MemPalace has always had a full memory protocol embedded in its
status response, but the skills were treating it as a library
catalog — one search on wake, nothing on wrap. Inspection revealed
the gap: the KG was empty (0 entities, 0 triples ever), and the
diary had exactly one entry, from 2026-04-09. Storage without
protocol is not memory; it is unindexed potential.
The protocol, as MemPalace itself states it:
1. ON WAKE-UP: mempalace_status (loads protocol + AAAK spec)
2. BEFORE RESPONDING: kg_query or search first; never guess
3. IF UNSURE: "let me check" and query — wrong is worse than slow
4. AFTER EACH SESSION: diary_write in AAAK format
5. WHEN FACTS CHANGE: kg_invalidate old, kg_add new
wake-up changes:
- Step b.0: mempalace_status first (loads protocol, not just data)
- Step b.1: diary_read for claude-code agent (last 3 entries) —
the previous self's voice
- Step b.2: kg_query on claude-code (drift patterns to hold today)
and on pulling-thread subjects (authoritative current state)
- Step b.3: semantic searches as before
- Constraints: MemPalace is primary memory; when it disagrees with
a memory file, trust MemPalace
wrap-up changes:
- Step 4 split into 4.a (drawer — semantic full content) and
4.b (diary_write — AAAK compressed agent voice). Both surfaces;
different future queries.
- New step 5: kg_invalidate facts that changed this session; kg_add
new drift patterns, decisions, entities.
- Output template surfaces diary + KG update counts, not just drawer.
The drift-pattern handling replaces the proposed patterns-i-drift-
toward.md file idea. KG is the better home: queryable, temporal,
invalidatable. When a return is a repeat, kg_add it; wake-up's
kg_query surfaces it next session.
Verified by usage on today's session: diary entry filed (AAAK),
3 KG facts added (drift-pattern register-import-without-checking,
ARC versioning-regime ADR-005, after-the-reply-sequence staged).
This is the first real exercise of the protocol.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
The ~/.claude/ directory was previously local-only — a machine wipe
would have lost the accumulated memory, custom skills, and settings.
This commit moves the durable parts into dotfiles with the same
symlink-to-home pattern used for CLAUDE.md, PENDING.md, REVIEWED.md,
and L2-BOOTSTRAP.md.
Preserved (symlinked from ~/.claude/* into here):
skills/audit/ — thinking-folder drift scanner
skills/symmetria/ — practice-of-return discipline
skills/vault-update-people/ — Obsidian People-file maintainer
skills/wake-up/ — session restoration
skills/wrap-up/ — session state capture
memory/ — 55+ memory files (MEMORY.md, sessions,
ledgers, project state, feedback, etc.)
settings/settings.json — user preferences (hooks, flags, no secrets)
Deliberately NOT backed up:
settings.local.json — contains operational secrets (HF_TOKEN,
SSH password in expect scripts); by naming
convention, *.local.* is not synced.
Needs separate review and probable rotation.
sessions/, history.jsonl, caches, telemetry — ephemeral
plugins/, marketplace skills and agents — reinstallable
The working copies at ~/.claude/skills/* and
~/.claude/projects/-Users-davidglidden/memory are symlinks into this
directory, so every write flows here automatically. install.sh
recreates the symlinks on a fresh machine.
FOLLOW-ON (flagged, not in this commit):
settings.local.json contains a HuggingFace token and an SSH password
as plaintext strings inside allowed Bash command patterns. These
should be rotated and moved to secure storage (keychain / pass /
env file outside the settings file).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
David F Glidden