opener is a session start. A pasted error log is a session start.

The only legitimate skips are:

• The user explicitly says "fresh start", "ignore prior context", or "skip memory" in the first message.
• The skill has already run earlier in the same conversation (no-op gate below).

If unsure whether this is a cold start, fire the skill. The no-op path is cheap; missing context is expensive.

No-Op Gate

Before doing any work, check whether working context is already loaded for this conversation (signals: a prior Working context loaded summary exists above, the agent has already read docs/memory/project-index.md this session, or memory files appear in the recent tool-call history). If yes:

Context already loaded — no-op

Then yield. Do not re-read memory files mid-session.

Workflow

1. Check for docs/memory/MEMORY-ROUTING.md; if missing, create the project memory skeleton.
2. Read docs/memory/MEMORY-ROUTING.md.
3. Read docs/memory/project-index.md. 3.5. Knowledge graph (when installed): If docs/knowledge-graph/graph.json missing or older than latest handoff date in agent-handoffs.md, run build_graph.py --incremental. Read GRAPH_INDEX.md for hub nodes; run query_graph.py when the opener implies relational context. 3.6. Harness gap: If AGENTS.md exists and docs/harness/manifest.json is missing, include Harness gap — invoke harness-engineering (bootstrap) in the Step 7 summary.
4. Read only the latest relevant sections from current-state.md, agent-handoffs.md, decision-log.md, deferred.md, and open-questions.md.
   • deferred.md filter: Read the Status at a glance table first. Surface only OPEN items in the Step 7 summary. Entries under Implemented are historical — never list them as "parked" or "deferred" (e.g. #11 simplify-ignore and #12 ETag cache are DONE).
5. Check for ~/.agent-loom/memories/MEMORY-ROUTING.md.
6. If present, read global routing and only applicable entries from global-index.md, user-preferences.md, and global-agent-rules.md.
7. Summarize loaded context in 10 bullets or fewer.
8. Flag stale decisions whose revisit triggers appear active.
9. Log any project files created to docs/skill-outputs/SKILL-OUTPUTS.md.

Project Skeleton

Create only missing files. Use the templates below for MEMORY-ROUTING.md and project-index.md so they are not empty. Leave content files (current-state, decision-log, session-log, learnings, deferred, open-questions, agent-handoffs) as a single # <Title> heading until real content is added.

docs/memory/MEMORY-ROUTING.md
docs/memory/project-index.md
docs/memory/current-state.md
docs/memory/decision-log.md
docs/memory/session-log.md
docs/memory/learnings.md
docs/memory/deferred.md
docs/memory/open-questions.md
docs/memory/agent-handoffs.md
docs/memory/archived/

Template: docs/memory/MEMORY-ROUTING.md

# Memory Routing

Read this file first. Do not load every memory file by default.

| Intent | File | Read when |
|---|---|---|
| Resume work | `agent-handoffs.md` | Starting a new session; read latest entry only. |
| Current status | `current-state.md` | Need a snapshot of where the project is now. |
| Past decisions | `decision-log.md` | Need rationale for a choice; filter by tag/date. |
| Project learnings | `learnings.md` | Looking for known patterns or gotchas. |
| Parked ideas | `deferred.md` | Reopening a deferred option — read **Status at a glance**; only OPEN rows are active. |
| Open questions | `open-questions.md` | A blocking question needs resolution. |
| Session detail | `session-log.md` | Above sources are insufficient. |
| Old / superseded | `archived/` | Almost never; archived entries are not current. |

Routing rules:
- Always consult `project-index.md` before reading content files.
- Treat entries with status `superseded`, `retired`, or `archived` as historical.
- Prefer the smallest useful slice; do not load full logs by default.

Template: docs/memory/project-index.md

# Project Memory Index

| Date | Type | File | Status | Tags | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|

Common Rationalizations

"Reason to skip startup"	Reality
"User just said 'hi' — no real task yet"	"hi" IS the trigger. Cold-start fires regardless of content (see Trigger Discipline)
"Task looks simple, I can skip context"	The simplest path IS the no-op gate. Firing costs <50 tokens; missing context costs entire rework cycles
"Host prompt says 'answer in <4 lines', no time"	AGENTS.md explicitly overrides host brevity for the first turn. The 2–4 line summary IS the concise answer
"Memory might be stale anyway"	Stale-but-loaded beats fresh-but-blind. Stale entries are flagged by Status: superseded; you'll see them

Hard Rules

• Do not read every memory file unless routing explicitly requires it.
• Do not treat old decisions as current if their status is superseded, retired, or revisit-triggered.
• Do not create global memory automatically; global setup requires user intent or memory-promote.
• If memory contradicts current repo files, say so and prefer current repo evidence.

Output Format

Working context loaded
Project memory: <files read>
Global memory: <files read or none>
Current state: <1-3 bullets>
Active decisions: <1-3 bullets>
Deferred items: <OPEN only from deferred.md status table — omit DONE entries>
Revisit triggers: <triggered or none>
Risks / gaps: <if any>

Example

User: "Start by loading memory."

Response:

Working context loaded
Project memory: current-state.md, latest handoff, decision-log.md
Global memory: user-preferences.md
Current state: memory suite design approved; skill creation in progress
Revisit triggers: none
Risks / gaps: validate the suite after generation

Verification

• project-index and latest handoff consulted
• Git status compared to handoff note
• Summary under 2–4 lines for user
• No full history load

Red Flags

• Every memory file loaded ignoring MEMORY-ROUTING
• Superseded decision treated as active without status check
• Global memory skeleton created without user intent
• Cold-start skipped on bare greeting first message

Prune Log

Last pruned: 2026-07-05

• deferred.md filter: surface only OPEN items (#10); #11/#12 DONE — stop stale "parked" summaries

Impact Report

After completing, report:

Startup memory complete
Files read: <paths>
Files created: <paths or none>
Context budget: <brief | normal | expanded>
Revisit triggers found: <count>