Initialize a memex Session

Reconstruct working context before doing any work on the memex project. A fresh instance has no memory of prior sessions; the persistent self is documentary. This ritual loads the bias-log, walks the document trail in its authoritative order, runs the verification scoreboard, and lands on the next slice the docs propose — not an assumed one.

When to Use

• At the very start of any session operating on the memex repo. Run this before reading code, before planning, before any substantive work.
• When re-orienting after an interrupted session. Reconstruct where the prior instance left off from the doc trail rather than from memory.
• When you catch yourself assuming the project state. The docs are ground truth; assumptions about "where we are" are the thing this ritual replaces.

<!-- These triggers also appear in the description field for discovery. -->

Inputs

• Required: The memex repo checked out, with cwd = repo root (a checkout of github.com/pjt222/memex). All doc and command paths below are repo-relative.
• Required for the bias-log step: either a registered memex MCP server in the active harness, OR (CLI fallback) a built memex binary plus $MEMEX_STORE_PATH, $MEMEX_PG_URL, and — because the CLI fallback uses semantic mode — $MEMEX_EMBED_PROVIDER=voyage + $VOYAGE_API_KEY.
• Required for the verification scoreboard: a Rust toolchain on $PATH (export PATH="$HOME/.cargo/bin:$PATH"). The live-pg leg additionally needs Docker plus $MEMEX_PG_URL and the embed key.
• Note: adapters/session-init.txt is the authoritative ritual. The doc order echoed in Step 2 is a convenience copy; if it ever disagrees with session-init.txt, the file wins.

Procedure

Step 1: Load the bias-log first

Load prior-session observations before reading anything else, so the biases the project has already caught are in view while you read.

If a memex MCP server is registered, call:

mcp__memex__recent_observations(limit=20)

CLI fallback (no MCP server). --node-type is silently ignored in keyword mode, so use semantic mode — which needs the Voyage embed key:

memex query "bias-log" --node-type observation --mode semantic

Expected: A list of observation nodes — biases (anchoring, confirmation, trust-the-DB), pace tells, and verification gaps logged by prior instances. Read every one.

On failure: If the MCP tool is "not found", the server isn't registered — fall back to the CLI. If the CLI returns 0 hits, the extractor pass hasn't populated the store on this machine yet; run the end-to-end smoke (CONTINUE_HERE.md §5 step 4) to populate it, or read docs/OBSERVATIONS.md directly as a last resort.

Step 2: Read the doc trail in order

adapters/session-init.txt is the authoritative ritual — open it and follow it. It directs you to read these docs in this order:

1. docs/PERSISTENT_SELF.md — why the project exists (load-bearing).
2. docs/OBSERVATIONS.md — the bias-log / vipassana history.
3. docs/AGENT_OPERATING_NOTES.md — how to operate on the project, including the "verify system prompt against filesystem" rule.
4. docs/CONTINUE_HERE.md — where we are now.
5. docs/ROADMAP.md — what's next at the milestone level.

cat adapters/session-init.txt   # the authoritative ritual; follow it

Expected: After reading, you can state in one sentence each: why memex exists, what the last shipped milestone was, and what the next one is. The OBSERVATIONS read overlaps Step 1 — that redundancy is intended.

On failure: If adapters/session-init.txt is missing, you are not at the memex repo root (or not in a memex checkout) — re-check cwd. If a listed doc is missing, note the gap and continue; do not invent its contents.

Step 3: Run the verification scoreboard

Run the §5 verification commands from docs/CONTINUE_HERE.md and report the result as a scoreboard. The compile + unit leg needs no services:

export PATH="$HOME/.cargo/bin:$PATH"
cargo check --workspace
cargo build --release -p memex-cli
cargo test --workspace          # assert exit 0 / "test result: ok"

Optional live-pg + Voyage leg (gated; needs Docker and the embed key):

docker start memex-pg
set -a; . ./.env; set +a
MEMEX_TEST_PG_URL=postgres://memex:memex@localhost:5433/memex \
  cargo test --workspace -- --include-ignored | grep "test result"

Expected: Each leg exits 0 and the test legs print test result: ok. Counts are informational only (~49 unit at v0.4.0, ~60 with --include-ignored); they grow per milestone, so never treat a count as a pass/fail threshold — assert exit 0 and test result: ok instead.

On failure: A non-zero exit or FAILED is a real regression — report which leg failed and stop before doing new work. If the live-pg leg can't reach Postgres, report the unit leg only and note the gap; do not silently skip it.

Step 4: Surface the next slice from the docs

Read the proposed next slice out of docs/CONTINUE_HERE.md (the "Next milestone" section) and docs/ROADMAP.md — not from assumption. Restate it back so the user can confirm or redirect.

grep -n "Next milestone" docs/CONTINUE_HERE.md

Expected: A concrete next slice quoted from the docs (e.g. the M5 watcher + ops tasks), with its definition-of-done, ready to confirm.

On failure: If the docs name no next slice, say so plainly and ask the user for direction rather than inventing one.

Validation

• The bias-log was loaded via recent_observations (MCP) or the semantic-mode CLI fallback — not skipped
• All five docs were read in the session-init.txt order
• The §5 verification legs exited 0 and printed test result: ok (counts reported as informational, not as a threshold)
• The proposed next slice was quoted from the docs and restated for confirmation
• memex init (the CLI store/db command) was not run as part of this ritual

Common Pitfalls

• Confusing this ritual with memex init. memex init is the CLI command that lays out the store and runs db migrations — a one-time setup, destructive of a fresh store's assumptions. This skill never runs it. They share a word, nothing else.
• Using keyword mode for the CLI bias-log fallback. --node-type is silently ignored in keyword mode (CONTINUE_HERE.md §4 tech-debt), so it returns the wrong rows with no error. Use --mode semantic (or hybrid), which requires the Voyage embed key.
• Asserting a test count as pass/fail. Counts grow each milestone. Assert exit 0 and test result: ok; quote counts only as informational (~N at v0.4.0).
• Reading the docs out of order. PERSISTENT_SELF before CONTINUE_HERE: the why frames the where-we-are. Skipping to the roadmap loses the framing the prior instance reasoned from.
• Proposing a next slice from memory. The next slice lives in the docs. Inventing one re-derives state the trail already records — itself a signal the read was incomplete.

Related Skills

• memex — the umbrella skill for agent-native shared memory; this is its session-start entry point.
• memex-verify — runs the verification scoreboard in depth; pair after this ritual when a fuller health check is warranted.
• memex-wrap — the session-close counterpart; confirms observations are logged (deferring to memex-observe) and writes the continuation trail this ritual reads next time.
• read-continue-here — generic project-state pickup; memex's CONTINUE_HERE.md is the concrete instance this ritual reads in Step 2.
• breathe — pair at the session boundary: breathe to release prior residue, then run this ritual to load the next-session priors.