ver0.5

echo-memory.plugin.src/README.md

@@ -2,14 +2,16 @@
 
 Persistent memory for Claude via the **ECHO** Obsidian vault, using the [Obsidian Local REST API](https://github.com/coddingtonbear/obsidian-local-rest-api).
 
-Reads and writes notes across Claude/CoWork sessions using direct REST calls — no MCP server required. Built for **Jason Stedwell** (Director of Technical Services / Systems Engineer, MPM / ALABAMA wISP), who is both the operator and the architect of this vault. Successor to the obsidian-memory system and sibling of the goldbrain vault (Bryan's).
+Reads and writes notes across Claude/CoWork sessions using direct REST calls — no MCP server required. Built for **Jason Stedwell** (Director of Technical Services / Systems Engineer, MPM / ALABAMA wISP), who is both the operator and the architect of this vault.
+
+**The plugin is the single source of truth.** All control logic — bootstrap/repair, operating contract, taxonomy, frontmatter conventions, and the canonical note templates — ships inside this 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. This makes ECHO self-bootstrapping (point it at an empty Obsidian vault and it stands up the full structure), easy to update (update the plugin, not the vault), and portable to any other vault.
 
 ## What it does
 
 - Loads operator preferences, current context, and relevant project notes at the start of substantive conversations
 - Writes facts, preferences, and decisions Jason asks Claude to remember
 - Logs working sessions so future conversations can pick up where they left off
-- Defers to the vault's own `BOOTSTRAP.md` to verify and repair structure
+- **Bootstraps an empty vault from the bundled `scaffold/`** (folders, templates, anchor seeds, marker) and repairs/migrates an existing one — see `skills/echo-memory/references/bootstrap.md`
 
 ## Configuration
 
@@ -24,25 +26,43 @@ The endpoint presents a **valid TLS certificate**, so `-k` is not required. The
 
 ```
 /vault/
-├── CLAUDE.md  STRUCTURE.md  BOOTSTRAP.md  spinup.md  index.md  README.md
+├── README.md     ← thin human signpost (not read for routing)
 ├── inbox/        (captures, imports, processing-log)
 ├── journal/      (daily, weekly, monthly, templates)
 ├── projects/     (active, incubating, on-hold, archived)
 ├── areas/        (business, personal, learning, systems)
 ├── resources/    (concepts, references, people, meetings, source-material)
-├── decisions/    (by-date, by-project)
+├── decisions/    (by-date)
 ├── reviews/      (weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual)
 ├── archive/      (notes, projects, imports)
 └── _agent/
+    ├── echo-vault.md   ← bootstrap marker (schema_version + date)
     ├── context/        ← task-scoped context bundles
     ├── memory/         ← working / episodic / semantic
     ├── sessions/       ← YYYY-MM-DD-HHMM-<slug>.md
-    ├── templates/      ← canonical note templates
+    ├── templates/      ← canonical note templates (seeded from the plugin's scaffold/)
     ├── outputs/        ← briefs / drafts / summaries / synthesis
     ├── skills/         ← active / archived
     └── heartbeat/
 ```
 
+Control logic and the master scaffold live in the plugin, not the vault:
+
+```
+skills/echo-memory/
+├── SKILL.md                       ← operating procedure (authoritative)
+├── references/
+│   ├── operating-contract.md      ← durable principles + safety
+│   ├── bootstrap.md               ← bootstrap / repair / migrate an empty vault
+│   ├── vault-layout.md            ← canonical layout + frontmatter
+│   ├── api-reference.md           ← REST endpoint patterns + routing map
+│   └── session-log-template.md
+└── scaffold/                      ← verbatim files the bootstrap writes into the vault
+    ├── README.vault.md  echo-vault.md
+    ├── templates/  (8 note templates)
+    └── anchors/    (operator-preferences, current-context, inbox seeds)
+```
+
 ## Skills
 
 | Skill | Triggers |