Memory manager

Memory Manager

Single writer for delegation memory CREATE and UPDATE operations in the claude-eisenhower plugin. DELETE operations are owned by /forget (commands/forget.md) and write directly to memory/glossary.md and memory/people/*.md — see issue #42 for the rationale (the destructive correction loop has different atomicity, confirmation, and PII concerns from the routine operations below).

This partition is intentional. The schema is shared (see docs/specs/memory-schema-spec.md), so changes to the row format must update both this skill AND commands/forget.md's delete logic in the same commit. Adding a new operation here? If it's CREATE/UPDATE, extend this skill. If it's DELETE, extend /forget instead.

The backend is local markdown files only — there is no external skill fallback or primary store. See docs/adrs/single-backend-memory.md for the architectural decision that retired the prior dual-backend abstraction.

See references/memory-operations.md for local file formats, return shapes, and failure mode details.

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Gotchas

High-signal traps. Read before adding or changing an operation.

• Every CREATE/UPDATE is a DUAL write. Each operation touches BOTH memory/glossary.md (the ## Stakeholder Follow-ups table) AND memory/people/[alias-filename].md. Update one without the other and the two stores desync — /forget and query-pending then read inconsistent state.
• DELETE does not live here. This skill is CREATE/UPDATE only. Deletes are owned by /forget (commands/forget.md). Routing a delete through this skill is wrong; routing a CREATE/UPDATE through /forget is wrong.
• The row schema is shared with /forget. It is specced in docs/specs/memory-schema-spec.md. Any change to the row/column format MUST update this skill AND commands/forget.md's delete logic in the same commit, or the other writer's reads break.
• Dedup is the CALLER's job. query-pending returns raw pending rows; the calling command suppresses entries already in TASKS.md Delegated (TASKS.md is authoritative). This skill never cross-references TASKS.md itself.
• Alias filename is derived per spec — don't guess it. memory/people/ filenames follow the derivation rule in the schema spec. An ad-hoc filename orphans the per-person file from its glossary row.
• Pending-status match is case-insensitive. Filter rows on Pending case-insensitively; an exact-case compare silently drops valid entries.

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Operations

log-delegation

Purpose: Create a new pending delegation entry when a task is delegated.

Inputs:

• alias — delegate's display alias (e.g., "Alex R.")
• task_title — title of the delegated task
• check_in_date — YYYY-MM-DD date for follow-up

Execution:

1. Ensure memory/people/ directory exists (create if absent).
2. Write using the canonical schema in docs/specs/memory-schema-spec.md:
   • Append a new row to the ## Stakeholder Follow-ups table in memory/glossary.md: | [alias] | [task_title] | [YYYY-MM-DD] | [check_in_date] | Pending |
   • Create or append to memory/people/[alias-filename].md (filename derived per spec): | [task_title] | [YYYY-MM-DD] | [check_in_date] | Pending | — |
3. If the write fails: "Could not record this follow-up ([reason]). Track it manually."

Returns: success | failed

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resolve-delegation

Purpose: Mark a pending delegation as resolved when the delegated task is complete.

Inputs:

• alias — delegate's display alias
• task_title — title of the delegated task
• resolved_date — YYYY-MM-DD date of resolution (today)

Execution:

1. Find the row matching alias + task_title in the ## Stakeholder Follow-ups table of memory/glossary.md
2. Update its Status cell to: Resolved — [resolved_date]
3. Apply the same status update to the matching row in memory/people/[alias-filename].md
4. If no matching row found: log warning internally, continue (non-blocking).

Returns: success | not-found (non-blocking)

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update-checkin

Purpose: Extend a delegation's check-in date when a task is still in progress.

Inputs:

• alias — delegate's display alias
• task_title — title of the delegated task
• new_check_in_date — YYYY-MM-DD new check-in date

Execution:

1. Find the row matching alias + task_title in the ## Stakeholder Follow-ups table of memory/glossary.md
2. Update its Check-by cell to new_check_in_date
3. Apply the same check-in update to the matching row in memory/people/[alias-filename].md
4. If no matching row found: log warning internally, continue (non-blocking).

Returns: success | not-found (non-blocking)

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query-pending

Purpose: Retrieve pending delegation entries with check-in dates within a given range.

Inputs:

• within_business_days — number of business days from today to search (e.g., 5)

Execution:

1. Read the ## Stakeholder Follow-ups table in memory/glossary.md. If the file is missing or unreadable, return [] (non-blocking).
2. Parse rows with Status = Pending (case-insensitive).
3. Filter for: Check-by date within within_business_days business days from today.

Deduplication (caller's responsibility): Cross-reference results against TASKS.md Delegated records before displaying. If the same alias + task_title appears in both, suppress the memory-only entry — TASKS.md is the authoritative source for that record.

Returns: list of entries (see references/memory-operations.md for return shape). Empty list if memory/glossary.md is missing or unreadable (non-blocking).

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Failure Modes

Scenario	Behavior
memory/people/ missing	Create the directory; write new files
memory/glossary.md missing on read	Return empty result (non-blocking for query-pending)
Write fails (permissions, disk)	Surface non-blocking warning; instruct manual tracking
Entry not found on resolve/update	Non-blocking; log warning internally