# echo-memory — v0.5

Persistent memory for Claude / CoWork sessions via the **ECHO** Obsidian vault, driven over the [Obsidian Local REST API](https://github.com/coddingtonbear/obsidian-local-rest-api). No MCP server — the skill makes direct REST calls.

Built for **Jason Stedwell** (Director of Technical Services / Systems Engineer, MPM / ALABAMA wISP), who is both the **operator** and the **architect** of this vault. This is a personal plugin, not for distribution.

This repository (`jason/echo-v.05`) holds the **v0.5 source** of the plugin: the tracked source tree at `echo-memory.plugin.src/` and the built `echo-memory.plugin` package artifact rebuilt from it on each version bump.

---

## Core design principle — the plugin is the single source of truth

Everything that defines how ECHO behaves — bootstrap/repair logic, the operating contract, the taxonomy, frontmatter conventions, the routing map, and the canonical note templates — ships **inside the plugin** under `skills/echo-memory/`.

The vault itself holds **data only**. There are no `CLAUDE.md` / `BOOTSTRAP.md` / `STRUCTURE.md` / `index.md` control docs in it. The single in-vault control artifact is a one-line marker, `_agent/echo-vault.md`, that records the schema version.

Three consequences follow:

- **Self-bootstrapping** — point the REST API at an empty Obsidian vault and the plugin stands up the full folder tree, templates, anchors, and marker from its bundled `scaffold/`.
- **Easy to update** — change behavior by updating the plugin, not by editing files scattered through the vault.
- **Portable** — the same plugin brings any empty vault online identically; nothing essential depends on files pre-existing in the vault.

---

## Configuration

The plugin is hardcoded for a single personal endpoint:

- **Server:** `https://echoapi.alwisp.com` (reverse proxy → backend Obsidian Local REST API). This is the **only** valid endpoint — never use LAN addresses (`10.x`, `192.168.x`, `:27124`); those belong to retired memory systems.
- **Auth:** a bearer token stored in the skill / `references`. The key lives only in the plugin — **never inside a vault note** (per the vault's own safety rules).
- **TLS:** the endpoint presents a valid certificate, so `-k` is not needed.

Vault paths are addressed **at the root** (e.g. `GET /vault/_agent/context/current-context.md`).

---

## Requirements

- Obsidian running on the backend with the Local REST API plugin enabled.
- HTTPS reachability to `https://echoapi.alwisp.com` from the Claude / CoWork session environment.

---

## Repository layout

```
echo-v.05/
├── echo-memory.plugin              ← built, installable plugin (zip artifact, rebuilt on version bump)
└── echo-memory.plugin.src/         ← tracked source tree
    ├── .claude-plugin/plugin.json  ← manifest (name, version, description)
    ├── README.md                   ← plugin-level README
    └── skills/echo-memory/
        ├── SKILL.md                ← operating procedure (authoritative)
        ├── references/
        │   ├── operating-contract.md   ← durable principles + safety rules
        │   ├── bootstrap.md            ← bootstrap / repair / migrate manifest
        │   ├── vault-layout.md         ← canonical layout + frontmatter conventions
        │   ├── api-reference.md        ← REST endpoint patterns + routing map
        │   └── session-log-template.md
        └── scaffold/                   ← verbatim files the bootstrap writes into the vault
            ├── echo-vault.md           ← bootstrap marker
            ├── README.vault.md         ← thin human signpost
            ├── anchors/                ← operator-preferences, current-context, inbox seeds
            └── templates/              ← 8 canonical note templates
```

**Division of responsibility:** `SKILL.md` owns day-to-day *procedure* (loading order, search-first, triage, scope switching, PATCH rules). `references/operating-contract.md` owns the durable, client-independent *principles and safety rules*. The other references are the canonical layout, API, and bootstrap specs.

---

## Vault layout (data only, root-addressed)

```
/vault/
├── README.md          ← thin human signpost (NOT read for routing)
├── inbox/
│   ├── captures/      ← quick captures (inbox.md), date-prefixed lines
│   ├── imports/       ← raw imported material
│   └── processing-log/
├── journal/
│   ├── daily/         ← YYYY-MM-DD.md (has an "## Agent Log" section)
│   └── templates/
├── projects/          ← lifecycle: incubating → active → on-hold / archived
│   ├── active/  incubating/  on-hold/  archived/
│   └── project-template.md
├── areas/             ← business / personal / learning / systems
├── resources/
│   ├── concepts/  references/  meetings/
│   └── people/        ← <name>.md
├── decisions/
│   ├── by-date/       ← YYYY-MM-DD-<slug>.md (ADR-style) — the canonical home
│   └── decision-template.md   (by-project/ is retired, not created)
├── reviews/           ← weekly / monthly / quarterly / annual
└── _agent/
    ├── echo-vault.md  ← bootstrap marker: schema_version + date (plugin-owned probe)
    ├── context/       ← current-context.md and task bundles
    ├── memory/
    │   ├── working/   ← transient, time-boxed
    │   ├── episodic/  ← what happened, when
    │   └── semantic/  ← durable facts / patterns (operator-preferences.md)
    ├── sessions/      ← YYYY-MM-DD-HHMM-<slug>.md
    ├── templates/     ← canonical note templates (seeded from the plugin's scaffold/)
    ├── skills/        ← active / archived capability catalog
    └── heartbeat/     ← single-line pointers (e.g. last-session.md)
```

### Memory model

| Layer | Path | What it holds |
|-------|------|---------------|
| Working | `_agent/memory/working/` | Transient, time-boxed state |
| Episodic | `_agent/memory/episodic/` | What happened, when |
| Semantic | `_agent/memory/semantic/` | Durable facts, patterns, preferences (`operator-preferences.md`) |
| Context | `_agent/context/` | Task-focused reading lists + active scope |

---

## Operating procedures (logic)

### Cold-start loading

Load memory at the start of any substantive conversation (anything beyond a single quick factual question). The cold-start reads are **issued in parallel** (one batch of 4–5 GETs):

1. `_agent/echo-vault.md` — the bootstrap marker. `404` → vault not set up (run bootstrap); `200` → check `schema_version` and migrate if older than the plugin's.
2. `_agent/memory/semantic/operator-preferences.md` — Jason's profile.
3. `_agent/context/current-context.md` — active scope + Scope History.
4. `_agent/sessions/` listing — read the ~5 most recent by reverse lexical sort (filenames lex-sort chronologically).
5. `journal/daily/YYYY-MM-DD.md` — today's note (`404` is fine).

If a specific project is in play, follow up with a `search/simple/` across **all** lifecycle subfolders, querying **both the slug and any human title** used in conversation, then read the match at `projects/<lifecycle>/<slug>.md`. Loading is not narrated to the operator.

### Inbox triage

`inbox/captures/inbox.md` is the catch-all. At session start, GET it; if it holds lines older than ~7 days that were never routed, surface a count once and offer to triage. Accepted items route to their proper home (preference → operator-preferences; project idea → `projects/incubating/`; durable fact → semantic; person fact → `resources/people/`), with the move recorded one-line in `inbox/processing-log/YYYY-MM-DD.md` as an audit trail. Originals aren't deleted unless explicitly asked.

### Project lifecycle

Projects move through four folders; the folder name and the `status:` frontmatter field **MUST agree** — they are two views of one state. A file in `projects/active/` with `status: on-hold` is broken state.

| Folder | `status:` | Meaning |
|--------|-----------|---------|
| `incubating/` | `incubating` | Idea captured; not actively worked |
| `active/` | `active` | Current work (default for anything in motion) |
| `on-hold/` | `on-hold` | Paused but still tracked; resumable |
| `archived/` | `archived` | Done, abandoned, or rolled up — not deleted |

Promotion = move the file **and** update `status:` in the same change.

### Scope switching

`_agent/context/current-context.md` tracks one active scope. When scope changes: (1) PATCH-prepend a dated bullet capturing the **prior** scope to `## Scope History`; (2) PATCH-replace `## Scope` with the new scope; (3) bump the frontmatter `updated:`. Scope History is trimmed to the last ~10 entries.

### Daily note — Agent Log

After substantive activity, append a one-line entry to today's daily note's `## Agent Log`. The procedure is resilient: GET the note → if `404`, PUT it from the template → if `200` but the heading is missing, POST the heading. **Heading detection greps the raw markdown for an anchored `^## Agent Log`** — not the document-map JSON, whose headings are `::`-delimited paths (a bug fixed in 0.4.1 that previously appended duplicate headings).

### Session logging

At the end of substantive conversations (those producing decisions, artifacts, or commitments), write a session log to `_agent/sessions/YYYY-MM-DD-HHMM-<slug>.md`. **The four-digit HHMM component is canonical, not optional** — it makes filenames lex-sort in true chronological order, which cold-start loading depends on. New writes are validated against `^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}-\d{4}-[a-z0-9-]+\.md$`.

### Reviews

- **Weekly** — opt-in; offered on the first substantive session of a new ISO week, written only if accepted, to `reviews/weekly/YYYY-Www-review.md`.
- **Monthly** — automatic Vault Health pass (below) on the first session of a calendar month.
- **Quarterly / annual** — manual / on request only.

### Vault Health (monthly)

A cheap pass written to `reviews/monthly/YYYY-MM-vault-health.md`: flag stale active projects (`updated:` > 30 days), unprocessed inbox items (> 14 days), duplicate slugs across lifecycle folders (broken state), and broken-heading risk on frequently-PATCHed files. Findings are reported, not auto-fixed.

---

## Write-safety rules

- **Search first (mandatory for new notes).** Before creating any slug-addressed note, `POST /search/simple/?query=<slug>` across the **whole** vault (and search the human title too) — listing one folder misses duplicates elsewhere. On a match: promote/merge from a non-active subfolder, update-in-place in the same folder, or ask which is canonical if elsewhere.
- **Read before append (idempotency).** `POST` is not idempotent — a retry duplicates lines. Before any POST that adds an entry (inbox, Agent Log, an Observations/Log heading), GET the target and skip if the exact line is already present. (Does not apply to PUT or PATCH-replace.)
- **Bump `updated:` on substance.** PATCH the frontmatter `updated:` to today after a meaningful content change (status update, decision, scope switch). Skip it for routine log appends — bump on substance, not heartbeat.
- **Preserve `created:`.** It is the earliest known date the entity was tracked anywhere — never reset it to "today" when merging.
- **No `[[wikilinks]]` in frontmatter** — YAML parses them as nested lists and they break. Cross-references go in a `## Related` body section. `source_notes` holds plain relative-path strings (backward links to inputs only).

---

## REST API operations

Server `https://echoapi.alwisp.com`, bearer auth, root-addressed paths.

| Operation | Method | Notes |
|-----------|--------|-------|
| Read file | `GET /vault/<path>` | Raw markdown; `404` = absent |
| Read heading | `GET /vault/<path>/heading/<H1>::<H2>` | `::`-delimited, URL-encode spaces as `%20` |
| List dir | `GET /vault/<dir>/` | Trailing slash; returns `{files, folders}` |
| Document map | `GET` + `Accept: application/vnd.olrapi.document-map+json` | Discover exact heading / block / frontmatter targets |
| Append | `POST /vault/<path>` | Appends to end-of-file; creates if absent |
| Create / overwrite | `PUT /vault/<path>` | Auto-creates intermediate directories |
| Patch section | `PATCH /vault/<path>` | `Operation: append\|prepend\|replace`, `Target-Type: heading\|frontmatter\|block` |
| Search | `POST /search/simple/?query=<terms>` | Returns `[{filename, score, matches}]` |
| Delete | `DELETE /vault/<path>` | Only on explicit operator request |

**PATCH heading targets must be the full `::`-delimited path from the top-level heading** (e.g. `Operator Preferences::Fact / Pattern`) — a bare subheading name returns `400 invalid-target` (errorCode 40080). GET the document map first when unsure of the exact path, and copy the heading string verbatim.

---

## Memory routing map

| Situation | Vault path | Method |
|-----------|-----------|--------|
| Quick capture / unsorted | `inbox/captures/inbox.md` (date-prefixed line) | POST |
| Raw imported material | `inbox/imports/` | PUT |
| Operator preference / durable fact | `_agent/memory/semantic/operator-preferences.md` | PATCH |
| Other durable facts, patterns | `_agent/memory/semantic/<slug>.md` | PUT |
| Event record (what happened) | `_agent/memory/episodic/<slug>.md` | PUT |
| Short-lived, time-boxed state | `_agent/memory/working/<slug>.md` | PUT |
| Task-scoped context / focus | `_agent/context/current-context.md` | PATCH / PUT |
| Working-session log | `_agent/sessions/YYYY-MM-DD-HHMM-<slug>.md` | PUT |
| Long-running project state | `projects/<lifecycle>/<slug>.md` (folder and `status:` MUST agree) | PUT + PATCH |
| Standing area of responsibility (no end state) | `areas/<domain>/<slug>.md` (`business`/`personal`/`learning`/`systems`) | PUT |
| Non-obvious decision (ADR) | `decisions/by-date/YYYY-MM-DD-<slug>.md` (mirror into a project's `## Key Decisions`; else skip) | PUT |
| Person context | `resources/people/<name>.md` | PUT / PATCH |
| Concept / reference note | `resources/concepts/` or `resources/references/` | PUT |
| Meeting notes / call recap | `resources/meetings/YYYY-MM-DD-<slug>.md` | PUT |
| Skill / plugin capability entry | `_agent/skills/active/<slug>.md` (→ `archived/` when retired) | PUT |
| Daily activity / Agent Log | `journal/daily/YYYY-MM-DD.md` | POST / PATCH |
| Periodic review | `reviews/{weekly,monthly,quarterly,annual}/` | PUT |
| Bootstrap marker (plugin-owned) | `_agent/echo-vault.md` (`schema_version`, date) | GET / PUT |

**Slug rules:** kebab-case, ASCII, ~40 chars max. Every file carries canonical YAML frontmatter.

---

## Frontmatter conventions

Every note opens with this block (fill what applies; leave the rest empty rather than guessing):

```yaml
---
type:            # daily-note | project | area | concept | reference | person |
                 # meeting | decision | review | session-log | working-memory |
                 # episodic-memory | semantic-memory | context-bundle | skill | ...
status:          # active | draft | done | archived | complete | incubating | on-hold
created:         # YYYY-MM-DD — earliest known date the entity was tracked
updated:         # YYYY-MM-DD — bumped on meaningful change
tags: []
agent_written:   # true on agent-generated notes
source_notes: [] # plain relative paths (backward links) — NEVER [[wikilinks]]
---
```

`agent_written: true` + a populated `source_notes` is the key signal separating agent-managed content from human-authored content.

### operator-preferences.md — Rules vs Observations

- `## Fact / Pattern` — promoted, deduped, **timeless** rules (no date prefix).
- `## Observations` — **timestamped** raw observations (`- 2026-06-06: ...`); the default landing zone for new evidence.

Observations are promoted into Fact / Pattern (dropping the date) once a pattern stabilizes, and trimmed to the last ~30 entries.

---

## Bootstrap, repair & migration

The plugin carries everything needed to stand up a vault in `scaffold/`; there is no dependency on any in-vault control doc.

- **Probe** — GET `_agent/echo-vault.md`. `200` → bootstrapped (check `schema_version`); `404` → run a fresh bootstrap.
- **Fresh bootstrap** (idempotent, additive — never overwrites): create the folder tree (a one-line README seeds each leaf since Obsidian/git ignore empty dirs) → PUT the 8 templates to their mirrored vault paths → PUT the 3 anchor seeds only if absent (the operator-preferences seed is deliberately empty — no fabricated facts) → PUT the thin vault README → PUT the marker **last** (so the vault is only flagged "set up" once everything is in place) → write a first-run trace (daily note + session log).
- **Repair** — same steps, GET-probing each path and creating only what's missing; malformed files are flagged in the session log, never replaced.
- **Migrations** — when the marker's `schema_version` is older than the plugin's, apply each intervening migration then PATCH the marker. `0 → 1` removed the old in-vault control docs (`CLAUDE.md` / `BOOTSTRAP.md` / `STRUCTURE.md` / `index.md`) in favor of the plugin-as-source-of-truth model.

---

## Skill triggers

| Skill | Triggers |
|-------|----------|
| `echo-memory` | "remember that", "save to memory", "what do you know about me", "load my profile", "check my notes", "log this decision", "add to my inbox" — and proactively at the start of substantive conversations |

---

## Safety rules (operating contract)

- Do not fabricate facts, relationships, or prior decisions.
- Do not mass-restructure the vault unless explicitly asked.
- Do not delete notes unless deletion is explicitly requested and clearly safe.
- Never store secrets or API keys inside a vault note.
- Default to additive updates and explicit status changes over destructive edits.
- Write in **third person** about Jason ("Jason prefers X"). Do not cross-write with other vaults (Bryan's `goldbrain` is separate).

If the API returns a connection error, timeout, or `502` (usually Obsidian / the REST plugin not running), tell Jason once that the vault is unreachable and proceed without memory — don't retry repeatedly.

---

## Version history

| Version | Highlights |
|---------|-----------|
| **0.3.0** | Source promoted from zip-only to a tracked tree (`echo-memory.plugin.src/`); `.plugin` becomes a build artifact. All 7 skill-improvement items applied: search-first before writes, resilient daily Agent Log, `created:` semantics, project lifecycle + folder↔status rule, canonical HHMM session filenames, read-most-recent-N sessions, `source_notes` defined as backward links. |
| **0.4.0** | Efficiency + robustness pass: parallel cold-start loading, idempotent POST (read-before-append), doc-map-before-first-PATCH, scoped `updated:` bump, Inbox Triage, Scope Switching, monthly Vault Health, Rules-vs-Observations split, formal deprecation of `decisions/by-project/`, heartbeat pointer. |
| **0.4.1** | Bugfix: daily-note Agent Log heading detection now greps raw markdown for `^## Agent Log` instead of the `::`-delimited doc-map JSON (which never matched and appended duplicate headings). Added Scope Switching cold-start test harness. |
| **0.5.0** | Self-bootstrap + control-logic-in-plugin. Plugin becomes the single source of truth: bundled `scaffold/` (8 templates, 3 anchor seeds, thin vault README, marker) bootstraps an empty vault with no external/local-path dependency. New `operating-contract.md` (principles + safety from the old in-vault `CLAUDE.md`); `bootstrap.md` rewritten as a portable bootstrap/repair/migrate manifest. Cold-start probe moved from `/vault/BOOTSTRAP.md` to `_agent/echo-vault.md` (carries `schema_version`). Live vault migrated to data-only. |
| **0.5.1** | Routing-doc consistency pass: decision-mirror heading unified to `## Key Decisions`; stale `Current status` PATCH examples corrected to `Status`; vault-layout inline project example refreshed to the real template. All 17 `projects/active/` notes normalized losslessly to the canonical template heading set; `android-mqtt-shell` moved to `incubating/` (was broken `status: upcoming` in active). Plugin repackaged (21 files). |