session 2026-07-06: MEMORY.md two-file compaction (213→17KB) + self-bounding wiring (/wrap-up §3 demote-on-promote, /wake-up §2.a load-gate); skill-harvest closures; Olson graduation-state note

claude/skills/wake-up/SKILL.md

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ description: Restore full session context and continuity from MemPalace, memory
 proactive: session-start
 ---
 
-<!-- Provenance: 2026-05-18 S-cluster thread-gate + b.4 (REVIEWED-25/26); 2026-05-26 chaîne-d'union clasp + b.0.5 lineage-glance; 2026-05-27 skill-harvest glance, §2.a + §3 (PENDING-23); 2026-06-05 §2.c dotfiles push-check (steward-authorized; paired with wrap-up §6.5 commit+push). Improvements harvested per /wrap-up §1.6. -->
+<!-- Provenance: 2026-05-18 S-cluster thread-gate + b.4 (REVIEWED-25/26); 2026-05-26 chaîne-d'union clasp + b.0.5 lineage-glance; 2026-05-27 skill-harvest glance, §2.a + §3 (PENDING-23); 2026-06-05 §2.c dotfiles push-check (steward-authorized; paired with wrap-up §6.5 commit+push); 2026-07-06 §2.a two-file split + load-integrity gate (MEMORY.md live / MEMORY-reference.md history; steward-authorized). Improvements harvested per /wrap-up §1.6. -->
 
 # Session Wake-Up
 
@@ -57,7 +57,8 @@ If the previous wrap was within the last hour, this is more like a brief pause t
 Run these in parallel to minimize latency:
 
 **a. Claude Code memory files**
-- Read `~/.claude/projects/-Users-davidglidden/memory/MEMORY.md` (the index)
+- Read `~/.claude/projects/-Users-davidglidden/memory/MEMORY.md` (the wake-loaded live index: Standing preferences · Canonical Trackers · Active Session · pointers). Historical/reference material lives in `MEMORY-reference.md` — do **not** load it at wake; consult on demand only if the thread needs it. <!-- 2026-07-06: two-file split (live index / reference), steward-authorized; paired with wrap-up §3 demote-on-promote. -->
+- **Load-integrity gate (self-bounding backstop):** if the harness reports MEMORY.md was truncated / only-partially-loaded (a "MEMORY.md is N KB, only part was loaded" warning), that is a **budget breach** — the wake is not seeing the whole index. Flag it loudly in the briefing and trim the index (relocate the least-wake-critical section to `MEMORY-reference.md`, back up first) before proceeding. A silently-truncated index reads as "complete" when it isn't — the exact failure the split exists to prevent.
 - Read the Active Session memory file referenced there — **specifically extract the pulling thread + literal question + open horizons + any skill-harvest proposals left unauthorized**
 - Read `skill-harvest-register.md` directly — the canonical surface for open skill proposals (wrap §1.6 appends there); surface any awaiting steward authorization <!-- 2026-06-05: register wiring, authorized 2026-05-29, applied with wrap-up §1.6 counterpart -->
 - Read `~/.claude/projects/-Users-davidglidden/memory/session-ledger-[previous-date].md` if it exists — **specifically read the "Returns" and "Confidence to recalibrate" sections** for mood signal

claude/skills/wrap-up/SKILL.md

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ name: wrap-up
 description: Capture session state for future restoration. The quality of the next wake-up depends entirely on the quality of this wrap-up. Captures not just what we did but what is still pulling, what is the live concern, and what question we want to find still open when we return.
 ---
 
-<!-- Provenance: 2026-05-18 S-cluster §8 fields (REVIEWED-24); 2026-05-26 chaîne-d'union clasp + actionable-resumption-point; 2026-05-27 §1.6 skill-harvest step (PENDING-23); 2026-06-02 §4.0 MemPalace liveness-check before write (steward-authorized; #1495 cold-start drop resilience); 2026-06-05 §6.5 dotfiles session-state commit+push (steward-authorized; paired with wake-up §2.c check); 2026-07-05 §1.6 CLAUDE.md-freshness check (steward-authorized). Improvements to this skill are themselves harvested per §1.6 — propose, authorize, record here. -->
+<!-- Provenance: 2026-05-18 S-cluster §8 fields (REVIEWED-24); 2026-05-26 chaîne-d'union clasp + actionable-resumption-point; 2026-05-27 §1.6 skill-harvest step (PENDING-23); 2026-06-02 §4.0 MemPalace liveness-check before write (steward-authorized; #1495 cold-start drop resilience); 2026-06-05 §6.5 dotfiles session-state commit+push (steward-authorized; paired with wake-up §2.c check); 2026-07-05 §1.6 CLAUDE.md-freshness check (steward-authorized); 2026-07-06 §3 two-file self-bounding index (MEMORY.md live / MEMORY-reference.md history; demote-on-promote; steward-authorized). Improvements to this skill are themselves harvested per §1.6 — propose, authorize, record here. -->
 
 # Session Wrap-Up
 
@@ -101,12 +101,15 @@ The description field should include the pulling thread, not just what happened.
 - ❌ "Closed five bottleneck issues; substrate validated."
 - ✓ "Substrate validated end-to-end; pulling thread is the L1 amendments for ProjectionChain + Pause-as-event, awaiting Seb's reactions to the multi-mode retention frame."
 
-### 3. Update MEMORY.md index
+### 3. Update MEMORY.md index (self-bounding — two-file architecture)
 
-- Move any previous "Active Session" entry to "Archived Sessions"
-- Add the new session file as the Active Session entry
-- Update any other memory entries that changed during the session (project state, new decisions, new feedback)
-- Remove or update any entries that are now stale
+**MEMORY.md is the wake-loaded live index; it has a hard size budget (well under the harness load ceiling — the loader truncates a too-large file silently, so a breach means the wake stops seeing the whole index). `MEMORY-reference.md` is the consult-on-demand history + reference layer. Keep the live index lean by *demoting on promote* — the discipline that stops the file re-bloating (relocated 285→157KB 2026-06-08 which did NOT hold; re-split 213→~16KB 2026-07-06 with this rule wired in).** <!-- 2026-07-06: two-file split + self-bounding demote-on-promote, steward-authorized (the recurrence-killer for the MEMORY.md re-bloat class). -->
+
+- **Demote the prior Active Session in the same move as promoting the new one** — cut the previous "Active Session" entry out of `MEMORY.md` and paste it (verbatim) at the top of the archived-sessions run in `MEMORY-reference.md`. Never leave two Active Session entries; never let archived pointers accumulate in `MEMORY.md`.
+- Add the new session file as the single Active Session entry in `MEMORY.md`.
+- **Keep Canonical Workstream Trackers as crisp one-line pointers** — chronological/session detail belongs in the linked tracker *files* (e.g. `project-arc-rework.md`), never inlined here. If a tracker entry has grown past ~1–2 lines, that prose has drifted from its file: reconcile it into the tracker file, then re-slim the index entry.
+- Update any other live entries that changed (Standing preferences, tracker status one-liners). Stable reference (steward profile, project inventories, legacy pending-work) lives in `MEMORY-reference.md` — update it there, not here.
+- **Budget check before finishing:** `wc -c MEMORY.md`. If it is near/over the ceiling, the fix is *relocation, not deletion* — move the least-wake-critical section to `MEMORY-reference.md` (back up first). A separate pruning pass may trim genuinely-dead content in the reference file; that is not this step.
 
 ### 4. File to MemPalace — two surfaces, different purposes