seamless
0spoon/seamless/docs/llms-full.txt
A local-first memory and coordination substrate for the fleet of coding agents you run - markdown files you own, indexed by one local daemon. URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/ Seamless is a local-first memory and coordination system for coding agents - a shared, persistent brain for Claude Code, Codex, and any other MCP client you run. Memory survives the end of a conversation, tasks can be handed from one agent to another, and plans get executed together. All of it is stored as…
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# Seamless
> A local-first memory and coordination substrate for the fleet of coding agents you run - markdown files you own, indexed by one local daemon.
---
# What is Seamless?
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/
Seamless is a local-first memory and coordination system for coding agents -
a **shared, persistent brain** for Claude Code, Codex, and any other MCP client
you run. Memory survives the end of a conversation, tasks can be handed from one
agent to another, and plans get executed together. All of it is stored as
markdown files in a directory you own, indexed by one SQLite database, and
served over MCP by the local `seamlessd` daemon. The companion `seam` CLI gives
headless agents a direct interface. There is no hosted Seamless service,
external vector database, or account.
## Which agent do you run?
Setup is client-shaped: pick yours and that page walks install, wiring, and
verification end to end. The [Quickstart](/quickstart/) is the same path for
everyone - one install command, then your client.
<div class="card-grid router-grid">
<a class="doc-card router-card" href="claude-code/">
<span class="card-glyph" aria-hidden="true"><svg viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round"><path d="M4 17l6-5-6-5"/><path d="M12 19h8"/></svg></span>
<h2>Claude Code</h2>
<p>The terminal CLI and the Claude app's code sessions - one setup covers both.</p>
<span class="card-cta">Set up</span>
</a>
<a class="doc-card router-card" href="claude-app/">
<span class="card-glyph" aria-hidden="true"><svg viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round"><path d="M21 15a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H7l-4 4V5a2 2 0 0 1 2-2h14a2 2 0 0 1 2 2z"/></svg></span>
<h2>Claude app chat</h2>
<p>Chat conversations in the desktop app - MCP only, no hooks, wired through the app's own config.</p>
<span class="card-cta">Set up</span>
</a>
<a class="doc-card router-card" href="codex-cli/">
<span class="card-glyph" aria-hidden="true"><svg viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round"><path d="M4 17l6-5-6-5"/><path d="M12 19h8"/></svg></span>
<h2>Codex</h2>
<p>CLI, desktop app, and IDE extension - one shared local profile named codex.</p>
<span class="card-cta">Set up</span>
</a>
<a class="doc-card router-card" href="guides/mcp-clients/">
<span class="card-glyph" aria-hidden="true"><svg viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round"><path d="M9 2v6M15 2v6"/><path d="M6 8h12v3a6 6 0 0 1-12 0z"/><path d="M12 17v5"/></svg></span>
<h2>Any other MCP client</h2>
<p>Cursor, Cline, Windsurf, Zed, or an agent you wrote - point it at the MCP endpoint.</p>
<span class="card-cta">Set up</span>
</a>
</div>
## Or start from the task
| If you want to | Read |
|---|---|
| Install from zero in ten minutes | [Quickstart](/quickstart/) |
| Update, uninstall, or add a client later | [Update & uninstall](/updating/) |
| Control the service, find logs and paths | [The service & where things live](/reference/service/) |
| Understand the model before trusting it | [How Seamless works](/concepts/how-it-works/) |
| Point a hand-rolled agent at it | [Integrate your agent](/guides/integrate-your-agent/) |
| Make a fleet divide work without colliding | [Coordinate multiple agents](/guides/coordinate-agents/) |
| Look up a tool, key, or command | [Reference](/reference/) |
| Fix something that is silently not working | [Troubleshooting](/guides/troubleshooting/) |
Its clients are agents. You are the observer and editor - there is a console, but
nothing in Seamless requires you to be in the loop for agents to use it. And it
is one instance on one machine, bound to loopback: a personal substrate, not a
hosted team knowledge base.
## What it gives a fleet
- **Memory with a lifecycle.** Not an append-only log: memories are superseded
and archived, so what an agent recalls is what is currently true.
- **Ambient sessions.** Claude Code and Codex hooks open a session per agent,
inject a budgeted briefing at startup, and harvest findings. No tool calls are
required from the agent.
- **A ready-queue.** Dependency-aware tasks with atomic lease-based claiming, so
parallel agents divide work without stepping on each other.
- **Hybrid recall.** One search entry point fusing keyword and vector search.
- **A console you can read.** Every memory, session, task, and retrieval decision
is inspectable. The files are plain markdown; the store is not a black box.
## Design principles
**Files are the source of truth.** Durable knowledge lives in markdown you can
read, `grep`, edit, and put in git. The database is a rebuildable index over
them, plus the record for high-churn state (sessions, tasks, events).
**Local-first.** One daemon process, one SQLite file, bound to loopback. No
external database, no required cloud service, and no outbound product
telemetry.
**Propose, don't act.** The gardener finds duplicates, staleness, and drift - and
proposes. Nothing rewrites your knowledge behind your back.
---
# Quickstart
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/quickstart/
This is the one happy path: install, start a session, and watch it open with a
briefing. It is one command and a check - everything between them is automatic.
Every fork in the road is a link, not a branch in these steps.
## Install
**macOS · Linux:**
```bash
curl -fsSL https://thereisnospoon.org/install | sh
```
**Windows:**
The same install, in PowerShell:
```powershell
irm https://thereisnospoon.org/install.ps1 | iex
```
One command does the lot: it fetches the checksum-verified release archive for
your platform (macOS, Linux, and Windows; amd64 and arm64), installs `seamlessd`
and `seam`, generates the bearer key, wires the detected clients - Claude Code,
the Claude app chat surface, Codex - with hooks, MCP, and skills, and starts
the daemon as a per-user service on `127.0.0.1:8081` with data in `~/.seamless`.
No Go, no CGO toolchain, no database server, no Node; the installer needs
`curl` and `tar`. [Install & deploy](/install/) has the override knobs and the
other routes (Homebrew, a clone, `go install`, prebuilt archives);
[The service & where things live](/reference/service/) has the service
controls, logs, and every path.
Seamless is early in its development cycle, and releases with improvements and
bug fixes land often. Make updating a habit - at least weekly - so you are
always on the latest version: `seamlessd update` is the one command, on every
OS. See [Update & uninstall](/updating/).
Piping a stranger's script into a shell deserves a read first - it is
[one file](https://thereisnospoon.org/install).
On a true first run - no config file anywhere - the bearer key is generated and
written to `~/.config/seamless/seamless.yaml`. Nothing to copy, nothing to
paste. No LLM key is required either: without one, recall degrades to plain
full-text search. Add OpenAI or Ollama in the
[configuration](/reference/configuration/) when you want semantic recall.
`seamlessd doctor` is the checkpoint: it validates the config, opens the
database, applies migrations, and asserts the tool count. If it is green, the
daemon will start.
## Now open your client
The installer already wired the clients it found, so there is no second setup
step.
**Claude Code:**
Start Claude Code in any git repo - restart it first if it was already
running, so it reloads hooks, MCP, and skills:
```bash
cd ~/code/myrepo && claude
```
The same setup covers code sessions inside the Claude desktop app - they
share `~/.claude`. See [Claude Code setup](/claude-code/).
**Codex:**
Start Codex in any git repo - restart it first if it was already running, so
it reloads hooks, MCP, and skills:
```bash
cd ~/code/myrepo && codex
```
Codex asks you to approve the hooks once: open `/hooks`, review the exact
Seamless commands, and accept them - until then, no briefing appears
([why](/codex-cli/#trust-the-hooks-once)). See
[Codex local setup](/codex-cli/).
**Claude app chat:**
Restart the Claude app once - it reads its config only at startup. A chat has
no hooks and no working directory, so tell it the repo's absolute path and
have it run `session_start` with that as `cwd`. See
[Claude app chat setup](/claude-app/).
The first session inside a git repo also registers it: the SessionStart hook
resolves your cwd to its git root, derives a project slug from that
directory's name, and records the mapping - so agents inherit project scope
without passing `project` on every call, and without you creating a project
first. See [Projects & scope](/concepts/projects/) for the precedence chain
and the `seamlessd map-repo` override.
## Confirm it works
That session's context now opens with an injected briefing:
```text
Injected context SessionStart
<seam-briefing>
Seam project: seamless -- 58 memories (4 constraints), 3 recent findings.
Constraints (binding for every session):
- errcheck-check-blank-two-category-rule: errcheck runs with check-blank ...
...
</seam-briefing>
Seeing this envelope proves the hook resolved the repository and delivered a budgeted briefing.
```
If you see that block, the loop is closed: the hook resolved your cwd to a
project, the daemon assembled a briefing within its token budget, and the agent
started with your knowledge already in context.
Open the console to watch it happen:
```bash
seamlessd console-open # opens pre-authenticated
```
It starts with the essentials; the card on its Home lets you pick how much of it
you want to see.
## Next steps
- Run `/seam-onboard` in Claude Code or `$seam-onboard` in Codex once - it
shows the Seamless-awareness block it can add to global or project
instructions (`CLAUDE.md` or `AGENTS.md`) and edits only with your approval.
- Wire a client the installer did not find:
[Add or remove one client](/updating/#add-or-remove-one-client).
- Look up any tool, key, or command in the [Reference](/reference/).
---
# Claude Code setup
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/claude-code/
Claude Code is the client Seamless is built around. Wiring it up is two
independent halves - **the MCP endpoint** (what an agent can call) and **the
hooks** (what happens without an agent calling anything) - and you want both.
One command installs both.
## Install the hooks and register MCP
```bash
seamlessd install-hooks --client claude
```
The explicit flag selects only Claude Code. Omit it to use the normal
detection-based installer, which prompts on a terminal and can wire Codex too.
This merges seven hook entries into your Claude Code `settings.json`, preserving
everything already there and backing the file up once before the first change.
It is idempotent: an already-current file is left untouched.
It then registers the MCP server with `claude mcp add-json --scope user`. The
registration uses `seam mcp-headers --config <absolute yaml>` as
`headersHelper`, so the bearer key stays out of subprocess argv and
`~/.claude.json`. Pass `--mcp=false` to skip that half; if the CLI is missing or
registration fails, the hooks still land and the command prints the exact
invocation to run yourself.
The hooks are what make sessions **ambient** - an agent gets a briefing at
startup, its prompts get matched against your memories, its Task subagents get
the project's constraints plus spawn-prompt-matched memories at spawn, its
findings get harvested at the end, and
its plan-mode activity gets captured, all without the agent choosing to call
anything. See [Sessions & briefings](/concepts/sessions/)
for what that delivers and [the hooks reference](/reference/hooks/) for the
exact table.
### Why some hooks are commands and others are http
This looks inconsistent and is not: SessionStart only fires as a command hook,
SessionEnd as http races Claude Code's teardown, and the plan-capture hooks
pre-filter locally so the machine-wide `Write`/`Edit` hot path never touches
the network. The full rationale, hook by hook, is in
[the hooks reference](/reference/hooks/#why-claude-code-uses-two-transports).
## Registering the MCP endpoint by hand
For a different MCP client, or when `install-hooks` could not find the
`claude` CLI:
```bash
claude mcp add-json --scope user seamless \
'{"type":"http","url":"http://127.0.0.1:8081/api/mcp","headersHelper":"/abs/path/seam mcp-headers --config /abs/path/seamless.yaml"}'
```
**`--scope user` is required.** Without it, `claude mcp add` defaults to `local`,
which ties the registration to whichever directory you happened to run it from.
The tools then work in that one directory and silently vanish everywhere else -
which reads exactly like "the MCP server is broken" rather than "the
registration is scoped wrong".
Use the absolute installed `seam` and config paths. The helper reads
`mcp.api_key` at connection time; do not replace it with a literal `--header`,
which exposes the daemon's sole credential in process argv and client config.
## Map your repos
Usually you do not have to. The first session inside a git repo maps itself: the
SessionStart hook resolves the agent's cwd to its git root, derives a project
slug from that directory's name, and records the mapping. Agents then inherit
project scope from their cwd - no `project` argument on any call.
Map by hand to override the derived slug - an `ios` directory that should be the
`arctop-ios` project:
```bash
seamlessd map-repo --path ~/code/ios --project arctop-ios
```
See [Projects & scope](/concepts/projects/) for the full precedence chain and why
unmapped writes are rejected rather than defaulted to global.
## Tell your agents it exists
Installing the tools does not mean an agent will use them well. Two things help.
First, run `/seam-onboard`. The installer drops the portable Claude Code copy
into `~/.claude/skills/`; from a clone, `make install-onboard-skill`
(re)installs it for the explicit Claude profile:
```bash
make install-onboard-skill CLIENT=claude
```
`/seam-onboard` walks an agent through the setup above, verifies each step, and
shows the marked Seamless-awareness block it can add to global or project
`CLAUDE.md`. It edits only after you choose a scope and approve the change, then
removes its own one-shot skill directory.
The installer drops a second skill alongside it *if research is enabled*:
`/seam-research`, the research-lab workflow for systematic debugging (see
[Run research trials](/guides/research-trials/)). Research is an
[optional feature](/reference/console/#optional-features) and ships off, so a
fresh install has no research skill until you turn it on and re-run
`seamlessd install-hooks`. Unlike `/seam-onboard` it is a recurring
workflow, not a one-shot - it never self-removes, upgrades refresh it in place,
and Claude can activate it on its own when an investigation calls for
structured trials. From a clone, `make install-research-skill CLIENT=claude`
(re)installs it.
Second - or if you skip the skill - add that block to your `CLAUDE.md` by hand:
describe when to reach for Seamless (memory that should outlive the
conversation, work that crosses agents) and when not to (trivial edits, things
the codebase already records).
The briefing tells an agent *what you know*; your `CLAUDE.md` tells it *when to
write more down*.
## The Claude app's code surface {#the-claude-apps-code-surface}
Code sessions inside the Claude desktop app are real Claude Code, running
against the same `~/.claude` profile as your terminal sessions. The setup on
this page is therefore all the setup they need: the hooks in `settings.json`,
the user-scope MCP registration, and the skills apply to app code sessions
unchanged, with nothing extra to install.
Three app-specific facts are worth knowing, all recorded with build-pinned
evidence in the [Claude app compatibility
matrix](/reference/claude-app-compatibility/):
- **The app bundles its own Claude Code runtime**, retained under
`~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude-code/<version>/`, and it can lag
or lead the PATH CLI (observed: 2.1.215 in the app beside a 2.1.216 CLI).
`seamlessd doctor` reports each discoverable runtime on its own line -
`claude CLI runtime` and `claude app runtime` - so the skew is visible when
an app-only failure has you debugging.
- **Per-prompt recall does not currently fire in app code sessions.** On the
observed build, the SessionStart briefing, PostToolUse events, and the
SessionEnd findings harvest all work - but UserPromptSubmit never fires, so
`<seam-recall>` injections never happen there. The briefing at session start
is what an app code session gets.
- **Managed worktrees keep their project.** The app may run a session in a
managed worktree (`<repo>/.claude/worktrees/<name>`); Seamless resolves a
linked worktree through its git common directory to the main checkout, so
such a session inherits the repo's project instead of registering a
transient one named after the worktree.
Chat conversations in the same app are a different surface entirely - no
hooks, no `CLAUDE.md`, an explicit opt-in MCP registration of its own. See
[Claude app chat setup](/claude-app/).
## Verify
```bash
./bin/seamlessd doctor # config, database, tool count, and the hooks check
```
Then start a Claude Code session in a mapped repo and look for the injected
block:
```text
Injected context myrepo
<seam-briefing>
Seam project: myrepo -- 58 memories (4 constraints), 3 recent findings.
...
</seam-briefing>
The project name is the useful proof: the ambient session resolved to the repository you opened.
```
If it is there, the whole loop is closed: the hook resolved your cwd to a
project, the daemon assembled a briefing within its token budget, and the agent
started already knowing what you know.
If it is **not** there, note that hooks fail open by design - a broken hook never
blocks your agent, which means **silence is the failure mode**. Start with
`seamlessd doctor`; the [Troubleshooting](/guides/troubleshooting/) guide is
organized by symptom.
---
# Claude app chat setup
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/claude-app/
The Claude desktop app hosts two different Seamless surfaces, and they are wired
differently:
- **Code sessions** inside the app are real Claude Code - they share
`~/.claude`, so the hooks, MCP registration, and skills from your [Claude Code
setup](/claude-code/) apply unchanged. See [the code surface inside the Claude
app](/claude-code/#the-claude-apps-code-surface).
- **Chat conversations** are this page: a plain MCP client with **no hooks**,
wired through `claude_desktop_config.json`. Seamless treats it as its own
install target, named `claude-desktop`.
## No hooks means no ambient layer
Everything the hooks deliver on the code surface is absent in a chat. There is
no `<seam-briefing>` at conversation start, no per-prompt `<seam-recall>`, no
findings harvest when the conversation ends, no plan capture - and no
`CLAUDE.md`, so none of your standing agent guidance is in context either. The
chat surface installs no skills.
What a chat gets instead is the full MCP tool surface, which means the model has
to **run the loop itself** - the same explicit loop as any
[hand-integrated agent](/guides/integrate-your-agent/): `session_start` to bind
and fetch the briefing, `recall` before guessing, durable writes for what should
outlive the conversation, `session_end` to leave findings. The MCP handshake's
server instructions give the model that baseline workflow, but nothing forces
it - if a conversation never calls `session_start`, Seamless never hears about
it.
## Register the bridge
```bash
seamlessd install-hooks --client claude-desktop
```
This is the same registration the interactive installer offers as menu entry
`[2] Claude app (chat)` - answers are comma lists, so `1,2` wires Claude Code
and the chat surface together, and `all` includes the chat surface on the
platforms that can host it (the Claude app ships for macOS and Windows; on
Linux `all` deliberately excludes it).
There is no management CLI for the app, so registration is a direct,
merge-preserving edit of the app's config file:
**macOS:**
The file is `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`.
**Windows:**
The file is `%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json`.
**Linux:**
The Claude app does not ship for Linux, so there is no chat surface to
register on this machine - the code-session and CLI setup on
[Claude Code setup](/claude-code/) is the whole story there.
`--desktop-config PATH` overrides the location.
The edit adds one stdio entry under `mcpServers` - the reserved name
`seamless`, launching `seam mcp-proxy --config <absolute seamless.yaml>` - and
touches nothing else. Foreign entries round-trip byte-for-byte (other servers'
entries may hold credentials in `env`), the original file is backed up once
before the first change, and the write is verified by re-reading the file. **No
secret lands in the app's config**: the bridge reads the bearer key from
Seamless's `0600` config at connect time, the same policy as every other
registration (see [why MCP goes through a bridge](/codex-cli/#why-mcp-goes-through-a-bridge)).
Then **restart the app**. It reads the config only at startup; the installer
prints the same notice.
Two sharp edges, stated rather than discovered:
- `--client claude-desktop --mcp=false` is an error. The chat surface has no
hooks and no skills, so skipping MCP leaves nothing to install.
- A foreign entry already holding the reserved `seamless` name is never
overwritten - the installer refuses and names the manual fix.
## Registering by hand
In the app: **Settings > Developer > Edit Config**, then add under
`mcpServers`:
```json
"seamless": {
"command": "/abs/path/seam",
"args": ["mcp-proxy", "--config", "/abs/path/seamless.yaml"]
}
```
Use the absolute installed `seam` and config paths, save, and restart the app.
This is also the repair path whenever the automatic edit refuses to run.
## Scope discipline in a chat
A chat conversation has no working directory, and cwd is how every other
surface resolves scope. Three consequences worth knowing before the first
durable write - the failure modes are quiet, and two of them are **not**
rejections:
- **`session_start` has no `project` parameter.** The only way a chat session
binds to a project is passing `cwd` - so when the conversation is about a
repo, tell Claude the repo's absolute path and have it pass that as `cwd`.
That one argument buys the full project briefing and correctly scoped
unscoped calls for the rest of the session.
- **A cwd-less `session_start` binds the session to the global scope.** The
response's scope line warns, but every later unscoped durable write then
lands global silently - nothing at write time flags it.
- **Skipping `session_start` does not make writes fail closed.** An unscoped
durable write with no bound session falls back to the sole active ambient
session - and on a machine where you also run Claude Code or Codex, that is
usually your *other* agent's session, so the chat's write lands in **that
session's project**, stamped with its provenance. The
"no session, no `project`, rejected" rule only holds when zero ambient
sessions are live.
The discipline that avoids all three: have the chat pass a real `cwd` at
`session_start`, or pass `project:` explicitly on every durable write. Use
`project: global` only when global is the point. The full precedence chain is
in [Projects & scope](/concepts/projects/).
## Uninstall
`seamlessd uninstall` (default `--client all`) removes the chat-surface entry
along with everything else; `--client claude-desktop` limits the client step
to this entry alone, though uninstall always removes the service and binaries
too - it un-installs the program, not one client. Removal deletes only the
reserved `seamless` entry - every other key, including a now-empty
`mcpServers`, stays exactly as found - and prints the same restart notice,
since the app also loads config at startup only. To drop just this entry and
keep Seamless, edit the config by hand:
[Add or remove one client](/updating/#add-or-remove-one-client).
## Verify
```bash
seamlessd doctor
```
Look for the `claude desktop mcp` line. Not registered is an **info** line, not
a warning - the chat surface is an explicit opt-in, so doctor never nags you
into it. An exact registration reports OK with one honest caveat: whether the
*running* app has actually loaded it is unverifiable, because the app reads the
config at startup and exposes no way to ask. If you registered and did not
restart, doctor cannot tell - the restart is on you.
The live evidence behind what this page claims - protocol handshake, in-app
tool calls, and the scope gotchas above - is recorded in the
[Claude app compatibility matrix](/reference/claude-app-compatibility/).
---
# Codex local setup (app, CLI, and IDE)
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/codex-cli/
Seamless supports Codex - the CLI, desktop app, and IDE extension - as one
client profile named `codex`, because the three share the same local
configuration layers and MCP setup on a given host. Wiring that host is the
same two independent halves as [Claude Code](/claude-code/) - **the MCP
endpoint** (what an agent can call, installed as the `seam mcp-proxy` stdio
bridge) and **the hooks** (five of them, which brief and harvest an agent
without it calling anything) - and one command installs both when the Codex
management CLI is available.
CLI behavior is supported by the existing compatibility suite. The IDE extension
shares the profile by upstream contract, while desktop app support is currently
a local beta. Each non-CLI mode still needs the live hook-trust and chat evidence
listed in [Compatibility evidence](#compatibility-evidence) before Seamless
claims it as fully verified.
## Install the hooks and register MCP
```bash
seamlessd install-hooks --client codex
```
`--client codex` is the switch, but you rarely need it: without the flag, an
interactive `install-hooks` run prompts for the client(s) to wire (defaulting to
what it found on the machine), and a non-interactive run resolves `--client
detect` - the clients actually present, Codex included. The Codex profile:
1. **Merges five hooks** - SessionStart, UserPromptSubmit, Stop, SubagentStart,
and SubagentStop - into `~/.codex/hooks.json` (or `$CODEX_HOME/hooks.json`
when that is set). It replaces exact or stale Seamless definitions, adopts
only recognizable legacy Seamless commands, preserves foreign hooks, and
backs the file up once before the first change.
2. **Registers the MCP server** by shelling out to Codex itself:
`codex mcp add seamless -- <abs seam> mcp-proxy --config <abs seamless.yaml>`.
Current Codex supports both stdio and Streamable HTTP. Seamless deliberately
installs the [mcp-proxy bridge](#why-mcp-goes-through-a-bridge) as its default
secret-handling policy, not because Codex requires stdio. The installer reads
`codex mcp get seamless --json`, leaves an exact enabled bridge alone, repairs
a disabled or stale Seamless bridge, and verifies the written state before it
reports success. A direct-HTTP or otherwise foreign entry under the reserved
`seamless` name is never overwritten implicitly.
3. **Installs the Codex skills** under
`${CODEX_HOME:-$HOME/.codex}/skills/`: the one-shot `$seam-onboard` workflow,
plus the recurring `$seam-research` lab workflow while its
[optional feature](/reference/console/#optional-features) is on (it ships
off). Claude's copies remain in
`~/.claude/skills/`; their one-shot delivery markers are independent.
The `codex` executable is the supported management surface for automated MCP
setup; it is not a different Seamless profile. On an app-only machine where
`codex` is absent from `PATH`, hooks and skills still install into the shared
Codex home, but the MCP row is explicitly marked **incomplete** and prints the
desktop fallback:
1. Open **Settings > MCP servers > Add server** in the Codex desktop app.
2. Choose **STDIO** and name the server `seamless`.
3. Use the printed absolute `seam` path as the command and the printed
`mcp-proxy --config <absolute seamless.yaml>` values as its arguments.
4. Save, then restart the app.
That path keeps the bearer key out of Codex configuration just like the
automated registration. `doctor` still calls the MCP state unverified without a
management CLI; reading and safely classifying shared TOML is a separate
hardening step.
Passing `--client claude` explicitly is byte-for-byte what it always was, so
nothing about your Claude Code setup changes when you add Codex. Use `--client
all` to install both in one pass, or `--client detect` (the default) to let the
machine decide. `make install` uses the same default, so a Codex-only machine
gets the Codex profile without naming it.
## Trust the hooks once
Hooks installed, one gate remains before anything fires - and it is the
Codex-specific version of "silence is the failure mode". Codex will not run a
non-managed command hook until its **current definition** is trusted. New or
changed definitions are skipped until reviewed, so a fresh install - or a
reinstall that repairs a path or command - can show no briefing until you
approve. Two supported paths:
- **CLI** (the currently verified path): start `codex`, open `/hooks`, inspect the
current Seamless commands, and approve them. Codex also warns at startup when
configured hooks need review.
- **Headless automation**: pass `--dangerously-bypass-hook-trust`. As the flag
name says, it is for automation that already vets its hook sources.
The public hook documentation names `/hooks` in the CLI, and Codex.app
26.715.52143 confirmed the boundary: `/hooks` is not intercepted in a desktop
chat and directs the user back to the CLI. A real repo-local app chat did receive
`<seam-briefing>`, prompt recall, and Stop harvest, so Local app hook execution is
live-verified for that build. Trust state is still not inspectable in the app,
and the presence of `hooks.json` alone remains insufficient evidence.
If a Codex session opens with no briefing, an untrusted hook is the first thing
to check. Seamless does not read or write Codex's private trust hashes, and
`doctor` never claims trust is healthy from a recent observation alone.
## Teach Codex when to use Seamless
Every MCP initialize response carries concise server instructions. The first
512 characters cover the baseline even before onboarding: recall before
guessing, memory versus notes, explicit ambiguous scope, session handoff,
`plan:<slug>` composition, and trusting each tool's `inputSchema` required
fields and enums.
For durable personal or project guidance, invoke `$seam-onboard`. It inspects
the existing instructions, explains the marker-wrapped block it proposes, and
asks whether to add it globally (`${CODEX_HOME:-$HOME/.codex}/AGENTS.md`) or to this
project (`./AGENTS.md`). It never silently edits an instruction file and removes
only its own skill directory after success. Reinstall it from a clone with:
```bash
make install-onboard-skill CLIENT=codex
```
`$seam-research <lab-name> <problem>` opens or resumes the same structured,
multi-agent research-lab workflow as Claude Code. While the research feature is
on it remains installed and is refreshed on upgrades; switch the feature off and
the next install run takes it back out.
## The five hooks, and what they inject
Codex installs five hooks against seven for Claude Code: `SessionStart`
injects the `<seam-briefing>` and creates or resumes the opaque `cx/...`
ambient session, `UserPromptSubmit` injects `<seam-recall>` on a match,
`Stop` heartbeats and harvests findings at every turn end, and
`SubagentStart`/`SubagentStop` brief Task children with constraints and
spawn-prompt-matched memories while only ever heartbeating the parent session.
Seamless has no verified Claude-style plan-file/`ExitPlanMode` surface to
capture from Codex, and Codex 0.144.6 emits **no SessionEnd**, so the parent
lifecycle closes differently (see
[below](#no-sessionend-the-reaper-closes-sessions)). The exact per-event
table - transports, endpoints, effects, and the 2,400-token output cap - is in
[the hooks reference](/reference/hooks/#codex-local-host-five-hooks).
Codex delivers a hook's `additionalContext` to the model on both SessionStart and
UserPromptSubmit, and on SubagentStart, in **both** the interactive TUI and
headless `codex exec` - there is no headless recall-injection gap of the kind
`claude -p` has. The briefing and recall blocks reach the model either way.
All five are **command** hooks - `seam hook <event> --config <yaml> --client
codex` - and every one passes through [the trust gate above](#trust-the-hooks-once).
Codex's hook schema currently executes command handlers; this is independent of
MCP transport, where both stdio and Streamable HTTP are supported.
### The model-visible output ceiling
Codex spills a model-visible hook-output entry above roughly 2,500 estimated
tokens to a temporary file, so Seamless caps every Codex `additionalContext`
response at **2,400 estimated tokens** - briefings, recall, and child
briefings alike - keeping the injected bytes equal to what the model actually
saw. The mechanics live in
[the hooks reference](/reference/hooks/#codex-local-host-five-hooks).
## Why MCP goes through a bridge
Seamless serves MCP over Streamable HTTP, and current Codex can connect to that
URL directly **or** launch a local MCP server over stdio. Seamless chooses the
second form by default: Codex launches `seam mcp-proxy`, which forwards each
JSON-RPC frame to the daemon's `/api/mcp` endpoint with the bearer key from your
config and preserves `Mcp-Session-Id` across calls so session binding keeps
working.
The bridge is transport-thin - no tool knowledge, no caching - and it is what the
installer registers. It exists so the key stays in `~/.config/seamless/seamless.yaml`
and never has to be copied into `~/.codex/config.toml` or exported into Codex's
environment. In other words, the proxy is Seamless's maintained default and
secret-handling boundary, not a Codex capability workaround.
One Codex-specific wrinkle for headless use: `codex exec` **cancels every MCP
tool call client-side** unless you also pass `--dangerously-bypass-approvals-and-sandbox`.
This is a separate gate from hook trust - `approval_policy=never` does not lift
it. Interactive `codex` lets you approve tool calls as they happen, which is the
safe path. Fully headless automation of the Seamless loop needs **both**
`--dangerously-bypass-hook-trust` (for the hooks) and
`--dangerously-bypass-approvals-and-sandbox` (for the tool calls).
### Registering MCP by hand
**Direct Streamable HTTP instead of the bridge**
If you prefer direct Streamable HTTP over the stdio bridge, add it to
`~/.codex/config.toml` yourself:
```toml
[mcp_servers.seamless]
url = "http://127.0.0.1:8081/api/mcp"
http_headers = { Authorization = "Bearer <mcp.api_key>" }
```
The key is `mcp.api_key` from your config (`grep api_key
~/.config/seamless/seamless.yaml`). This is the plain alternative to the proxy,
at the cost of duplicating the key into Codex's TOML - which is exactly what the
bridge exists to avoid. `codex mcp add seamless --url http://127.0.0.1:8081/api/mcp
--bearer-token-env-var SEAMLESS_MCP_API_KEY` is a third route, but it reads the
key from an environment variable that Codex's own process must have set when it
launches - fragile to arrange reliably, which is the other reason the bridge is
the default.
The name `seamless` is the installer's desired-state boundary. If you keep a
manual direct-HTTP entry under that name, run `seamlessd install-hooks --client
codex --mcp=false` for hook and skill updates. With MCP reconciliation enabled,
the installer reports the foreign transport and asks you to remove it explicitly
rather than silently replacing a configuration that may contain credentials.
## Session identity and provenance
A current Codex ambient session has a display handle shaped like
`cx/<first-8>-<16-hex-digest>`. The suffix is 64 stable SHA-256 bits derived from
the **full** external session ID; the readable prefix alone is not unique for
time-ordered UUIDv7 values. Seamless keys lifecycle updates by the full external
ID plus client, not by this label. Treat the handle as opaque: do not parse it or
construct one yourself. Historical `cx/<first-8>` rows keep their names when
they resume. See [Sessions & briefings](/concepts/sessions/) and the
[UUIDv7 layout](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9562.html#section-5.7).
## No SessionEnd: the reaper closes sessions
Claude Code harvests findings and completes its session on SessionEnd. Codex
0.144.6 emits no such event, so the lifecycle is built around **Stop** and the
**idle reaper** instead:
- **Every turn**, the Stop hook heartbeats the session and re-harvests the
findings from that turn's final assistant message. The harvest is idempotent -
an empty turn leaves the prior findings intact - so the findings converge on
the last substantive turn's summary.
- **The session is never explicitly closed.** It sits active until
`gardener.session_idle_minutes` of silence, at which point the idle reaper marks
it `expired`. A Codex session therefore only ever reaches `expired`, never
`completed`.
Those expired-but-harvested findings still surface in the next agent's briefing:
the briefing assembler includes expired ambient sessions, not just completed
ones, precisely so Codex's harvest is not invisible. The practical consequence is
that a Codex session's findings appear a few minutes after the last turn (once the
reaper runs), rather than the instant the window closes.
## Verify
```bash
seamlessd doctor # config, database, tool count, hooks - now Codex-aware
```
`doctor` reports distinct Codex facts instead of rolling them into one
plausible-looking success:
- **runtime versions** - the PATH CLI and, on macOS when it belongs to the same
default Codex home, the desktop app's retained compatibility runtime are
reported separately because they can differ;
- **hook definitions** - exact current, stale, and missing events, compared with
the definitions `install-hooks` would write today, including binary/config
targets;
- **hook trust** - always `trust unverified` because Codex exposes no supported
query for the current trust decision; inspect `/hooks`;
- **hook activity** - the last observed SessionStart/UserPromptSubmit event, if
any, as supporting evidence only, never proof that the current definitions are
trusted; and
- **MCP** - exact enabled stdio transport, ordered bridge arguments, and existing
executable/config paths, based on `codex mcp get seamless --json`; without the
management CLI it reports incomplete/unverified setup and the exact app path.
Run `seamlessd install-hooks --client codex` to repair stale owned hooks and a
disabled or drifted owned bridge. A foreign hook survives, and a foreign MCP
entry requires explicit removal. `doctor` never fails a machine that has no
Codex install: no CLI, home, or Seamless Codex configuration is one quiet
`not detected` line; a detected but incomplete setup is a warning.
Then start a Codex session in a mapped repo and look for the injected
`<seam-briefing>` block, exactly as you would for Claude Code. If it is there, the
loop is closed: the hook resolved your cwd to a project, the daemon assembled a
briefing, and Codex started already knowing what you know. If it is **not** there,
the hooks fail open by design - start with `seamlessd doctor` and the trust gate,
then the [Troubleshooting](/guides/troubleshooting/) guide.
## Compatibility evidence
The maintained [Codex compatibility matrix](/reference/codex-compatibility/)
records the exact frontend, Codex runtime version, and platform used for live
TUI/exec/app hooks, MCP JSON, output-spill, and Windows-command evidence. The
macOS Local app row now covers a real repo chat, MCP read/write/read, and Stop
harvest; it does not silently widen that result to app-only setup, hook trust,
subagents, managed worktrees, uninstall, or Windows. The checked-in fixture
harness documents how to recapture CLI contracts without touching the
operator's `CODEX_HOME`.
Primary upstream contracts: [Codex hooks](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/hooks),
[Codex MCP](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/extend/mcp), and
[UUIDv7](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9562.html#section-5.7).
---
# Install & deploy
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/install/
Installing Seamless is one command: a script downloads a release archive
containing the `seamlessd` daemon and `seam` CLI for macOS, Linux, or Windows,
verifies its SHA-256, and registers the daemon as a per-user service - launchd,
systemd, or a Scheduled Task - bound to loopback. No Docker, database server,
or Go toolchain. The [Quickstart](/quickstart/) runs that command and moves on;
this page is what it did, and what to do when you want to steer it yourself.
Where everything lands - the service, logs, ports, and every path - is on
[The service & where things live](/reference/service/).
## Install in one command
**macOS · Linux:**
```bash
curl -fsSL https://thereisnospoon.org/install | sh
```
**Windows:**
The [PowerShell installer](https://thereisnospoon.org/install.ps1) does the
same steps with a Scheduled Task in place of launchd/systemd:
```powershell
irm https://thereisnospoon.org/install.ps1 | iex
```
This is the path for using Seamless (as opposed to working on it). The POSIX
script needs `curl` and `tar`; the PowerShell one needs nothing beyond Windows
itself. No Go toolchain is involved. In order, it:
1. resolves the latest release and downloads the archive for your platform
(macOS, Linux, and Windows; amd64 and arm64), **verifying its SHA-256**
against the release's `checksums.txt` before unpacking anything; when
`cosign` is available it also verifies that manifest's keyless signature
against this repository's release workflow identity;
2. installs `seamlessd` and `seam` into `~/.local/bin`;
3. runs `seamlessd install-hooks`, which generates the bearer key into
`~/.config/seamless/seamless.yaml` on first run, detects Claude Code, the
Claude app chat surface, and Codex, and installs that set's hooks, MCP
registrations, and skills;
4. installs and starts the [per-user service](/reference/service/) - launchd
on macOS, systemd `--user` on Linux, an at-logon Scheduled Task on
Windows - and polls `/healthz` until the daemon actually answers.
Step 3 detects three install targets - **Claude Code**, the **Claude app chat
surface** (`claude-desktop`, the app's `mcpServers` bridge; it has no hooks or
skills), and **Codex** - and wires the detected set. That one selection
drives hooks, MCP registrations, and the maintained skills together -
`seam-onboard` always, `seam-research` only while its
[optional feature](/reference/console/#optional-features) is on. On a terminal
the run confirms the selection with a multi-select menu - answers are numbers or names, comma-separated
(`1,3`), defaulting to the detected set; headless, the detected set is wired
as-is. With nothing detected, a run on a terminal warns and asks whether to
install at all (defaulting to no), and a headless run aborts - the installer
never silently wires a client that is not there. Set `SEAMLESS_CLIENT` to make
the choice explicit: one target, a comma list, or `all` (every target the
platform can host - the chat surface exists only where the Claude app runs, so
`all` never fails on Linux over it). See [Codex local setup](/codex-cli/) for
the shared app/CLI/IDE profile and Codex's trust gate, and
[Claude app chat setup](/claude-app/) for what the chat surface does and does
not get.
On every OS, Claude's copies live under `$HOME/.claude/skills`; Codex's live
under `$CODEX_HOME/skills` when set, otherwise `$HOME/.codex/skills` (the same
paths are `%USERPROFILE%`-relative on Windows). Invoke `/seam-onboard` in Claude
Code or `$seam-onboard` in Codex. The skill asks before adding its marked block
to global/project `CLAUDE.md` or `AGENTS.md`; it never silently edits either.
**Windows:**
The Windows installer is per-user by the same principle as the others: it runs
as **you**, never elevates, and registers the Scheduled Task under your own
account (`LogonType Interactive`), so a single signed-in user is all it needs and
no administrator prompt ever appears. `~/.config/seamless` and `~/.seamless`
resolve under `%USERPROFILE%`, exactly the paths the daemon already searches.
Re-running it upgrades in place: binaries are swapped by rename (safe while the
daemon holds them open), the service restarts on the new build, and your config
and `~/.seamless` are preserved. The selected clients are reconciled to those
new stable paths: owned stale hooks and the Codex stdio registration are
repaired, current definitions are untouched, foreign hooks are preserved, and
the recurring skill is refreshed. It is [one shell
script](https://thereisnospoon.org/install) with no dependencies to audit.
| Override | Effect |
|---|---|
| `SEAMLESS_VERSION=0.3.0` | install that version instead of the latest |
| `SEAMLESS_INSTALL_DIR=~/bin` | put the binaries somewhere else |
| `SEAMLESS_CLIENT=claude\|claude-desktop\|codex\|all` | choose which target(s) to wire instead of auto-detection; comma lists work (`claude,claude-desktop`) |
| `SEAMLESS_SERVER_URL=http://studio.local:8081` | install as a **client** of a Seamless daemon running elsewhere: wire this machine's agent clients to that URL, install no service, and keep no data dir here. Requires `SEAMLESS_MCP_API_KEY`. See [Share one daemon across a LAN](/guides/network-install/) |
| `SEAMLESS_MCP_API_KEY=<key>` | the server's bearer key, required alongside `SEAMLESS_SERVER_URL` - `SEAMLESS_SERVER_URL` without it is a hard error, because a client needs both. `seamlessd client-config` on the server prints the whole command |
| `SEAMLESS_NO_HOOKS=1` | skip agent hooks, MCP registration, and skills |
| `SEAMLESS_NO_ONBOARD_SKILL=1` | skip the selected client(s)' one-shot onboarding skill |
| `SEAMLESS_NO_RESEARCH_SKILL=1` | skip the selected client(s)' recurring research skill |
| `SEAMLESS_NO_SERVICE=1` | install the binaries only; run `seamlessd serve` yourself |
| `SEAMLESS_ALLOW_ROOT=1` | permit running as root (single-user containers) |
**macOS · Linux:**
Set them ahead of the shell, not the curl:
`curl -fsSL https://thereisnospoon.org/install | SEAMLESS_VERSION=0.3.0 sh`.
**Windows:**
The same knobs are environment variables you set before the pipe -
`$env:SEAMLESS_VERSION='0.3.0'; irm https://thereisnospoon.org/install.ps1 | iex`
- with the one exception of `SEAMLESS_ALLOW_ROOT`, which is POSIX-only (the
Windows task is per-user by construction, so there is no root case to allow).
Everything here is per-user by construction - `~/.local/bin`, `~/.config`,
`~/.seamless`, a user service - so run it as yourself. Under `curl | sudo sh` it
would all land in root's home where your agents will never look, which is why
the script refuses root unless you insist.
## Installing without the one-liner
The other routes end up in the same place with more of the steps left to you.
### Homebrew
```bash
brew install 0spoon/tap/seamless
```
Every release publishes a cask to the `0spoon/homebrew-tap` tap, on macOS and
Linux alike. It delivers the **binaries only** - `seamlessd` and `seam` on your
PATH, with the Gatekeeper quarantine attribute stripped on macOS (the release
binaries are unsigned). It does not wire clients or register a service, so
finish with the two commands the cask's caveats print:
```bash
seamlessd install-hooks # bearer key on first run, hooks, MCP, skills
seamlessd serve # or set up the service yourself
```
`brew upgrade` moves you to the latest release. The hooks keep working - they
resolve `seam` through brew's stable bin path - but restart the daemon
yourself so it runs the new build.
### From a clone
```bash
make install # -> ~/.local/bin + ~/.config/seamless/seamless.yaml
make install PREFIX=/opt/seam # custom prefix (binaries land in $PREFIX/bin)
make uninstall # remove service, hooks, MCP, skills + binaries (data kept)
```
`make install` is the same destination from your own build, and it is macOS-only
(it renders the launchd plist from `deploy/launchd/`). It snapshots the binaries
and config to stable locations, then points launchd **and** the selected clients'
hooks/MCP definitions at the copies. Nothing live resolves through your working
tree, so `make build`, a branch switch, and a moved or cleaned repo cannot change
what the running daemon and every agent's hooks execute. Swapping them is `make
install`, deliberately - [Contributing](/internals/contributing/) covers using
it as the edit-test loop.
The config lands in `~/.config/seamless/`, one of the paths Seamless already
searches ahead of `./seamless.yaml`, so the hooks resolve it from any directory.
It is seeded **only when absent** - an install never clobbers a config holding
your bearer key. Delete it to re-seed.
On a `role: client` config, `make install` branches the same way the one-liner
does: it installs the binaries and wires the agent clients, prints the service
step as skipped naming the server, and polls **that server's** `/healthz`
instead of a local one - an unanswered server is a warning, not a failed
install. A client runs no daemon here, so rendering the plist would hand launchd
a job `seamlessd serve` refuses by design.
### Go install and release archives
The remaining routes end up in the same place with less done for you:
`go install github.com/0spoon/seamless/cmd/...@latest` needs Go 1.25+, and the
[GitHub releases](https://github.com/0spoon/seamless/releases) carry the same
prebuilt archives the installer fetches. From a bare binary, `seamlessd serve`
covers the essentials - first run seeds the config - and `seamlessd install-hooks`
wires the detected Claude Code/Codex clients; what you take on yourself is the
service.
## The service {#the-service}
The installer registered `seamlessd` as a per-user service - launchd on macOS,
systemd `--user` on Linux, an at-logon Scheduled Task on Windows - and
`seamlessd start|stop|restart|status` controls it the same way everywhere. The
native commands, log locations, and every path Seamless touches are on
[The service & where things live](/reference/service/).
## Upgrading {#upgrading}
`seamlessd update` upgrades in place to the latest release, on every OS.
[Update & uninstall](/updating/) has the full procedure, the pinning knobs,
and how the fetched installer is signature-verified before it runs.
## Uninstalling {#uninstalling}
`seamlessd uninstall` reverses the whole install and keeps your knowledge by
default. See [Update & uninstall](/updating/#uninstall).
## Security posture
What you are accepting when you run this:
- **One static bearer key** guards `/api/mcp` and the console. Not JWT, not
OAuth, no user accounts. It is a single-user local tool and the key is in your
config file with `0600` permissions.
- **Default agent registrations do not copy that key.** Claude Code calls
`seam mcp-headers` through `headersHelper`; Codex launches `seam mcp-proxy`.
Both read the 0600 Seamless config at connection time, and neither puts the
bearer value in client config or subprocess argv. A manual Codex direct-HTTP
registration with `http_headers` does copy it into `config.toml`; use that
tradeoff deliberately.
- **Loopback bind** by default (`127.0.0.1:8081`). Nothing off your machine can
reach it. Widening it is an explicit opt-in, and the daemon logs a `SECURITY`
warning every time it starts on a non-loopback address.
- **A Host-header allowlist** guards against DNS rebinding: the daemon answers
the loopback names, a concrete bind host, the host of `server_url`, and
anything in `allowed_hosts`. Every other `Host` gets `421 Misdirected
Request`. A wildcard bind (`0.0.0.0`) with no host named anywhere is the one
unguarded case - naming even one host arms the guard there too.
- **SSRF guards on capture.** `capture_url` is the one tool that makes an
outbound request on an agent's behalf, and its destination ports are restricted
to `capture.allowed_ports` (80 and 443 by default) - never "any port".
- **No product telemetry.** Seamless sends no usage or analytics data. The
outbound traffic is: calls to a configured OpenAI or Anthropic provider (use
Ollama to keep model calls local), URLs an agent explicitly asks
`capture_url` to fetch, and the GitHub release check and download that an
explicit `seamlessd update` performs.
- **Release authenticity has two layers.** Every installer verifies the
archive's SHA-256 against `checksums.txt`. When `cosign` is installed it also
verifies the manifest's keyless signature against this repository's release
workflow identity; without cosign it warns clearly and continues with checksum
integrity only. `seamlessd update` separately verifies the fetched installer
script's Sigstore bundle in-process before executing it. `curl | sh` still
means trusting the bytes served by the site, so read the script first if that
boundary is not acceptable; `go install` lands in the same place.
### Going beyond loopback, deliberately
A static bearer key is adequate *because* the listener is on loopback; the two
are a matched pair. Widen `addr` and that key becomes the only thing between a
network peer and your entire knowledge store - so widening it is three
deliberate steps, not one:
1. **Bind wide and say what you are called.** `addr: 0.0.0.0:8081` plus
`server_url: https://studio.local:8081`. The second key is what clients
dial, and its host joins the allowlist, so the guard stays on.
2. **Add TLS.** `tls.cert_file` + `tls.key_file` makes the listener https
(TLS 1.2 floor) and marks the console session cookie `Secure`. Without it
the bearer key, every hook payload, and the whole console travel in the
clear; `seamlessd doctor` reports that as a warning on the `bind` line.
3. **Keep the blast radius small.** There is still no rate limiting, no user
accounts, and no per-client authorization: one key admits the whole corpus.
A trusted LAN is the supported boundary. The public internet is not.
[Share one daemon across a LAN](/guides/network-install/) is the walkthrough -
certificates, the `seamlessd client-config` pairing command, and what a remote
device does *not* get. If you only need to reach your own daemon from
elsewhere, a tunnel (Tailscale, SSH forwarding, Cloudflare Tunnel) over a
loopback bind is still the smaller change and the safer one.
See [Configuration](/reference/configuration/) for every key.
---
# Update & uninstall
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/updating/
The install is one command, and so is everything after it. `seamlessd`
carries its own lifecycle: update, uninstall, and client wiring are the same
commands on macOS, Linux, and Windows, resolving your platform's service
manager and paths for you. The OS-specific detail all lives on
[The service & where things live](/reference/service/).
## Update
Seamless is early in its development cycle: releases with improvements and bug
fixes land often, so update at least weekly to stay on the latest version.
`seamlessd update` is the one command, on every OS. It upgrades in place to the
latest release by re-running the canonical installer for you - so there is a
single upgrade path to trust, not a second copy of the download-and-swap logic
that could drift from the installer:
```bash
seamlessd update --check # report installed vs latest, change nothing
seamlessd update --dry-run # print exactly what it would fetch and run
seamlessd update # fetch the latest release and swap it in
```
It honors the same knobs as the installer, so `SEAMLESS_VERSION=0.3.0 seamlessd
update` pins a version and `SEAMLESS_INSTALL_DIR=... seamlessd update` retargets.
Under the hood it fetches the installer script (the PowerShell one on Windows)
from the latest release's assets together with the Sigstore bundle the release
workflow signed it with, verifies the signature in-process - the script must
have been produced by this repository's release workflow on a version tag, or
update refuses to run it - and then runs it. That is the same script as doing
it by hand, minus the signature check:
```bash
curl -fsSL https://thereisnospoon.org/install | sh
```
Your config and `~/.seamless` are preserved, binaries are swapped by rename
(safe while the daemon holds them open), and the service restarts on the new
build. The selected clients are reconciled to the new stable paths: owned
stale hooks and the Codex stdio registration are repaired, current definitions
are untouched, foreign hooks are preserved, and the recurring skill is
refreshed.
From a clone, `make update` builds first and then runs that same command against
your installed copy (`make update CHECK=1` only reports).
**Deploying your working tree instead of a release**
Both `seamlessd update` and `make update` install the latest *release*, which
may be older than your clone's HEAD. To deploy the build from your working
tree instead:
```bash
git pull
make check # everything green before you swap the running daemon
make install # swap it
make doctor # confirm config + DB after the swap
```
Migrations apply automatically at startup - there is no separate migrate step.
Run `make doctor` afterwards anyway: it is the cheapest way to learn that the new
build disagrees with your config before an agent does.
`/healthz` reports the running build. If a change seems not to have taken effect,
check it before you debug anything else - a stale daemon still serving the old
binary looks exactly like a bug in the new one.
## Uninstall {#uninstall}
`seamlessd uninstall` is the one command, on every OS. It reverses the whole
install - stops and removes the per-user service, strips the Claude Code and
Codex hooks, deregisters the MCP server from both client CLIs and from the
Claude app's `claude_desktop_config.json`, removes both hook clients' installed
`seam-onboard` and `seam-research` packages/one-shot markers, and deletes the
binaries - and it is idempotent, so a second run is a clean no-op. Preview it
first with `--dry-run`:
```bash
seamlessd uninstall --dry-run # print exactly what would be removed
seamlessd uninstall # do it (asks to confirm on a terminal)
```
From a clone it is `make uninstall`, which builds first and then runs that same
command against your installed copy.
**Your knowledge is kept by default.** `~/.config/seamless` (your bearer key) and
`~/.seamless` (the database, and your memories and notes as markdown) are left in
place - the uninstall of a program should not delete your knowledge. Add
`--purge` (or `make uninstall PURGE=1`) only when you actually mean to delete
them; a guard refuses to purge a path that resolves to your home directory or the
filesystem root. See [Storage](/reference/storage/) for what is in there.
The hooks come out of `~/.claude/settings.json` and Codex's `hooks.json` through
the same exact classifier the installer and doctor use. Current, marked-stale,
and unmistakable legacy Seamless entries are removed; foreign entries survive,
even when their arguments happen to contain `hook <event>`. The install's
original backup sits next to each file.
If you would rather do it by hand - a bare binary you never installed a
service for, say - `claude mcp remove seamless` or `codex mcp remove seamless`
drops that client's MCP registration; the chat surface has no CLI, so delete
the `seamless` entry under `mcpServers` in the Claude app (Settings >
Developer > Edit Config) and restart it. The native service teardown commands
live with the rest of the OS-specific detail:
[Removing the service by hand](/reference/service/#removing-the-service-by-hand).
## Add or remove one client
Client wiring is independent per target, and adding one never disturbs
another - Claude's and Codex's skills live in separate homes with independent
delivery markers, and `install-hooks` touches only the target you name:
```bash
seamlessd install-hooks --client codex # add Codex to an existing install
seamlessd install-hooks --client claude-desktop # add the Claude app chat surface
seamlessd install-hooks # or re-run the interactive multi-select
```
Restart the client you added so it loads hooks, MCP, and skills; Codex
additionally gates new hook definitions behind
[/hooks approval](/codex-cli/#trust-the-hooks-once), and the Claude app reads
its config only at startup.
Removing one client's wiring while keeping Seamless installed is the manual
path: `claude mcp remove seamless` or `codex mcp remove seamless` deregisters
MCP, the managed hook entries (tagged `seamless_managed`) come out of
`~/.claude/settings.json` or `${CODEX_HOME:-~/.codex}/hooks.json`, and the
skills are directories you can delete. `seamlessd uninstall --client <name>`
also exists, but it scopes only which clients are un-wired during a **full**
uninstall - the service and binaries come out regardless.
---
# Changelog
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/changelog/
Every release, newest first. The entries mirror the notes on
[GitHub Releases](https://github.com/0spoon/seamless/releases) - the same
commit subjects, grouped the same way, with housekeeping (docs, CI, dependency
bumps) filtered out. Each heading links the release's downloads and checksums.
Install with one command ([quickstart](/quickstart/)), or update an existing
install in place with `seamlessd update`.
## v0.5.3 {#v0-5-3}
Released 2026-09-28 - [downloads and notes](https://github.com/0spoon/seamless/releases/tag/v0.5.3)
### Features
- feat(console): rebuild the Knowledge sky as a polar star chart
- feat(console): a System theme that follows the OS light or dark setting
- feat(console): preview the briefing in Settings as you change it
- feat(console): in-page knob gates by level, each a registered surface
- feat(console): briefing presets -- Lean, Balanced, Rich, and a Customize disclosure
- feat(console): choose the console level -- Experience picker, welcome card, badge
- feat(console): Basic Home leads with a health strip; Overview analytics by level
- feat(console): Settings becomes one section at a time, by level
- feat(console): hidden, not locked -- level banner, level-aware search and tabs
- feat(console): screen registry drives the sidebar; level resolved per request
- feat(console): console.level config, stored level row, and upgrade grandfather
### Fixes
- fix(console): level-aware 404 links, phone layout fixes, and a sticky save bar
## v0.5.2 {#v0-5-2}
Released 2026-09-27 - [downloads and notes](https://github.com/0spoon/seamless/releases/tag/v0.5.2)
### Features
- feat(console): Luminous memory -- a living visual design over the new UX
- feat(console): UX redesign -- job-grouped nav, keyboard-first palette, no dead ends
### Fixes
- fix(console): scope the wordmark's .brand rules to the anchor
## v0.5.1 {#v0-5-1}
Released 2026-09-24 - [downloads and notes](https://github.com/0spoon/seamless/releases/tag/v0.5.1)
### Fixes
- fix(install): branch make install on role: client
- fix(install): probe https as well as http in the health wait
### Other
- build(deps): raise the toolchain floor to go1.25.13
## v0.5.0 {#v0-5-0}
Released 2026-09-24 - [downloads and notes](https://github.com/0spoon/seamless/releases/tag/v0.5.0)
### Features
- feat(network): Phase 4 docs, one shared TLS client, live client-role tool count
- feat(install): client role -- pairing, install-hooks --server-url, client surfaces
- feat(transport,archive): LAN-capable serve and the export/import CLI verbs
- feat(identity): scope sessions and the repo map by host
- feat(archive): guarded import -- fresh restore and ATTACH merge
- feat(archive): export package and the store read-path additions
- feat(recall): extend the corpus to the work record
### Fixes
- fix(store): retry the BUSY that busy_timeout cannot cover
- fix(store): serialize migrations across processes
- fix(deps): require goldmark v1.8.5 to match go.sum
### Other
- build(deps): bump grpc to v1.83.1 to clear GO-2026-6348
- refactor(config): one ServerURL derivation, gitread repo readers, hostGuard allowlist
- build(lint): migrate .golangci.yml to schema v2
## v0.4.11 {#v0-4-11}
Released 2026-08-11 - [downloads and notes](https://github.com/0spoon/seamless/releases/tag/v0.4.11)
### Features
- feat(console): plan-level model token attribution
- feat(console): polish the Retrieval screen
- feat(console): compact title bars for Search and Retrieval
- feat(console): interactive capture calendar and vitals drill-downs
## v0.4.10 {#v0-4-10}
Released 2026-08-08 - [downloads and notes](https://github.com/0spoon/seamless/releases/tag/v0.4.10)
### Features
- feat(momentum): ledger milestones + witnessed unlock notices
- feat(momentum): plan.shipped settlement + settle wash and monthly count on Plans
- feat(momentum): milestone event layer (latched firsts and counts)
- feat(momentum): finish-line card progress draw
- feat(momentum): ledger glints for live payoff and stage-crossing arrivals
- feat(momentum): streak ember on the capture streak number
- feat(momentum): capture calendar entry wave + breathing today cell
- feat(console): add the Now screen, the cross-project live agent view
- feat(console): turn the Overview attention strip into a scroll-snap carousel
- feat(plans): name the composition slug at capture, and fold the strays in
- feat(momentum): latched project maturity stages
- feat(momentum): knowledge payoff moments -- first reuse + monthly spotlight
- feat(momentum): capture calendar with streak on the Sessions page
- feat(momentum): finish-line cards on Overview + briefing plan-line emphasis
- feat(momentum): the momentum optional feature -- registry, config, in-page surface gating
- feat(edit): partial edits on a concurrency-safe mutation substrate
- feat(features): optional features -- per-feature toggles, research ships off
- feat(gardener): two-tier rejection -- dismiss until it recurs, hide forever
- feat(isolation): close the fence -- gardener proposals, usage names, topology
- feat(isolation): confidential and sealed projects -- the agent-to-agent fence
- feat(console): UX revision -- judged numbers, compact chrome, honest empty states
### Fixes
- fix(hooks): wait for a subagent transcript to settle before capturing it
## v0.4.9 {#v0-4-9}
Released 2026-07-31 - [downloads and notes](https://github.com/0spoon/seamless/releases/tag/v0.4.9)
### Features
- feat(search): rank exact names, slugs, and ULIDs in their own lookup lane
- feat(console): order plan steps frontier-first and rewrite the ledger row
- feat(console): make the project workspace's Plans & tasks tab interactive
### Fixes
- fix(security): remediate deep audit findings
- fix(install): unique aside names for the Windows binary swap
## v0.4.8 {#v0-4-8}
Released 2026-07-30 - [downloads and notes](https://github.com/0spoon/seamless/releases/tag/v0.4.8)
### Fixes
- fix(hooks): emit PowerShell-valid Codex command_windows and tolerate a BOM
- fix(install): fall back to a Startup shortcut when the task store is closed
- fix(install): authenticate to the system proxy on Windows
- fix(install): report the real download failure instead of assuming 404
## v0.4.7 {#v0-4-7}
Released 2026-07-29 - [downloads and notes](https://github.com/0spoon/seamless/releases/tag/v0.4.7)
### Fixes
- fix(mcp): declare tool behaviour hints instead of shipping spec defaults
- fix(deploy): build the Glama image from the admin form
## v0.4.6 {#v0-4-6}
Released 2026-07-29 - [downloads and notes](https://github.com/0spoon/seamless/releases/tag/v0.4.6)
### Features
- feat(deploy): add the Glama directory image
- feat(bench): replace the scenario suite with five mechanism scenarios
- feat(bench): authenticate the agent inside an arm
- feat(bench): add the edge-caching briefing-catch scenario
- feat(bench): results, uplift report, and version comparison
- feat(bench): headless runner cmd/seambench run
- feat(bench): grade a captured run from its artifact directory
- feat(bench): freeze the run-artifact contract between runner and grader
- feat(branding): carve out scripts/branding with a verbatim distill tool
- feat(gardener): rebuild the console queue as an inbox with undo
- feat(gardener): settle implemented-but-unapproved captures as shipped, not abandoned
- feat(bench): benchmark scenario + conditions model in internal/bench
- feat(fixture): generalize the scene fixture into a dual-mode harness
- feat(docs): language labels on fenced code blocks
- feat(docs): card micro-affordances - hover arrow, section page counts
- feat(site,docs): polish sweep - clipboard fallback, anchors, print, hints
- feat(docs): inline TOC below the right-rail breakpoint, search snippets
- feat(projects): adopt a moved repo's project instead of minting slug-2
- feat(site): mobile navigation release - drawer scrim, landing menu
- feat(docs): global context chip, demoted per-page bar, hidden-block count
- feat(docs): route from the top of the docs home
- feat(docs): one reading context - OS/client picker, router home, single-home IA
### Fixes
- fix(mcp): resolve the five recurring agent tool errors the gardener collected
- fix(bench): bind arms through the physical repo path
- fix(console): preserve Gardener reader position
- fix(console): polish Gardener layout
- fix(install): reload the launchd job instead of kickstarting in place
- fix(mcp): attribute session tool.calls to the session they operate on
- fix(site): put the landing hamburger in the left corner
- fix(site): store the UA-refined OS from the landing switch
- fix(changelog): exempt the release commit from the drift check
### Other
- perf(docs): prefetch same-origin pages on hover intent
- perf(site,docs): preload the three variable woff2 fonts
## v0.4.5 {#v0-4-5}
Released 2026-07-26 - [downloads and notes](https://github.com/0spoon/seamless/releases/tag/v0.4.5)
### Features
- feat(install): order install targets Claude-first
- feat(briefing): order plans and ready tasks by recency
### Fixes
- fix(mcp): preserve memory frontmatter on update, add memory_write tags
- fix(docs): keep tool names whole in the five-card flow figure
## v0.4.4 {#v0-4-4}
Released 2026-07-24 - [downloads and notes](https://github.com/0spoon/seamless/releases/tag/v0.4.4)
### Features
- feat(briefing): grouped-section layout + recall kind-browse mode
- feat(memory): runtime self-teaching for the stage header contract
- feat(guidance): teach the stage header contract at write time
- feat(gardener): rekind proposal type -- propose-only kind reclassification
- feat(guidance): teach the constraint-vs-convention discriminator at write time
- feat(recall): optional kind filter applied inside the candidate queries
- feat(briefing): CONVENTION section + convention_max_full; constraint_max_full default 4
- feat(memory): add convention kind end-to-end (enum, console, gardener prompt, docs)
- feat(briefing): prompt-matched RELEVANT section in subagent briefings
- feat(briefing): subagent footer, spawn-prompt capture, funnel-by-surface split
- feat(hooks): brief Claude Code Task subagents via SubagentStart
- feat(briefing): clip findings at word boundaries and refresh docs
- feat(briefing): promote mishap-referenced constraints in the full tier
- feat(briefing): tier constraints into top-K full lines plus compact tail
- feat(briefing): reorder body, add constraint_max_full, link mishaps
- feat(docs): redesign figure connectors
- feat(console): tighten Interactions controls and event inspector
- feat(console): redesign event review workspace
- feat(console): make Interactions a clean live feed
- feat(console): add an agent-reported mishaps rail to the Overview
- feat(site): expose WebMCP tools to browser agents
- feat(docsgen): publish the Agent Skills discovery index
- feat(a2a): serve a real A2A surface and publish its agent card
- feat(docsgen): emit /auth.md documenting the local-first auth model
- feat(docsgen): emit the MCP Server Card at /.well-known/mcp/server-card.json
- feat(docsgen): emit a site-root index.md twin; drop the Content-Type edge rule
- feat(docsgen): emit a markdown twin per page for text/markdown negotiation
- feat(docsgen): emit /.well-known/api-catalog at the site root
### Fixes
- fix(docs): preserve flow label casing
- fix(installer): report only actual changes
- fix(console): stabilize interaction model attribution
## v0.4.3 {#v0-4-3}
Released 2026-07-22 - [downloads and notes](https://github.com/0spoon/seamless/releases/tag/v0.4.3)
### Features
- feat(console): per-gate readiness in the utility activation table
### Other
- refactor(console): merge the utility activation table into the Closed loop group
## v0.4.2 {#v0-4-2}
Released 2026-07-22 - [downloads and notes](https://github.com/0spoon/seamless/releases/tag/v0.4.2)
### Features
- feat(sessions): self-reported mishaps at session_end
- feat(gardener): add the tool-error pass -- recurring agent-facing errors become fix tasks
- feat(console): make the interaction-volume histogram interactive
### Fixes
- fix(console): locate timeline events in place
## v0.4.1 {#v0-4-1}
Released 2026-07-21 - [downloads and notes](https://github.com/0spoon/seamless/releases/tag/v0.4.1)
### Features
- feat(console): semantic index and storage panel on Settings
- feat(gardener): recall-miss ledger and memory-wanted proposals
- feat(console): session review workspace and recency-first list order
- feat(retrieval): closed-loop utility ranking for briefings and recall
- feat(console): redesign the login page around getting in, not locked out
- feat(console): show memory churn on the Retrieval report
- feat(mcp): add registry server.json for io.github.0spoon/seamless
## v0.4.0 {#v0-4-0}
Released 2026-07-21 - [downloads and notes](https://github.com/0spoon/seamless/releases/tag/v0.4.0)
### Features
- feat(site): expand the README as the highest-authority search surface
- feat(release): publish a Homebrew cask to 0spoon/homebrew-tap on release
- feat(site): crawlable /scenarios/ pages and four definition pages
- feat(site): release-time /docs/changelog/ generated from git tags
- feat(site): hand-written /compare/ hub and the Agent Teams FAQ entry
- feat(site): answer-first openers for the pages that map to a real query
- feat(site): one honest MCP-clients guide for Cursor, Cline, Windsurf and Zed
- feat(site): manual IndexNow ping and a make metrics target
- feat(site): crawlable scenes, authored section landings, unpublish SITE.md
- feat(site): JSON-LD structured data plus the gates that keep it honest
- feat(docsgen): add canonical, robots and Open Graph head tags to every docs page
- feat(console): redesign Retrieval as a four-zone circulation report
## v0.3.9 {#v0-3-9}
Released 2026-07-21 - [downloads and notes](https://github.com/0spoon/seamless/releases/tag/v0.3.9)
### Features
- feat(console): share one in-place navigation client across data refreshes
- feat(sessions): harvest real model token usage on both Claude Code and Codex
- feat(install): wire the chat surface into client detection and selection
- feat(doctor): verify the Claude app chat surface's desktop-config registration
- feat(seamlessd): register the chat-surface MCP bridge in claude_desktop_config.json
- feat(doctor,store): verify the Claude app's embedded code surface
- feat(console): edit project families in Settings and cost the reach card
- feat(console): redesign overview, gardener, and settings surfaces
- feat(docsgen): emit llms.txt and llms-full.txt at the site root
- feat(docsgen): generate and gate sitemap.xml and robots.txt at the site root
- feat(console): give the operational explorers shared orientation chrome
- feat(console): add a reader nav strip and shared library chrome
- feat(search): add time windows, sorts, and a unified console search stream
- feat(search): floor semantic-only hits and show similarity in console search
- feat: add Codex shared-host diagnostics
- feat(console): add Labs and Trials library screens
- feat(seam): add seam version, reporting the running daemon's version
### Fixes
- fix(docsgen): exempt author-written dates from the build-timestamp tripwire
- fix(mcp): stop lab-only bindings from masquerading as session bindings
## v0.3.8 {#v0-3-8}
Released 2026-07-20 - [downloads and notes](https://github.com/0spoon/seamless/releases/tag/v0.3.8)
### Features
- feat(install): confirm client choice, drop the silent Claude fallback
### Fixes
- fix(test): remove load-sensitive 5s deadline from fake-codex tests
## v0.3.7 {#v0-3-7}
Released 2026-07-20 - [downloads and notes](https://github.com/0spoon/seamless/releases/tag/v0.3.7)
### Features
- feat(hooks): integrate Codex subagent lifecycle
- feat(install): detect the agent clients instead of defaulting to Claude
- feat(hooks): cap Codex hook context below the output spill threshold
- feat(codex): add MCP instructions and native skills
- feat(console): harness and model attribution pills on sessions, memories, notes, and the feed
- feat(security): land the 2026-07 audit hardening (M1-M3 and low-severity fixes)
- feat(attribution): record which model produced each memory, note, and session
### Fixes
- fix(release): ignore the CI-generated sigs/ so goreleaser sees a clean tree
- fix(seamlessd): keep MCP stderr out of JSON
- fix(seamlessd): report Codex operational truth
- fix(scripts): pin --client claude in the scene-fixture harness
- fix(seamlessd): reconcile Codex MCP registration
- fix(skills): stop double-wrapping the mkdir error
- fix(hooks): prepare the plan-context block once for telemetry and response
- fix(console): resolve provenance stamps by shape and stop pinning mutable session fields
- fix(doctor): judge hooks against the recorded seam path, not the running binary's sibling
- fix(install): warn when a pinned 0.3.3-0.3.6 binary bundles no skills
- fix(install): pass an explicit --client from make install
- fix(scripts): reject traversal skill names before rm -rf
- fix(skills): restore disable-model-invocation on seam-onboard
- fix(hooks): adopt hand-written tilde hook commands instead of duplicating
- fix(seamlessd): degrade skill install instead of aborting install-hooks
- fix(hooks): keep item ids on a truncated Codex injection
- fix(install): probe for --client before passing it to a pinned binary
- fix(hooks): reject an unknown hook client instead of defaulting to Claude
- fix(hooks): classify definitions exactly
- fix(sessions): key ambient sessions by full external identity
- fix(release): pin cosign to the v2 line so the sign stage survives cosign v3
## v0.3.6 {#v0-3-6}
Released 2026-07-19 - [downloads and notes](https://github.com/0spoon/seamless/releases/tag/v0.3.6)
### Features
- feat(update): seamlessd update + --check, with make update parity
- feat(console): Plans joins the library layout
- feat(console): unify Notes, Memories, and Tasks into a library layout
### Fixes
- fix(version): derive build version from git tag so make and releases agree
- fix(console): per-project Retrieval trend on the project Overview
## v0.3.5 {#v0-3-5}
Released 2026-07-19 - [downloads and notes](https://github.com/0spoon/seamless/releases/tag/v0.3.5)
### Features
- feat(service): cross-OS `seamlessd start|stop|restart|status` + make parity
- feat(uninstall): cross-OS `seamlessd uninstall` + make delegation
## v0.3.4 {#v0-3-4}
Released 2026-07-18 - [downloads and notes](https://github.com/0spoon/seamless/releases/tag/v0.3.4)
### Features
- feat(install): structured, colored, terser install output
- feat(install): interactive client picker + graceful non-Claude-Code doctor
## v0.3.3 {#v0-3-3}
Released 2026-07-18 - [downloads and notes](https://github.com/0spoon/seamless/releases/tag/v0.3.3)
### Features
- feat(codex): install-hooks --client codex profile + doctor awareness
- feat(codex): Stop-hook lifecycle -- heartbeat + rollout tail-harvest
- feat(codex): per-client hook payload adapter and --client plumbing
- feat(codex): client-derived ambient identity (cc/ vs cx/) and external session id
- feat(codex): add seam mcp-proxy stdio<->HTTP bridge for stdio-only MCP clients
### Fixes
- fix(site): cache-bust static assets so deploys stop serving stale CSS/JS
## v0.3.2 {#v0-3-2}
Released 2026-07-18 - [downloads and notes](https://github.com/0spoon/seamless/releases/tag/v0.3.2)
### Features
- feat(site): OS-aware install command on the landing page
- feat(windows): package, install, and supervise Seamless on Windows
- feat(hooks): emit exec-form command hooks + seam hook --config
### Other
- refactor(demoseed): extract seeding core into internal/demokit; thin CLI
## v0.3.1 {#v0-3-1}
Released 2026-07-17 - [downloads and notes](https://github.com/0spoon/seamless/releases/tag/v0.3.1)
### Features
- feat(marketing): make the demo scenes a self-running reel; refresh wordmark
- feat(marketing): ship the animated with/without terminal scenes section
- feat(mcp,briefing,skills): batch+enrich missing-required errors, reconcile kind/type guidance
- feat(demoseed,marketing): record with/without terminal scenes + distill all four into scenes.js
- feat(mcp): resolve task-claim identity from the ambient, not the transport binding
- feat(skills): ship /seam-research as a repo-maintained skill
- feat(installer): bundle the /seam-onboard skill in the release
- feat(mcp,docs): make repo auto-mapping visible; map-repo is override-only
- feat(demoseed): scene fixture + dual harness for terminal captures
- feat(briefing): clean truncation, subset header, drop no-summary findings
- feat(gardener,briefing): age out gateless stage memories
- feat(site): swap the console sketch for real captures from a seeded demo
- feat(install): one-command curl | sh installer for macOS and Linux
### Fixes
- fix(console): window plans on composition activity, lead with the all-time total
- fix(console): stop the bare .plan rule leaking onto the Plans filter chip
### Other
- build: gate the landing page against the installer and the CLI
## v0.3.0 {#v0-3-0}
Released 2026-07-16 - [downloads and notes](https://github.com/0spoon/seamless/releases/tag/v0.3.0)
The first public release of Seamless.
---
# Concepts
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/concepts/
Seamless is built around a small number of load-bearing ideas, and everything
else follows from them. Knowledge lives in markdown files that are the source
of truth, with SQLite as a rebuildable index over them. Memory has a lifecycle:
a memory is never silently rewritten - it is superseded, with provenance
pointing back at what it replaced. And agents do not ask for context; context
arrives ambiently, injected at session start and on matching prompts, before
the agent has done anything at all.
Start with [How Seamless works](/concepts/how-it-works/) for the shape of the
system - one daemon, the surfaces it serves, and the line between files and
database. Then [Memory & notes](/concepts/memory/) explains what actually gets
stored: the eight memory kinds, when a note is the better vehicle, and how
supersession keeps a long-lived store honest instead of letting it silt up.
The middle of the story is how knowledge reaches an agent.
[Sessions & briefings](/concepts/sessions/) covers the ambient side - what a
session is, how the briefing is packed, and what never gets dropped from it.
[Recall](/concepts/recall/) covers the on-demand side: one search entry point
that fuses keyword and vector results, and the three distinct paths by which a
stored fact ends up in front of a model. [Projects & scope](/concepts/projects/)
explains which knowledge is even in play for a given call - the scope
precedence chain, the fail-closed rule, and project families.
The last two pages are about work and upkeep rather than knowledge.
[Tasks & plans](/concepts/tasks-and-plans/) describes the dependency-aware
ready queue, lease-based claiming that lets parallel agents divide work without
colliding, and plans as compositions of notes and tasks rather than a separate
primitive. [The gardener](/concepts/gardener/) is the background pass that
finds duplicates, staleness, and drift - and only ever proposes, because
nothing in Seamless rewrites your knowledge behind your back.
---
# How Seamless works
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/concepts/how-it-works/
Seamless is a local-first memory and coordination system for coding agents.
The release ships a daemon (`seamlessd`) and its headless client (`seam`); one
daemon process owns one SQLite database and one directory of markdown files,
bound to loopback on your machine. Agents reach it over MCP,
hooks make sessions ambient for Claude Code and Codex, and you watch through a
read-mostly console. It is deliberately not a distributed system - one
instance, one port, one data directory per machine. Everything below follows
from that.
## One daemon, three surfaces
```text
Local architecture
MCP Agents Tools and session binding
Command → HTTP Hooks Ambient context and harvest
Browser You Read-mostly console
seamlessd one local process · 127.0.0.1:8081
Durable truth memory/*.md
Durable truth notes/*.md
State + indexes seam.db
One daemon, three interfaces. Agents and hooks write through the same process; humans inspect the resulting state in the console.
```
- **Agents** speak MCP at `/api/mcp`. This is the primary interface; the clients
of Seamless are programs, not people.
- **Hooks** are how sessions become ambient. Claude Code calls them at session
start, on each prompt, and at session end, so an agent gets briefed and
harvested without ever choosing to.
- **You** get a read-mostly console. It is an observability surface, not the way
the system is driven.
One instance per machine, one port, one data directory. Not a distributed system,
by choice.
## Files are truth; the database is an index
This is the load-bearing decision in the whole design.
| | Lives in | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Memories, notes | **Markdown files** | Durable knowledge you own: readable, greppable, editable, git-able |
| Sessions, tasks, trials, events, telemetry | **SQLite** | High-churn state with no reason to be a file |
| FTS index, embeddings | **SQLite** | Derived data, rebuildable from the files |
So: **what would you lose if `seam.db` were deleted?** The sessions, the task
queue, the trials, and the event log - the record of what *happened*. You would
not lose a single memory or note, because those are files, and startup
reconciliation rebuilds their index from the disk.
That asymmetry is the point. The knowledge is yours in the strongest sense: it
survives this program. If Seamless disappeared tomorrow, you would still have a
folder of markdown files that a human - or any other tool - can read.
## The write path
```text
Write path
1 · request memory_write Validate name, content, and scope
2 · durable act Atomic Markdown write Fail closed when scope is ambiguous
3 · rebuildable FTS + embedding Index the exact file content
4 · observable Append event Record what happened
The file is the durable boundary. SQLite mirrors make the knowledge searchable and observable.
```
The file write is the one that matters. Indexing after it can fail and be
rebuilt; the file is already on disk.
## The read path
```text
Three retrieval paths
SessionStart cwd → project → budgeted briefing → inject Baseline context before the first action
UserPromptSubmit prompt match → <seam-recall> → inject Focused context for the current request
recall FTS5 + cosine → RRF fusion → budget → return Explicit search initiated by the agent
Automatic briefing, prompt-matched injection, and explicit recall share the same knowledge but answer different moments in an agent run.
```
All three are covered in [Recall](/concepts/recall/) and
[Sessions & briefings](/concepts/sessions/).
## What Seamless is not
- **Not a RAG pipeline over your codebase.** It stores what agents *learned*, not
what the code says. The code is already in the repo; duplicating it into memory
is how a store fills with noise.
- **Not a vector database.** Vectors are float32 blobs in SQLite, scanned
exactly. No ANN index, no separate service.
- **Not a cloud service.** No account, no sync, and no outbound product
telemetry. The local event and retrieval telemetry shown in the console never
leaves the machine. The bind is loopback and the key is static.
- **Not autonomous.** The gardener proposes; you decide. Nothing rewrites your
knowledge behind your back.
- **Not a chat memory.** It is not trying to remember your conversation. It
remembers decisions, constraints, and dead ends across many agents and many
months.
---
# Memory & notes
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/concepts/memory/
In Seamless, a memory is one markdown file with YAML frontmatter holding one
durable piece of knowledge an agent should not have to rediscover. The files
are the source of truth - the SQLite database is a rebuildable index over them -
and the frontmatter carries a lifecycle: a memory can be superseded or archived,
and an invalid memory leaves every index while staying readable. A memory is for
what is *true*; work artifacts belong in [notes](#memory-or-note) instead.
That the store is plain markdown is not an implementation detail - it is the
design. You can read it, `grep` it, edit it, and put it in git, and no part of
the system needs your permission to be inspected.
```yaml
---
id: 01K... # ULID, assigned once, stable forever
kind: gotcha # what sort of knowledge this is (see below)
name: chroma-boot-race # kebab-case, unique within the project
description: one line, <=150 chars -- the ONLY text shown in indexes
project: seamless # empty = global
created: 2026-07-10T18:00:00Z
updated: 2026-07-10T18:00:00Z
valid_from: 2026-07-10T18:00:00Z
invalid_at: null # set on supersession/archive; invalid memories leave indexes
superseded_by: null # ULID of the replacement
source_session: cc/019f7291-7ccbc0d8f16e51a4
model: claude-fable-5 # the model that produced the content, as the provider names it
tags: [x, y]
---
body markdown
```
## The description is the product
Everything above the body is bookkeeping except one field. **The `description` is
the only text an index ever shows** - the briefing, the memory list, the recall
result. An agent decides whether to read the body based on nothing but that line.
A description that says "notes about the console" is invisible: no future agent
can tell whether it matters. One that says "Console: a trailing note inside a
`.card h2` must use `.h2-meta`, never `.count` - header is flex space-between"
does the whole job without the body being opened at all.
Write the description for a future agent deciding whether to read further. That
is its entire purpose.
## The nine kinds
| Kind | What it holds | Never forget |
|---|---|---|
| `constraint` | A rule any agent must follow regardless of task | Pinned into every briefing, never dropped for budget, never staleness-archived; the top `briefing.constraint_max_full` render in full, the rest as names on the compact `+N more, equally binding` line |
| `convention` | A project-local choice or layout fact - naming, branding, where things live and deploy | Binding but topically triggered: its own budget-competing Conventions section (the top `briefing.convention_max_full` in full, the rest behind an always-rendered count line pointing at `recall kind=convention`); filing it as `constraint` crowds the briefing head |
| `runbook` | A procedure that works | The steps, in order, that actually ran |
| `protocol` | An agreed way of doing something | Why the agreement exists |
| `gotcha` | A trap and how to avoid it | The symptom, so it is recognizable next time |
| `decision` | A choice and its reasoning | The alternatives rejected, or it will be relitigated |
| `refuted` | Something believed that turned out false | Keeping this is what stops the fleet re-deriving it |
| `reference` | A pointer to something external | The URL and what is at it |
| `stage` | Where a piece of multi-session work stands | The body must open with `Status: open\|in_progress\|blocked\|done` (plus `Gate: human\|ai`) - the pin belongs to the gate, not the kind |
Choosing the kind is not filing paperwork. `constraint` and `stage` are
**pinned**: they survive budget pressure and are never age-filtered or
staleness-archived. Marking a preference as a constraint crowds out real
constraints; filing a real constraint as a `reference` means agents will violate
it.
A stage's pin is conditional on it actually gating something. `Status: done`
unpins it immediately; a missing or unparseable header renders as
`status unknown (no Status: header)` for a grace window
(`briefing.stage_unknown_max_age_days`, default 7 days since last update) and
then leaves the briefing, and the gardener proposes archiving gateless stages
after `gardener.stale_stage_days` (14). A milestone breadcrumb ("X landed") is
a note or a finding, not a stage - written as a stage without a live gate, it
now expires instead of pinning forever.
Update a stage's status by re-writing it with `memory_write` (same name, in
place) - `memory_append` adds below the existing body and cannot change the
header, which is parsed from the top of the body. And the rule of thumb that
keeps stages out of the task queue: a task is work someone here can claim and
finish; a stage is a state of the world you wait on that every session must
know while it holds.
`refuted` deserves special mention. A store that only records what is true keeps
paying for the same wrong turn: the fleet re-derives the dead end, tries it,
finds it dead, and moves on - every time. Recording the refutation makes that
cost one-time.
## Supersession: how the store stays honest
Memories are not appended forever, and they are not silently overwritten. When
something stops being true, the replacement **supersedes** it:
```text
Explicit supersession
memory_write new-truth supersedes old-truth The replacement is written first.
old-truth Invalid, preserved invalid_at = now
superseded_by = new id
Leaves briefing and recall; remains readable on disk.
new-truth Active and indexed Eligible for recall and the next briefing.
Replacement changes which memory is active without erasing the historical record.
```
The old memory leaves every index but stays readable. An agent following an old
reference lands on it, sees that it is invalid, and finds the pointer to what
replaced it. That is provenance: the store can tell you not just what it believes
but what it used to believe and what changed its mind.
Contrast the two failure modes this avoids. **Append-only** means recall returns
three contradictory answers and the agent picks one. **Destructive overwrite**
means the reasoning is gone and the same argument happens again in six weeks.
[Memory supersession](/concepts/memory-supersession/) defines the idea on its
own and contrasts it with decay-style forgetting as well.
## Update, append, supersede, or delete
| You want to | Use |
|---|---|
| Correct or extend what *this* memory says | `memory_write`, same `name` (updated in place, id stable) |
| Add to the end without rereading it | `memory_append` |
| Replace a **different**, now-outdated memory | `memory_write` with `supersedes` |
| Remove something written by mistake | `memory_delete` |
The line that matters: **delete is for things that were never true; supersede is
for things that stopped being true.** Deleting the latter destroys the history
that explains the current state.
Never hand-stamp `invalid_at` or `superseded_by` in a file. They are set by the
supersede path, which also updates the indexes; editing them by hand leaves the
database disagreeing with the disk.
## Memory or note?
The single most common confusion:
| | Memory | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Answers | "What is true about this project?" | "What did we produce?" |
| Size | One idea, led by a one-line description | However long the artifact needs |
| Reaches a briefing | Yes | No - found via [recall](/concepts/recall/) |
| Examples | A constraint, a gotcha, a decision | Research findings, a meeting summary, a design record |
The test: **would a future agent need this injected before it starts working?**
If yes, it is a memory, and it has to earn its line in the budget. If it is
something you would want to *find* and read in full when the topic comes up, it
is a note.
Journaling into memory is the classic mistake. It is too long to inject, too
specific to generalize, and it pushes real constraints out of the briefing.
## Global vs. project
A memory with an empty `project` is global: every agent in every repo sees it.
That is a strong claim, so writes **fail closed** - with no session and no
explicit project, a write is rejected as ambiguous rather than quietly landing in
the global scope. Pass `project: global` to mean it on purpose. See
[Projects & scope](/concepts/projects/).
---
# Sessions & briefings
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/concepts/sessions/
A Seamless **session** is one agent's stretch of work. A **briefing** is what
that agent gets handed at the start of it, before it has called a single tool:
a SessionStart hook - installed for [Claude Code](/claude-code/) or
[Codex](/codex-cli/) - resolves the working directory to a project, assembles
constraints, plan rollups, and recent findings inside a token budget, and
injects the result into the agent's context. A client without hooks gets a
briefing only by calling `session_start` itself.
This is the mechanism that makes Seamless ambient rather than opt-in. An agent
does not have to remember to ask what it knows; it begins already knowing your
constraints.
## Ambient vs. explicit sessions
| | Ambient | Explicit |
|---|---|---|
| Opened by | The SessionStart hook, automatically | `session_start` |
| Named | `cc/<prefix>-<digest>` (Claude Code) or `cx/<prefix>-<digest>` (Codex) | Whatever you pass, or generated |
| Gets | The short injected briefing | The full briefing, returned by the call |
The ambient handle keeps the first eight external-ID characters readable and
adds 64 stable SHA-256 bits. Seamless resolves lifecycle activity by the full
external ID plus client, so two UUIDv7 sessions sharing a timestamp prefix never
share scope, findings, or provenance. Pre-upgrade handles keep their old names
when resumed. The handle is a display label, not an API: treat `cc/...` and
`cx/...` as opaque and never parse or construct them.
They are not two competing sessions. `session_start` **adopts** the sole ambient
session for the same working directory rather than opening a second one - that
adoption rule exists because the alternative was double-counting every agent.
Call `session_start` when the work is non-trivial: it returns the full briefing
(the injected one is deliberately shorter), and it binds the connection so
everything afterward inherits the project scope.
That distinction also appears in knowledge provenance. A write attributed by an
ambient hook stores the session's `cc/...` or `cx/...` **name** in
`source_session`; a write made through a bound MCP connection stores the
session's ULID. Readers resolve both forms. Do not infer client, scope, or
liveness from the spelling of `source_session`.
## An actual briefing, annotated
This is a real briefing, in the order the assembler packs it:
```text
Actual packing order budgeted
<seam-briefing>
Seam project: seamless -- 62 memories (24 constraints, 9 conventions, 1 stage), 3 recent findings.
Constraints (binding for every session):
- errcheck-check-blank-two-category-rule: errcheck runs with check-blank ...
- llm-degradation-remote-vs-local: llm errors split remote ...
... 2 more bullets ...
- +20 more, equally binding -- memory_read name=<name> before working near one: fts-or-vs-allterms-presence-probe, console-csrf-origin-check-contract, ...
Stages (world-state gates):
- deep-audit-f15-f18-landed -- status unknown (no Status: header)
(details: memory_read name=<stage>)
Plans:
- marketing -- 2/3 done, 1 claimable, 0 in flight
- seamless-documentation-site -- awaiting approval: Seamless documentation site (presented, 2m)
(steps: tasks_ready plan=<slug>; claim: tasks_claim id=<task id>; attach work via the plan:<slug> tag)
Conventions (project-local choices):
- wordmark-caret-l-spans-three-files: The wordmark markup must stay in sync ...
... 3 more bullets ...
(9 total, 4 shown -- recall kind=convention for the rest)
Recent findings:
- cc/1fa4b02d (1h): Landed the installer check; the release gate now fails on ...
Ready tasks (2):
- Fix tool.call misattribution
- Polish the docs nav
(full queue with ids: tasks_ready; claim: tasks_claim id=<id>)
Memories (seamless):
- gofmt-must-scope-to-tracked-files: gofmt walks the filesystem ...
- shared-worktree-concurrent-agents-verify: Agents share the main worktree ...
- (+34 older -- recall query=<topic>, optionally kind=<kind>)
Recall on demand with recall; read a memory with memory_read.
Seam session: cc/8dd2fd5b-55d96b8d15ff0104 (ambient)
</seam-briefing>
Situation before library: the pinned head leads (tiered constraints, stages, plan rollups), what just happened follows (pending plans, conventions, recent findings, ready tasks), the memory index packs after it, and retrieval guidance plus session identity close the envelope.
```
Line by line:
- **The header** counts what exists, so an agent knows how much it is *not* being
shown. Constraints, conventions, and pinned stages are memories too, so they
are reported as subsets of the total, not second pools.
- **The Constraints section** comes first and is **never dropped for budget**. A
constraint is a rule the project cannot violate; a briefing that omitted one to
fit a token budget would be worse than no briefing at all. It is *tiered*:
the top `briefing.constraint_max_full` (default 4) render as full
`- name: description` bullets - starred constraints first, then constraints a
recent mishap referenced (last 30 days, most recent first), then the same
blended recency+utility order the memory index uses - and the remainder
collapse into the compact **`+N more, equally binding`** line, which still
names every one so an agent can `memory_read name=<name>` before working near
it. Setting the knob to 0 disables tiering and renders every constraint full.
- **The Stages section** is pinned right after constraints, for the same reason:
a gated stage's status is load-bearing for the whole session. The pin belongs
to the *gate*: a stage whose body does not open with a live
`Status: open|in_progress|blocked` header only renders (as
`status unknown (no Status: header)` - the nudge names the fix) for the
`briefing.stage_unknown_max_age_days` grace window (default 7) after its last
update, then leaves the briefing rather than squatting in it forever.
- **The Plans section** follows. The pinned rollup rows (`2/3 done,
1 claimable`), most recently active plan first, tell the next agent what work
it can pick up right now, and the closing hint names the premade filters:
`tasks_ready plan=<slug>` for a plan's steps, `tasks_claim` to take one.
- **`awaiting approval` rows** sit in the same section but open the budgeted
body: captured but unapproved plans are a hint, not a commitment, so unlike
the rollups they compete for budget and expire after
`briefing.pending_plan_max_days`.
- **The Conventions section** follows: project-local choices and layout facts
(`kind: convention`) - binding, but topically triggered, so unlike
constraints they compete for budget. The top `briefing.convention_max_full`
(default 4; 0 renders all) show in full and a count line always closes the
section, pointing at `recall kind=convention` - a real command: `recall`
with a kind and no query lists that kind newest-first. A starred convention
heads the section and renders regardless of the tier cap or the budget.
- **Recent findings** - what previous sessions learned, harvested at their end -
render right after: they say what just happened here, so they pack (and
render) before the memory index rather than below it.
- **The Ready tasks section** closes the situation half: the open queue, newest
first, before the library begins, with the full-queue and claim commands as
its trailer. The display order is the only thing that changes at the top:
`tasks_ready` itself still lists oldest-first, so claiming stays FIFO.
- **The Memories index** is `- name: description` bullets only - the description
is the *only* text an index ever shows, which is why writing a good one
matters more than writing a good body. Starred memories head the list,
exempt from every trim and from the budget.
- **`(+34 older -- recall query=<topic>, optionally kind=<kind>)`** is the
honest tail: the index was trimmed, and the briefing says so instead of
pretending it is complete.
## The budget, and what survives it
Sections are packed against `budgets.max_briefing_tokens` (default 1500), then
the whole thing is hard-capped at `briefing.hard_cap_multiplier` times that
(default 2x).
The **never-drop invariant**: constraints (both the full tier and the compact
`+N more, equally binding` line), pinned stages, and active-plan rollups are
counted first and are exempt from budget dropping - every constraint name
appears in every briefing. Starred memories keep the same exemption inside
their sections: a starred convention or index memory renders no matter how
starved the budget. Everything else packs in render order - pending
plans, conventions, recent findings, ready tasks, the memory index, sibling
findings, sibling memories - so budget priority and render priority agree: the sections
that say what is happening now pack before the memory library, a fat index can
no longer evict the findings that render above it, and the sibling sections
are the first to go when the budget runs out. The header counts only the
findings that actually rendered, and findings or index lines cut by budget
leave an explicit `+N more/older` trailer.
The memory index's own order starts as newest-first - but each memory also
carries a [utility score](/concepts/recall/#the-utility-nudge), a time-decayed
record of actual demand (reads, recall hits, prompt matches; being briefed
counts for nothing), and once a project's demand history matures the index is
ranked by the blend `(1-w)·recency + w·utility`, both on a 14-day half-life,
with `briefing.utility_weight` as `w` (default 0.4, 0 restores pure recency).
The same blended key ranks constraints ahead of their tier split, after stars
and recent mishaps have claimed the head of the full tier; while utility is
inactive the constraint order degrades to pure recency.
The switch is deliberate, not silent: in `briefing.utility_mode: auto` the
gardener latches it per project only once the project's first demand is at
least 14 days old and it has shown 20+ demand events and 10+ memories touched
in 30 days - a young project keeps the recency order, because a utility signal
with no history behind it is noise. `on`/`off` force it everywhere, and the
console's Settings → Knowledge engine shows each scope's progress toward the
latch, with a per-scope force.
Every knob is tunable in [Configuration](/reference/configuration/), and the
`briefing:` block is also editable live in the console. Those runtime edits are
stored in the database and win over both the file and the environment, applying
from the next session start without a daemon restart. If a briefing setting seems
to be ignored, check the console before you check the YAML.
Codex adds one client-specific safety ceiling after this packing step: every
model-visible Seamless hook context is capped at 2,400 estimated tokens, below
Codex's approximate 2,500-token temporary-file spill threshold. The cap runs
before telemetry is recorded and preserves generated closing tags and the
ambient handle. Claude Code does not use this additional cap.
## Liveness
Sessions heartbeat. A session that ends cleanly cascades immediately; one that is
abandoned is caught by an idle reaper after `gardener.session_idle_minutes` and
marked `expired`. The TTL only applies when there was no end signal at all - a
crashed agent's session does not sit "live" forever, and a slow one is not
reaped out from under itself.
`session_end` is the explicit findings path. Claude Code's SessionEnd hook calls
the same lifecycle. Codex 0.144.6 has no SessionEnd event, so each `Stop` hook
updates provisional findings from `last_assistant_message` and the reaper later
marks the idle ambient session `expired`; those expired ambient findings still
surface in future briefings. Keep findings tight - briefings show a short preview
- but they are stored in full, not rejected, so a long finding is fine when it
earns it.
The end of a session also harvests **real model token usage** - input, cached,
cache-creation, and output counts read from the client's own transcript
(Claude Code) or rollout file (Codex), not estimated from injected bytes. The
session's console page shows them as its "Model tokens" panel; a session whose
client exposes no transcript simply records none.
---
# Recall
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/concepts/recall/
In Seamless, `recall` is the single search entry point an agent calls to
retrieve durable knowledge - memories and notes - from the store. It fuses
SQLite FTS5 keyword matching with float32 cosine vector similarity using
reciprocal rank fusion, all inside one SQLite file with no external vector
database. With no embedding provider configured, recall runs keyword-only
rather than failing; when a configured provider is merely unreachable, it
degrades the same way instead of erroring.
`recall` is also the *only* search tool. There is no separate keyword search, no
separate semantic search, no "advanced" variant. One entry point, because a
surface with three search tools is a surface where agents pick the wrong one.
## What it searches
`recall` spans two halves of the store, and the default scope (`all`) covers
both:
| Half | Kinds | Matched by |
|---|---|---|
| **Durable knowledge** | memories, notes | keyword + vector |
| **The work record** | tasks, trials, session findings | keyword |
The work record is there because knowledge does not only get written as a
memory. A task body carries the acceptance criteria and the record of what was
already tried; a dropped task is often the only account of why something was
*not* done. A trial carries expected-vs-actual. A session's findings are the
handoff its author wrote for whoever came next. All of it used to be reachable
only by an agent already knowing which list tool to call - which is to say, only
by an agent that already suspected the answer existed.
Narrow it with `scope`: `memories`, `notes`, `tasks`, `trials`, `sessions`.
Two things follow from the work record being keyword-only. It carries no
embedding: there is no file behind a task row and so no content-hash reconcile
loop, and vectorizing on write would put a provider round-trip inside every
`tasks_add`. And because fusion rewards an item that *both* retrievers rank, a
work-record hit can never outrank a memory that matched both ways on the same
query - the ordering prefers curated knowledge without needing a rule that says
so.
Work-record hits carry a `status` (a task's status, a trial's outcome), which is
what separates a step you can still claim from a decision you can only learn
from.
## How it works
Two retrievers run over the store and their rankings are fused:
- **FTS5 keyword search.** Exact terms, names, error strings - the things vector
search is worst at. If you know a memory is called `chroma-boot-race`, this is
what finds it.
- **Vector similarity.** Embeddings stored as float32 blobs in SQLite, compared
by brute-force cosine. This finds the memory that is *about* your problem when
you don't know its name. Knowledge kinds only - see
[What it searches](#what-it-searches).
Their results are combined with **reciprocal rank fusion**: each retriever's
ranking contributes, and something both rank highly wins. Neither retriever gets
a veto, which matters because each is confidently wrong in a different way.
([RRF for agent recall](/concepts/reciprocal-rank-fusion/) defines the method
and the constant.)
The result set is then packed into `budgets.recall_budget_tokens`.
### About that brute-force scan
Cosine similarity is computed by scanning every candidate vector. No ANN index,
no approximate nearest neighbours, no vector database. For a personal knowledge
store this is simply fast enough, and it buys exactness and one fewer moving
part. It is a deliberate trade, not an oversight - and it is the kind of thing
worth saying out loud rather than hiding behind the word "hybrid".
### The utility nudge
Every memory carries a **utility score**: a time-decayed record of query-gated
demand. An explicit read weighs 3.0, a recall hit 1.5, a prompt match 1.0 - and
being pushed into a briefing counts for exactly nothing, so exposure can never
masquerade as usefulness. Scores halve every 14 days.
Recall applies it as a bounded post-fusion multiplier: at most +10%, strictly
below the +15% favorite boost, so an explicit star always outranks an implicit
hot streak - and neither can resurrect something the retrievers did not return.
The ambient `<seam-recall>` injection uses the same score to pick which
qualified matches fill its three slots - after its overlap and score floors,
never instead of them. The briefing blends it with recency once a project's
demand history matures - for the memory index's order, and for ranking
constraints ahead of their full/compact tier split
([Sessions & briefings](/concepts/sessions/#the-budget-and-what-survives-it)).
One signal, three surfaces, all bounded.
## The recall triad
This is the part worth internalizing: **searching is only one of three ways your
knowledge reaches an agent**, and they are easy to confuse because all three end
with the agent knowing something.
| | What fires it | What it delivers | Agent asked? |
|---|---|---|---|
| **The briefing** | SessionStart hook | Tiered constraints, pinned stages, plan rollups, recent findings, the memory index | No |
| **Recall injection** | UserPromptSubmit hook, when a prompt matches stored memories | A `<seam-recall>` block with the matching memories | No |
| **A recall call** | The agent calls `recall` | Ranked, fused, budgeted results | Yes |
The first two are **ambient**: they happen whether or not the agent thinks to
ask. That is the whole point of the hooks. An agent that never calls a Seamless
tool still starts with your constraints and still gets relevant memories surfaced
when its prompt touches them.
The third is what an agent does when it wants something specific. Before you go
looking for something in your own knowledge base by hand, ask an agent to
`recall` it - that is faster and more accurate than making you search.
Read what was already injected before searching again. The briefing is in
context; re-recalling it just spends tokens to learn what the agent was told.
## Degradation is deliberate
Recall keeps a distinction that is easy to get wrong: **a remote failure degrades,
a local misconfiguration surfaces.**
- The embedding provider is unreachable, rate-limited, or rejects the key →
**degrade**. Recall falls back to keyword-only results. You get worse ranking,
not an error, because a partial answer beats no answer when the network is
having a bad day.
- The configuration itself is wrong → **surface it**. This is not a transient
condition that retrying fixes, and silently degrading forever would hide a
problem only you can fix.
The failure mode this avoids: a store that has quietly been keyword-only for
three weeks because nobody noticed the embedding key expired.
## Writing memories that get recalled
Recall can only find what was written to be findable. Since the `description` is
the only text an index shows, and it is heavily weighted in matching, it is the
retrieval surface - see [Memory & notes](/concepts/memory/).
---
# Tasks & plans
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/concepts/tasks-and-plans/
Seamless gives coding agents a shared task queue that is dependency-aware and
claimed under leases: a task becomes ready when its `depends_on` blockers
finish, `tasks_claim` takes it atomically so two parallel agents never work the
same task, and a crashed agent's lease expires instead of stranding the work.
A plan is deliberately not a primitive - it is a composition of a narrative
note and step tasks keyed by `plan:<slug>`.
Tasks are how agents hand work to each other. Plans are how a design survives the
agent that wrote it.
Not everything that blocks work belongs in the queue. A task is work someone
here can claim and finish; a state of the world you wait on - a PR awaiting
maintainer review, hardware in the mail - is a [`stage` memory](/concepts/memory/)
instead, which pins into the briefing while it gates rather than sitting in the
ready queue as forever-claimable work.
## The ready queue
A task is **ready** when it has no unfinished blocker. `tasks_ready` returns
exactly those, so an agent asking "what can I do now?" never reasons about the
dependency graph itself - it asks, and gets an actionable list.
`depends_on` names the tasks that must finish first. Either `done` or `dropped`
unblocks a dependent: work that was abandoned deliberately should not wedge the
queue forever. Cycles are rejected at creation, not discovered at scheduling
time.
## Claiming: the part that makes parallelism safe
Two agents that both call `tasks_ready` see the same task. Both will try to take
it. Exactly one wins:
```text
Atomic claim race
Agent A
tasks_claim 01K… Claim wins ready → in_progress
lease expires at now + 900s
while working Heartbeat or finish Re-claim refreshes the lease; release, close, or session end frees it.
Agent B
tasks_claim 01K… Claim is refused Error names Agent A as the live holder.
next action Take another ready task If A crashes, the expired lease makes this task reclaimable by id.
Both agents may see the same ready row; only one can own it. The loser pivots without duplicating work.
```
Four rules carry the whole model:
1. **Claiming is atomic.** The loser gets an error naming the holder, not a
corrupted second claim.
2. **Re-claiming refreshes the lease.** That is the heartbeat for long work - an
agent still working keeps its claim by claiming again.
3. **An expired lease is reclaimable - but it does not re-queue itself.** See
the two clocks below. This is the subtlety most likely to bite you.
4. **Closing frees it.** `tasks_release`, `tasks_update` to `done`/`dropped`, or
`session_end` (which releases all of a session's claims).
([Lease-based task claiming](/concepts/lease-based-task-claiming/) defines the
primitive on its own; the
[two-agents scenario](/scenarios/task-collision/) shows a live claim collision.)
### The two clocks
When an agent dies holding a task, two different timers matter, and conflating
them is how a fleet quietly stalls.
| | Lease expiry | Session reaper |
|---|---|---|
| Controls | `lease_seconds` (default 900) | `gardener.session_idle_minutes` (default 45) |
| Enforced | Lazily, inside `tasks_claim` | By the gardener's periodic pass |
| Effect | The task becomes **stealable by id** | The task's status returns to `open` |
| Visible in `tasks_ready`? | **No** | **Yes** |
`tasks_ready` returns tasks whose status is `open`. A task with an expired lease
is still `in_progress`, so it is **invisible to the queue** - an agent polling
`tasks_ready` will never see it, even though a `tasks_claim` on that specific id
would now succeed.
What actually puts it back in the queue is the reaper: it expires the dead
agent's idle session and releases its claims, flipping the task back to `open`.
Two consequences worth internalizing:
- The lease is not the recovery mechanism; the reaper is. The lease only decides
whether a claim *can* be taken.
- **With `gardener.enabled: false`, that second clock never runs**, and a crashed
agent's claims stay `in_progress` indefinitely. Nothing will surface them. If
you turn the gardener off, you have also turned off task recovery - release
them yourself with `tasks_release`, or from the console.
A lease is **not a lock on the files**. Nothing physically stops an agent from
working on a task it did not claim. It is a coordination signal between
cooperating agents - the point is that well-behaved agents do not collide, not
that misbehaving ones cannot.
## Plans are a composition, not a primitive
There is no `plan` object in Seamless. A plan is everything keyed by
`plan:<slug>`:
| Piece | How | Why |
|---|---|---|
| **Narrative** | A note tagged `plan:<slug>` | The design and the reasoning behind it |
| **Supporting context** | More notes, same tag | The research that informed it |
| **Steps** | Tasks created with `plan=<slug>` | The work, with dependencies |
| **Progress** | The steps' statuses | Rolled into the briefing automatically |
This composition is the reason a plan survives its author. The next agent
inherits not just a checklist but *why* the checklist looks like that - which is
the thing that usually evaporates between sessions.
**Plan steps are excluded from the default queue.** `tasks_ready` and
`tasks_list` skip them, so a twelve-step plan does not bury the handful of tasks
that are genuinely loose work. Pass `plan=<slug>` to either tool to see that
plan's steps instead.
The briefing surfaces each active plan as one rolled-up row of its Plans
section:
```text
Plans:
- marketing -- 2/3 done, 1 claimable, 0 in flight
(steps: tasks_ready plan=<slug>; claim: tasks_claim id=<task id>; attach work via the plan:<slug> tag)
```
That is enough for an agent to decide whether to pick something up, without
spending briefing budget listing every step.
## Claude Code plan mode feeds this automatically
You do not have to build the composition by hand. Claude Code's plan mode is
captured:
- Saving a plan file upserts a `cc-plan-<basename>` note, tagged with its status
(`plan-status:draft|presented|approved|abandoned|shipped|merged`).
- Planning subagents are cached as `cc-agent-<id>` notes in the same composition.
- Approving the plan creates the tracking task.
- Unapproved captures appear in the briefing's Plans section as
`awaiting approval` rows, so a plan that was designed and then forgotten is
visible rather than lost.
See the [tasks reference](/reference/mcp/tasks/) for the tool surface.
---
# Projects & scope
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/concepts/projects/
A **project** is the scope everything else inherits. Get scope right and agents
never think about it again; get it wrong and knowledge lands where nobody will
find it.
The design goal is that agents almost never pass `project`. In a mapped repo,
scope resolves from where the agent already is.
## The precedence chain
For a durable write, scope resolves in this order - first hit wins:
```text
First match wins
1 · strongest Explicit project The caller named the scope.
2 Bound session The MCP connection inherited a project.
3 Sole ambient The local hook session is unambiguous.
4 · no match Reject the write Never guess global when nothing resolved.
Precedence is also the safety model. Broader fallback stops before it could silently create machine-wide knowledge.
```
Worked through, rung by rung:
**1. An explicit `project` argument.** You said it, so it happens. This is also
how you deliberately reach another project (`project: otherrepo`) or the global
scope (`project: global`). A slug Seamless has never seen is **not** an error: the
write registers it, and the new project appears in `project_list` and the console
like any other. Naming a project into existence is an ordinary thing to do.
**2. The bound session.** `session_start` binds the connection: every later call
on it inherits that project. This is why an agent that opens a session can then
write memory with no `project` anywhere in sight.
**3. The ambient session.** No explicit binding? Seamless looks for the ambient
session the SessionStart hook opened for this working directory, resolved via the
`repo_project_map` setting. This is the rung that makes mapped repos feel like
magic: an agent that never calls a single session tool still writes to the right
project, because its cwd said which one.
If that lookup is **ambiguous** - more than one candidate session - the call is
rejected rather than guessed.
**4. Nothing.** With no session and no explicit project, a durable write is
**rejected as ambiguous**.
## Why writes fail closed
This is the rule worth understanding, because it is the one that produces
confusing errors.
The tempting alternative is: no scope resolved, so write it globally. That is
wrong. A global memory is seen by **every agent in every repo, forever**. It is a
strong claim, and the last thing you want is for it to be what happens when the
system is *unsure*. Silence should not be consent to the broadest possible scope.
So a write with no resolvable scope errors out and says so. `project: global` is
a token you pass on purpose, never a default you fall into.
The way out of that error is to **name the project** - and if the right one does
not exist yet, name it anyway. This is worth stating plainly because the opposite
guess is so natural: an agent unsure whether an unmapped slug will be rejected
reads `project: global` as the cautious choice, when it is the only choice with
machine-wide blast radius. A new project is cheap, local, and reversible. Global
is forever and everywhere. When in doubt, invent the project.
Reads are more relaxed than writes - a search with no scope has an obvious safe
answer (search what you can see), while a write does not.
## Mapping a repo
Rung 3 reads the `repo_project_map`, but you rarely write an entry into it. The
map grows itself: on session start in an unmapped cwd, Seamless finds the
enclosing git repository, derives a slug from the repo root's directory name,
registers the project, and records `repoRoot -> slug`. No recompile, no setup
step. A cwd outside any git repo registers nothing and stays global.
The map also heals itself when a repo moves. A session starting from the new
location derives the same slug, and when every mapped path that owns that slug
no longer exists on disk, Seamless treats it as the same repo at a new path:
the existing project is adopted, the dead entries are replaced by the new root,
and a `repo.moved` event records the remap in the console feed. Two *live*
repos sharing a directory name still get distinct projects (`backend`,
`backend-2`) so unrelated repos never inherit each other's memories. The one
case the healing cannot recognize is a repo that was moved *and renamed* - it
derives a different slug - and that is what the override below is for.
`seamlessd doctor` lists mapped paths that no longer exist.
Map by hand only to override the derived slug - an `ios` directory that should be
the `arctop-ios` project, or a renamed repo that should keep its old project:
```bash
seamlessd map-repo --path ~/code/ios --project arctop-ios
```
Either way, agents in that repo inherit its scope through rung 3 without any tool
call at all.
## Families: parents and siblings
Projects can have parents, which makes **families**. A family exists so that
related projects can share what is genuinely shared without merging into one
undifferentiated pile.
Two briefing knobs control the cross-over:
- `briefing.include_parent_memories` - a child's briefing carries the parent's
memories. On by default: a rule that holds for the parent usually holds for the
child.
- `briefing.sibling_findings_count` / `briefing.include_sibling_memories` - how
much a sibling's recent work bleeds into yours. Findings cross over by default
(two per briefing); sibling *memories* do not, because what is true of one
sibling often is not true of another.
Splitting one project into children is planned as a unit - see
[The gardener](/concepts/gardener/), which handles it as a `split` rather than a
pile of individual moves.
## When scope goes wrong
The symptom is almost always "the agent wrote it somewhere I can't find it" or
"the write was rejected as ambiguous". Both are the chain above:
- **Rejected as ambiguous** - no session bound, and nothing to infer scope from.
Run `session_start` with your `cwd` (inside a git repo that also maps the repo
automatically), or pass `project=<slug>`. `map-repo` is not the fix here - it
only overrides an already-derived slug, and is never a setup step.
- **Landed in the wrong project** - the cwd mapped somewhere unexpected, or an
explicit `project` overrode what you meant. Rung 1 beats everything.
- **A tool insists a task is claimed by your own session** - the connection
binding was lost. Re-run `session_start` with the same name to rebind.
---
# Project isolation
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/concepts/project-isolation/
By default, projects are cooperative rather than isolated. Any agent can read or
write any project by passing `project`, global memories reach every briefing, and
family surfaces deliberately carry knowledge between related projects. That is
the right default for one person's interlocking work.
It is the wrong default for a client project, private research, or anything you
need to keep out of the agents serving your other work. **Isolation** is the
per-project setting that draws a real boundary.
## The three states
Isolation is **directional**. The two fenced states solve different problems and
should not be conflated.
| State | Nothing leaves | Nothing enters |
|---|---|---|
| `open` (default) | no | no |
| `confidential` | **yes** | no |
| `sealed` | **yes** | **yes** |
**`open`** shares normally. Global knowledge flows in; family surfaces may
include it.
**`confidential` - nothing leaves.** Sessions bound elsewhere can never read this
project: not by explicit `project=`, not by ULID, not through trials, not through
recall. It is excluded from family surfaces and from the gardener's cross-project
passes. Critically, sessions bound *to* it cannot write *outside* it - not to
another slug, and not to `project: global`, because an agent-initiated global
write is a leak too.
Inbound is deliberately unchanged: its agents still receive your global memories
and can still read open projects. This is the common case - sensitive work that
still wants your conventions available inside it.
**`sealed` - nothing in or out.** Confidential plus the inbound fence. Briefing,
recall, and the prompt matcher scope to the project alone; global memories are
dropped, there is no family, and there are no cross-project reads in either
direction. A clean room.
Because a sealed project's world is genuinely smaller, its agents are told so.
The briefing carries a line stating the mode, on both the main and subagent
surfaces, so an agent inside understands why a write outside will be refused
rather than discovering it as an unexplained error.
## The console is exempt
The threat model is **agent-to-agent leakage, not hiding from you.** Console
search and views still see everything; isolated projects are simply badged with a
lock pill. Nothing about an isolated project's pages turns scary or
half-rendered - the pill and the Overview control are the whole story.
## Isolation requires a standalone project
A project cannot be isolated while it is entangled in a family: no family
membership, no parent, no children.
Tightening therefore **detaches** family membership and the parent link, and the
confirmation step shows you exactly which. A project **with children refuses to
tighten** until they are re-parented - Seamless will not silently orphan a scope
that inherits from it.
This keeps the fence surface small. Rather than threading isolation checks
through every topology path, the rule guarantees there is no topology to thread.
The briefing-side exclusions remain anyway, as defense in depth against stale
data.
## Tightening and loosening
**Tightening is the ceremonious direction**, because it changes what other agents
can see. It is two-step in the console: choosing confidential or sealed returns a
confirmation panel stating exactly what will change - the family and parent it
will detach from, or the children blocking it, plus the promise of the state you
picked - and applies only when you confirm.
**Loosening is immediate.** It is fully reversible and nothing leaked while the
fence was up, so there is nothing to confirm.
## Knowledge that already got out
Raising a fence does nothing about what escaped before it existed. The most
likely leak is **global memories written by this project's own sessions** - they
were the right call at the time and are now injected into every other project's
briefing, forever.
So tightening runs a provenance audit: it traces global memories back through
`source_session` to the sessions that wrote them, and for each one that belonged
to this project it files a **relocate** proposal in the
[Gardener inbox](/concepts/gardener/) offering to move it behind the fence.
Two things this deliberately is not. It does not move anything on its own -
the gardener only ever proposes, and dismissing the proposal is how you say the
memory really is general knowledge. And it does not run on a timer: once the
fence is up, the write funnel refuses this project's sessions any write outside
it, so the leak set is closed at the moment of tightening and never grows.
The confirmation step tells you the count before you commit, and distinguishes a
proven zero from an unanswered question - if the audit could not run, it says
nothing rather than reporting "none".
### In the console
The control lives on the project's **Overview** tab: a three-option segmented
control with each state's promise written under it. The isolation change is
recorded as an event, so it appears in Recent activity like any other change.
### From the CLI
```bash
seam project isolation <slug> # print the current state and its promise
seam project isolation <slug> confidential # print consequences, apply nothing
seam project isolation <slug> confidential --yes # apply
seam project isolation <slug> open # loosen, immediate
```
Tightening requires `--yes`, which stands in for the console's confirmation step:
without it the command prints the same consequences and exits having changed
nothing.
## What agents see
- **`project_list`** reports each project's isolation state, so an agent can
discover the boundary rather than guess at it.
- **`project_create`** accepts `isolation`. There is no tool to change it
afterwards: tightening detaches topology and is an owner decision, not an agent
one.
- **Refusals state the rule and the remedy** and never echo the content they are
withholding - an error that quoted the memory it was protecting would leak the
very thing the fence exists to keep in. They do not hide that the project
*exists*, because every scope error already lists the machine's projects.
## Honest limits
This matters more than the feature list, so it is stated plainly.
**What this is.** A policy fence at every Seamless surface - briefings, recall,
tool reads and writes, the gardener. That is where accidental cross-contamination
actually happens, and it is now closed.
**What this is not.** It is **not** a defense against a local agent reading
`~/.seamless/memory/<project>/*.md` directly. Every MCP caller shares one static
bearer key, and the fence keys off the **self-reported session binding**. An
agent that does not bind a session is judged as the global scope - which fails
closed against reading an isolated project, but also means the fence cannot
recognize it as belonging to one.
**What would make it stronger.** Per-project bearer keys: a confidential project
gets its own key, the repo's hooks use it, and the shared key cannot touch it.
That upgrades the fence from policy to an auth boundary at the daemon. It is not
built.
**The hard boundary today** is a separate Seamless instance - its own data dir,
port, and key. If your threat model is adversarial rather than accidental, that
is the honest answer.
---
# The gardener
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/concepts/gardener/
The Seamless gardener is the background pass that keeps an agent-written memory
store from rotting: it detects near-duplicate memories by embedding similarity,
memories gone stale, and captured plans left unapproved (including ones whose
work quietly shipped), and files each finding as a proposal. Nothing is applied
until you approve it with `gardener_apply` - the gardener has no write path of
its own.
Any store that agents write to accumulates cruft: two memories saying the same
thing in different words, a runbook for a system that no longer exists, a plan
abandoned three weeks ago with its steps still open.
The gardener finds those. Then it stops and asks.
## Propose-only is the whole contract
**Every pass the gardener makes ends in a proposal for you to review.** It never
edits, merges, or archives on its own.
This is not timidity. The entire premise of Seamless is that the knowledge is
yours and legible - a store that quietly rewrites itself while you sleep is
exactly the black box the project exists to avoid. If an automated pass can
decide your constraint is stale and archive it, then you do not actually know
what your agents will be told tomorrow.
So the surface is two tools, not one button: `gardener_proposals` to read what it
found, `gardener_apply` to act on one.
## What it looks for
| Pass | Trigger | Proposes |
|---|---|---|
| **dedup** | Two memories more similar than `gardener.dedup_threshold` (0.88) | **merge**: one is kept as-is, the other superseded and pointed at it |
| **staleness** | A memory untouched for `gardener.staleness_days` (90) | **archive**: marked invalid, still readable |
| **digest** | Enough recent activity over `gardener.digest_days` (30) | a **digest** note summarizing it |
| **stale-plan** | A captured plan still unapproved after `gardener.stale_plan_days` (14) | settling it deliberately rather than by neglect: **merge_plans** when the capture owns no steps and another composition in the project holds the steps for the same work (fold it in there), **ship_plan** when commits since the capture's git stamp match the plan (the work landed without the approval ceremony), **abandon_plan** otherwise |
| **stale-stage** | A `stage` memory whose `Status:` header is done, missing, or unrecognized, unchanged for `gardener.stale_stage_days` (14) | **archive**: a stage that gates nothing should not hold a permanent briefing pin |
| **dead-weight** | A memory briefings injected 20+ times in 30 days without a single recall hit, prompt match, or read | **archive**: exposure without demand means it costs tokens and steers nothing |
| **memory-wanted** | The same recall query returned zero hits in 2+ sessions inside 14 days | **memory_wanted**: write the knowledge agents keep searching for; applying opens a task in the queue |
| **tool-error** | The same normalized tool or hook error, 3+ times inside 14 days and still recent; tool errors must span 2+ sessions | **tool_error**: investigate and fix the recurring failure; applying opens a task with the observed error evidence |
The memory-wanted pass is the one place the gardener asks *for* knowledge
instead of curating what exists: recurring zero-hit `recall` queries are demand
for a memory nobody wrote, grouped per project so a one-off miss never fires.
Applying the proposal opens a task ("Write a memory: ...") in the ready queue -
the memory itself is only ever written by whoever picks the task up.
The tool-error pass closes the other side of that loop. A single failure may be
a typo; the same normalized error again and again is evidence of a broken
workflow. It also watches hook errors, which are swallowed fail-open and never
reach an agent - recurrence here is the one place they surface. Applying its
proposal opens a repair task rather than pretending the gardener can fix code
or configuration itself.
Four more proposal types come from an action rather than the timer:
- **reproject** - a memory filed under the wrong project, moved to a project that
**already exists**.
- **rekind** - a memory filed under the wrong kind, reclassified in place (same
identity, project, and body). The most common correction is constraint vs
convention: a systemic rule any agent must follow stays a constraint, while a
project-local choice or layout fact belongs under convention.
- **split** - one project divided into new child projects. This creates projects
and a shared parent, so it is planned as a unit, not as a pile of moves. That
is why it is a separate tool (`gardener_split`) and not just a reproject to a
name that does not exist yet.
- **relocate** - filed when a project is tightened to confidential or sealed
(see [Project isolation](/concepts/project-isolation/)). Raising a fence does
nothing about knowledge that already escaped, so the tighten audits the global
scope for memories whose source session belonged to the project and proposes
moving each one behind the fence. Dismiss to leave it global. This is the only
proposal kind an owner action files rather than a request or the timer.
## Constraints and stages are exempt from staleness
Age-filtering and staleness-archiving never touch `constraint` or `stage`
memories.
A constraint does not become less true by sitting still. "Never use CGO" is not
stale at 90 days - it is *settled*, and the absence of recent edits is evidence
it is working, not evidence it is rotting. Time-based archival encodes the
opposite assumption, so the pass simply skips the kinds where that assumption is
wrong.
Stages get their own pass instead, because staleness cannot see them at all:
a pinned stage is re-injected into every briefing, so by the activity metric it
never goes quiet. The stale-stage pass keys off the *update* time and the
`Status:` header - a stage still carrying a live gate
(`open`/`in_progress`/`blocked`) is never proposed at any age, while one that is
done, headerless, or unparseable is proposed for archiving once it has sat
unchanged for `gardener.stale_stage_days`. Both passes respect `[[links]]`: a
memory another body points at is not proposed.
## Asking for it in words
```text
gardener_request "fold the two console theme memories together"
```
`gardener_request` takes natural language and turns it into the same reviewable
proposals as the timed passes. It is a way to *aim* the gardener, not a way to
bypass the review step - what comes back is still a proposal.
## Where you review
- **The console** - `/console/gardener` is an inbox: one line per proposal in
the rail, the full evidence and the decision gate in the reader. A whole
group can be dismissed at once, and anything you decide lands in **Recently
decided**, where Undo puts it back in the queue and reverses what applying it
did. Applying a consolidation or a project split is the exception - both
create things that immediately accrue content, so they ask for a confirm
instead and cannot be undone from the console.
- **`gardener_proposals`** - the same, for an agent.
## Saying no, twice
Rejecting has two strengths, because "not this one" and "not ever" are
different answers:
- **Dismiss** settles the proposal and the evidence behind it. It is not a
verdict on the pattern: if the same thing happens *again* after you decided -
agents keep hitting that error, keep searching for that missing memory - the
gardener raises it once more, under the same key, with the new evidence. This
is the one to reach for by default.
- **Hide forever** blocks the pattern outright. No recurrence gets past it.
For the passes with no recurrence clock (merge, archive, digest, and the
request-driven kinds), a dismissal already lasts until the underlying content
changes - their key encodes what they propose, so a changed world asks a new
question rather than repeating the old one. The distinction bites on the error
and knowledge-gap passes, whose key is the *pattern's* identity and stays put
while evidence piles up under it.
Both are reversible, and the two exits are not the same:
- **Undo**, from Recently decided, puts that proposal back in the queue.
- **Unhide**, from **Hidden forever** in the rail, lifts the block and leaves
the proposal resolved. Nothing returns on the spot - the next recurrence is
what brings the pattern back, and if it has stopped recurring, nothing does.
`gardener_apply` carries the same two tiers for agents: `action=dismiss` and
`action=hide`.
The gardener runs every `gardener.interval_minutes` (60) when
`gardener.enabled` is on. Everything in this page is tunable - see
[Configuration](/reference/configuration/).
---
# Memory supersession
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/concepts/memory-supersession/
Memory supersession is the lifecycle rule that keeps an AI agent's long-term
memory store *true* rather than merely large: when new knowledge contradicts or
refines old knowledge, the new memory explicitly replaces the old one. The
superseded memory is marked invalid, points at its replacement, and drops out
of every index and retrieval path - but stays on disk as provenance. The store
converges on current truth while keeping the audit trail of how it got there.
In Seamless, supersession is one write:
```
memory_write name=new-truth supersedes=old-truth
```
The old memory gets `invalid_at` set and `superseded_by` pointing at the new
one's ID, plus a tombstone line naming the replacement; from that moment it is
out of session briefings and [recall](/concepts/recall/), but the markdown
file remains readable - and, because the store is
[files in a folder you own](/concepts/memory/), the whole exchange is one
`git diff`.
## Versus forgetting curves and decay scores
Some memory systems forget the way Ebbinghaus curves describe humans
forgetting: relevance decays with time and disuse, and old, rarely-touched
memories fade out of retrieval. The premise is wrong for engineering knowledge.
Being old is not being wrong - a constraint recorded a year ago and referenced
never ("do not set these cookies to SameSite=Strict") can be permanently
correct, and quietly decaying it away re-arms the exact mistake it was written
to prevent. Being recent is not being right, either. Decay forgets by
attrition; supersession forgets by *contradiction*: a memory leaves the store
when something replaces it, not when it has a birthday.
## Versus append-only logs
The opposite failure is never forgetting: append-only stores where both the old
answer and the new one match every future search, and each retrieval - every
session, forever - has to re-adjudicate which is current. Supersession
adjudicates once, at write time, when the contradiction is actually in front of
the writer, and every later reader inherits the verdict.
## The line an in-place edit must not cross
`memory_edit` changes part of a memory without resending it, which makes it the
cheapest way to touch the store - and therefore the one most likely to be reached
for when superseding is what is actually called for.
The boundary is whether the change carries a new **claim**. A typo, a broken
code fence, a stale path or command, a `Status:` flip on a stage, a description,
a tag: none of those change what the memory asserts, and editing them in place
loses nothing. But if the conclusion is now different - the advice reversed, the
finding overturned - an edit silently rewrites the record so that nothing in the
store ever shows it believed otherwise. That is exactly the history superseding
exists to keep, so that change goes through `memory_write` with `supersedes`.
## The honest limit
Supersession requires the writer to *notice* the contradiction - an agent that
writes a new memory without realizing an old one disagrees leaves both live.
Seamless backstops this two ways: `memory_write` answers with a similarity
hint when the new memory closely resembles an existing one, so the writer is
told about the likely collision while it can still pass `supersedes`, and the
[gardener](/concepts/gardener/) runs dedup and staleness passes that *propose*
supersessions - it never applies them. A related kind, `refuted`, preserves beliefs that turned out wrong as
standing warnings rather than deleting them. The full lifecycle - archive
versus supersede versus delete - is in
[memory & notes](/concepts/memory/).
---
# Lease-based task claiming
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/concepts/lease-based-task-claiming/
Lease-based task claiming is the coordination primitive that lets multiple AI
agents work one shared task queue without duplicating work: an agent *claims* a
task atomically, the claim carries a *lease* - an expiry timestamp - and a
task whose lease has lapsed is claimable again. Two agents that reach for the
same task cannot both win: the second claim fails, naming the holder. An agent
that crashes mid-task cannot strand it: when its lease runs out, the task
returns to the pool. No coordinator process, no human referee.
The lease is the part that matters for agents specifically. A plain lock
assumes its holder will live to unlock it; agents get killed, hit context
limits, and lose network. A lock needs an unlocker - a lease only needs a
clock.
## The mechanics in Seamless
- **Ready, then claimed.** Tasks declare dependencies; a task is *ready* when
every blocker is done. `tasks_claim` atomically moves a ready task to
`in_progress` with a holder and a lease (900 seconds by default), so the
race is only ever between tasks that genuinely could both proceed.
- **The bounce names the holder.** A refused claim says *why*: held by a live
claim (and by whom), blocked by unfinished dependencies (and which), or
already closed. The losing agent picks the next ready step instead.
- **Heartbeat by re-claiming.** A holder re-claims to refresh its lease; a
claim that stops being refreshed eventually expires, at which point the
task - and everything that was blocked behind it stays consistent - is
reclaimable by anyone.
- **Release follows the work.** Finishing or dropping the task frees it,
`tasks_release` frees it explicitly, and ending a session frees every claim
the session held.
Because the queue lives in [Seamless](/) rather than inside any one agent
runtime, the claims work *across* clients - a Claude Code agent and a
[Codex CLI](/codex-cli/) agent share one queue - and they persist across
sessions and days, unlike coordination state scoped to a single agent team's
lifetime.
## The honest limit
A lease serializes *intent*, not edits. Two agents holding two different tasks
can still touch the same file; that conflict belongs to git, not the queue.
And claims are advisory for humans - the console shows who holds what, but
nothing stops you from editing code yourself.
See it happen: [two agents race for the same plan step](/scenarios/task-collision/),
with the winning claim, the bounce, and the pivot, in two live recorded
sessions. The full model - the ready queue, plans as compositions - is in
[tasks & plans](/concepts/tasks-and-plans/).
---
# Reciprocal rank fusion for agent recall
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/concepts/reciprocal-rank-fusion/
Reciprocal rank fusion (RRF) is a method for merging several ranked result
lists into one: each document scores `1 / (k + rank)` in every list that
returned it, the scores sum, and the constant `k` (60, per the original paper
and most implementations) damps the difference between rank 1 and rank 5.
The point of fusing by *rank* instead of by raw score is that the input lists
never have to agree on what a score means - BM25 values and cosine
similarities live on incomparable scales, and RRF never compares them, only
their orderings.
That property is why RRF is the standard fusion step in hybrid search, and why
it fits agent memory retrieval unusually well. Agents query in two distinct
modes: exact identifiers (`tasks_claim`, `SEAMLESS_DATA_DIR`, an error string)
where keyword search wins and embeddings blur, and paraphrases ("why does the
first query fail on cold start?") where vector similarity wins and keywords
miss. A fused rank means neither mode has to be predicted in advance - a
result that both legs rank highly beats a result only one leg loves.
## How Seamless runs it
Seamless's [recall](/concepts/recall/) - the single search entry point
its agents call - runs both legs inside one SQLite file:
- **Keyword leg:** SQLite FTS5 full-text search over names, descriptions, and
bodies.
- **Semantic leg:** cosine similarity over float32 embedding BLOBs stored in
the same database, compared by brute force - no vector database, no ANN
index, no second process.
- **Fusion:** RRF with `k=60`, over a candidate pool a few multiples of the
requested limit so the fused order has room to differ from either leg's.
The fused score is the base order, not the final word: a favorite multiplies
its score by 1.15, and a memory's decayed demand adds a
[utility nudge](/concepts/recall/#the-utility-nudge) capped at +10%. Both are
bounded reorderings of what fusion returned - neither can pull in a result the
legs did not.
Brute-force cosine is a deliberate trade: a personal knowledge store holds
thousands of memories, not millions of documents, and at that scale a linear
scan is faster than the operational cost of an approximate index. The same
shape would be the wrong call at corpus scale - this is a design for one
developer's fleet of agents, not a search engine.
The degradation rule matters as much as the fusion: with no embedding provider
configured - or a configured one unreachable - recall runs keyword-only rather
than failing. A memory system that errors when an API key lapses is a memory
system agents learn to stop calling.
For where recall sits among the three delivery paths (briefing, prompt-matched
injection, explicit search), see [recall](/concepts/recall/); for what the
store itself looks like, see [memory & notes](/concepts/memory/).
---
# What is a coordination substrate?
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/concepts/coordination-substrate/
A coordination substrate for AI agents is the durable, shared layer *underneath*
a fleet of agents: the place where memory, tasks, plans, and findings live so
that agents which never share a process, a context window, or even a vendor can
still act like one team. It is not a framework - it does not run your agents.
It is not a message bus - agents do not talk to each other through it in real
time. It is not a RAG pipeline - it is not about retrieving documents. It is
shared state with rules: what gets remembered, who holds which task, which of
two contradicting facts is current.
The term is doing a specific job. "Agent memory" names half the problem -
what an agent knows. A substrate also carries the other half - what the fleet
is *doing*: which plan step is claimed and by whom, what yesterday's session
concluded, what the next agent should pick up. Memory without coordination
re-derives the backlog every session; coordination without memory repeats last
month's mistakes on schedule.
## What qualifies
Four properties make a layer a substrate rather than a feature of some agent:
1. **Durable beyond any session.** State survives the context window, the
process, and the day. A shared task list that dies with the team that made
it is coordination, but not a substrate.
2. **Shared across runtimes.** An agent in one client can read what an agent
in another wrote. State locked inside a single vendor's runtime is a silo
with good ergonomics.
3. **Legible to the human.** The operator can read, diff, and edit the shared
state directly - because a fleet's shared brain that its owner cannot
inspect is a liability, not an asset.
4. **Governed by lifecycle rules.** Concurrent writers require rules:
[supersession](/concepts/memory-supersession/) so contradictions
resolve instead of accumulating,
[leases](/concepts/lease-based-task-claiming/) so work is claimed
without being stranded.
## Seamless as one implementation
[Seamless](/) is a coordination substrate built local-first: memory and notes
as markdown files in a folder you own, a SQLite index over them, a
dependency-aware task queue with lease claiming, plans as compositions of
notes and tasks, all exposed to agents over MCP with session-start hooks for
Claude Code and Codex CLI. The [how it works](/concepts/how-it-works/)
page walks the moving parts; the
[two agents, one queue scenario](/scenarios/task-collision/) shows the
substrate doing its job in two live recorded sessions.
What a substrate is *not* for, in Seamless's case: it is not a hosted team
knowledge base, not a RAG framework over your documents, and not an
orchestrator that schedules or spawns agents. It is the ground they stand on.
---
# Guides
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/guides/
Where the [concepts](/concepts/) pages explain how Seamless thinks, these pages
are organized around jobs: each one starts from something you are trying to do
and walks the shortest honest path through it, including the failure modes.
If you are connecting a client, start with
[Integrate your agent](/guides/integrate-your-agent/) - the MCP handshake, the
stdio bridge, session binding, and the scope discipline that keeps writes
landing in the right project. If the client is Cursor, Cline, Windsurf, or
Zed, [Connect Cursor, Cline, Windsurf & Zed](/guides/mcp-clients/) has the
verified config block for each, plus the capability table that says plainly
what a client without hooks gives up. Once an agent is writing,
[Write memories that get recalled](/guides/write-good-memories/) is the guide
that pays for itself: the description line is the retrieval surface, and the
difference between a store that compounds and one that fills with noise is
mostly the four habits that page names.
Two guides cover multi-agent work.
[Coordinate multiple agents](/guides/coordinate-agents/) shows fan-out over the
ready queue, planner/executor splits via plan composition, and what happens
when a claim holder dies mid-task. [Run research trials](/guides/research-trials/)
is the lab loop for systematic debugging - recording every attempt so parallel
agents share dead ends instead of repeating them. Related:
[Capture Claude Code plans](/guides/plan-mode/) explains how plan mode is
captured into notes and tasks automatically, and which hook does what.
The last three are operational. [Import, back up & restore](/guides/data/) covers
putting `~/.seamless` in git, what deleting `seam.db` actually costs (an index
rebuild, not data loss), and moving to a new machine.
[Share one daemon across a LAN](/guides/network-install/) is the opt-in
multi-device shape: the server config, TLS, the pairing command, and the
daemon-side captures a remote device honestly does not get.
[Troubleshooting](/guides/troubleshooting/) is symptom-first, written for a
system whose hooks deliberately fail open - where a broken install looks like
silence, not an error message.
---
# Integrate your agent
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/guides/integrate-your-agent/
Any MCP client can be wired into Seamless: the daemon serves streamable-HTTP
MCP at `http://127.0.0.1:8081/api/mcp` behind a static bearer key, with a stdio
bridge (`seam mcp-proxy`) for clients that only speak stdio. What a client
without hooks gives up is the ambient layer - no injected briefing at session
start, no prompt-matched recall injection, no automatic harvest of findings -
so the agent has to run that loop itself.
[Claude Code](/claude-code/) and [Codex](/codex-cli/) get Seamless mostly for
free: [hooks](/reference/hooks/) open a session, inject a briefing, and harvest
findings without the agent deciding to. Any other client is wired up by hand.
This page is that loop.
## The loop
```text
The integration loop
1 · session_start Bind scope Read the project briefing.
2 · recall Pull detail Open what the briefing summarized.
3 · work Use the context Keep the session current while acting.
4 · durable writes Save what outlives the run memory_write or notes_create
5 · session_end Hand off findings Feed the next agent's briefing.
Binding, retrieval, durable writes, and a final handoff turn an MCP connection into a useful shared session.
```
Four of those five steps are optional in the narrow sense that the tools work
without them. They are not optional in the sense that matters: **`session_start`
is what makes every later call know its scope**, and `session_end` is the only
thing that turns this run into something the next agent is told about. An agent
that skips both still works and leaves no trace - which is the same as not
integrating at all.
## Connecting
Seamless serves streamable-HTTP MCP at `/api/mcp` behind one static bearer key
([`mcp.api_key`](/reference/configuration/)). If your client speaks MCP over
HTTP, point it here and you are done. If you are writing the transport yourself,
the handshake is two calls.
**Client requires or prefers MCP over stdio?** Bridge it with `seam mcp-proxy`,
which speaks stdio to the client and forwards each frame to `/api/mcp`, carrying
the bearer key from config and preserving `Mcp-Session-Id` so session binding
survives:
```bash
seam mcp-proxy --config /abs/path/seamless.yaml # invoked by the MCP client, not by hand
```
Register it the way your client registers a stdio server. Codex supports both
stdio and direct Streamable HTTP; Seamless deliberately installs the bridge with
`codex mcp add seamless -- /abs/path/seam mcp-proxy --config /abs/path/seamless.yaml`,
because this keeps the bearer key in Seamless's 0600 config. `seamlessd
install-hooks --client codex` does that for you. See [Codex local
setup](/codex-cli/).
The rest of this page - session binding, scope, findings - applies to direct and
bridged clients unchanged.
```bash
KEY=<mcp.api_key>
curl -sD - -X POST http://127.0.0.1:8081/api/mcp \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" \
-d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize",
"params":{"protocolVersion":"2025-06-18","capabilities":{},
"clientInfo":{"name":"my-agent","version":"1"}}}'
```
The response body carries `serverInfo` (name and build version) plus concise
server `instructions` describing the Seamless workflow. The part your transport
must keep is a **header**: `Mcp-Session-Id: mcp-session-<uuid>`. Send it on every
subsequent request. A `tools/call` without it - or with one the daemon does not
know - is refused by the transport with `Invalid session ID` before any tool
runs.
Acknowledge the handshake, then call tools:
```bash
SID=<the Mcp-Session-Id from above>
curl -s -X POST http://127.0.0.1:8081/api/mcp \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" -H "Mcp-Session-Id: $SID" \
-d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"notifications/initialized"}'
curl -s -X POST http://127.0.0.1:8081/api/mcp \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" -H "Mcp-Session-Id: $SID" \
-d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":2,"method":"tools/call",
"params":{"name":"session_start",
"arguments":{"cwd":"/abs/path/to/repo","source":"explicit"}}}'
```
Every tool returns its payload as JSON **encoded into a text content block**, not
as a JSON-RPC result object:
```json
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":2,"result":{"content":[{"type":"text","text":"{\"session_id\":\"01K...\",\"project\":\"myrepo\",\"briefing\":\"<seam-briefing>...\"}"}]}}
```
So parse twice: once for the envelope, once for the `text`.
### Auth is enforced at the tool, not the transport
`initialize` and `tools/list` answer without a key. Only `tools/call` checks it,
and a rejected call comes back as a **successful HTTP 200 carrying a tool error**:
```json
{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":2,"result":{"content":[{"type":"text","text":"unauthorized: valid bearer key required"}],"isError":true}}
```
A client that trusts HTTP status codes will read that as a working integration
returning odd text. Check `isError` on every result. This is the same shape every
other tool failure takes - errors are tool results with a `<tool>: <reason>`
message, never transport failures - so handling `isError` once handles all of
them.
## The connection is the session binding
`session_start` binds the session to your connection, keyed by the transport's
`Mcp-Session-Id`. That binding is what lets later calls omit `project` and
`session` entirely: `memory_write`, `recall`, `tasks_claim`, and the rest read the
scope off the connection.
The binding lives in the daemon's memory, keyed by an id it minted. Two
consequences you have to design around:
- **The id encodes nothing about you** - no working directory, no client
identity. It is an opaque UUID. The only way scope reaches the server is the
`cwd` you passed to `session_start`, or an explicit `project` argument.
- **It does not reliably survive a daemon restart.** Sometimes the client
re-initializes and is minted a new id, orphaning the old binding; sometimes it
sends the old id and the fresh process accepts it. Which one happens is a race.
So: **re-run `session_start` on reconnect**, with the same `name` to resume the
same session rather than opening a second one. Treat a sudden run of
ambiguous-scope errors as a lost binding, not as a bug in your arguments.
One more `session_start` argument worth passing from a custom client: `model`,
the model id powering your agent exactly as the provider names it
(`claude-fable-5`, `gpt-5.5`). Every memory and note the session writes is
stamped with it (`model` in the frontmatter), so the store records which model
produced each piece of knowledge. Claude Code and Codex sessions get this for
free from the hooks; a bare MCP client only has attribution if it self-reports.
## Scope discipline
Scope is the thing most integrations get wrong, and the failures are quiet -
knowledge lands somewhere nobody looks. The full precedence chain is in
[Projects & scope](/concepts/projects/); the operational summary is short.
| Situation | What resolves |
|---|---|
| `session_start` with a `cwd` inside a mapped repo | That repo's project |
| `session_start` with a `cwd` inside an **unmapped git repo** | A project is registered automatically, named after the repository root directory |
| `session_start` with a `cwd` that is not in a git repo | Nothing - the session is global |
| No session, no `project` argument | The durable write is **rejected** |
That third row is the one that surprises people. A session started outside a git
repo has no project, and its writes go global - silently, because a bound session
always resolves, even to the global scope. If your agent does not run in a repo,
pass `project` explicitly on every durable write.
Writes **fail closed**. A `memory_write` with nothing to infer scope from is
rejected as ambiguous rather than landing globally, because a global memory is
seen by every agent in every repo forever and that is not something the system
should do when it is *unsure*. Two distinct errors say so:
- *no bound or ambient session to infer the project from* - nothing to inherit.
Call `session_start`, or pass `project`.
- *active ambient sessions span multiple projects* - you are unbound and other
agents are live in several repos, so inheriting would bleed your write into
someone else's project. Pass `project`.
Pass `project: global` when you mean global. It is a token you use on purpose,
never a default you fall into.
## When to write a memory, and when to skip
The budget is real: constraints are never dropped, so everything else competes for
what is left of a briefing. A memory that does not earn its line pushes out one
that would have.
Write one when the knowledge is **durable, general, and not already discoverable**
- a constraint the project cannot violate, a trap and its symptom, a decision and
the alternatives it rejected, a belief that turned out false.
Skip it when:
| The knowledge is | Why not a memory |
|---|---|
| Already in the code | The next agent can read the code. A store that mirrors the repo is a store that goes stale silently |
| Already in `CLAUDE.md` or `AGENTS.md` | It is injected anyway; a memory saying it again just spends budget twice |
| A narration of what you just did | That is `session_end` findings, or a note |
| A long artifact | That is a note - found via [recall](/concepts/recall/), not injected |
If it is durable but you cannot compress it to one line, it is a note with a
memory pointing at it. See [Write memories that get
recalled](/guides/write-good-memories/).
## A2A: recall without a session
An agent that speaks [A2A](https://a2a-protocol.org/) instead of MCP gets
recall over the same daemon and the same key. The live agent card is at
`http://127.0.0.1:8081/.well-known/agent-card.json` (this site publishes a
twin at the same path), the endpoint is `/api/a2a` (JSON-RPC), and the one
skill is `recall`: `message/send` with text parts as the query returns a
completed message - a text summary plus a data part carrying the same
`{"hits": [...]}` payload the MCP recall tool returns.
```bash
curl -s -X POST http://127.0.0.1:8081/api/a2a \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"message/send",
"params":{"message":{"kind":"message","messageId":"m1","role":"user",
"parts":[{"kind":"text","text":"why is the console theme split"}],
"metadata":{"project":"seamless","limit":5}}}}'
```
There is no session binding on this surface: scope comes entirely from message
metadata. `metadata.project` widens the search from global-only to a project
plus global, `metadata.scope` narrows the kinds (`all|memories|notes`), and
`metadata.limit` caps the hits. The rest of A2A - tasks, streaming, push
notifications - is deliberately absent, and the card declares every one of
those capabilities false rather than advertising an operation that would fail.
## Skills over the web
The maintained skills that `seamlessd install-hooks` delivers to a client's
skill home ([`seam-onboard`](/install/), [`seam-research`](/guides/research-trials/))
are also published for discovery: this site serves an
[Agent Skills](https://agentskills.io/) index at
[`/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json`](https://thereisnospoon.org/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json),
one entry per skill with a `sha256:` digest of its `SKILL.md`. The published
artifacts are the same embedded bytes the installer writes, so a fetched skill
verifies against its digest and matches what a local install would have
delivered.
## The seam CLI as a fallback client
An agent that can run a shell but cannot speak MCP still has the loop. `seam` is
a headless client for the same daemon, authenticating with the same key:
```bash
seam prime --cwd /abs/path/to/repo # session_start; prints the briefing
seam recall "why is the console theme split"
seam remember --name lease-steal-window --kind gotcha \
--description "..." --body "..." # or pipe the body on stdin
seam ready # the actionable queue
seam task claim --lease 1800 01K7ABCD # flags on either side of the id
```
Two things to know before you script it.
**Flags go on either side of a positional.** Every `seam` command parses flags
and positionals in any order, so `seam task claim 01K7ABCD --lease 1800` and
`seam task claim --lease 1800 01K7ABCD` are the same line. A typo'd flag is an
error rather than a silently different command. See the
[seam CLI reference](/reference/cli-seam/).
**There is no `seam session-end`.** The CLI covers start, write, search, and the
queue, but findings are harvested by the SessionEnd hook or the `session_end` MCP
tool. An agent driving Seamless purely through `seam` starts sessions that only
the idle reaper closes, and contributes nothing to the next briefing. If findings
matter - and they are the whole point of `session_end` - that agent needs the MCP
surface.
## Verify the integration
```bash
seam doctor # /healthz, key acceptance, tools/list count, project_list
```
A green `mcp_tools` line proves the endpoint answers *and* your key works, which
is most of what an integration can get wrong. `seamlessd doctor` covers the other
half - config, database, embedder, hooks - on the server side. If something is
wrong and nothing is complaining, start at
[Troubleshooting](/guides/troubleshooting/): the hooks fail open, so silence is
the failure mode.
---
# Connect Cursor, Cline, Windsurf & Zed
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/guides/mcp-clients/
Seamless serves its whole tool surface as a **local streamable-HTTP MCP
server** on localhost:
```text
POST http://127.0.0.1:8081/api/mcp
Authorization: Bearer <mcp.api_key>
```
Any MCP client that can send a URL plus a bearer header - or spawn a local
stdio server - can connect to it. This page is the verified configuration for
four such clients: Cursor, Cline, Windsurf, and Zed.
First, the honest part.
## What these clients get, and what they do not
[Hooks](/reference/hooks/) exist for exactly two clients: Claude Code (seven
hooks) and Codex (five). Hooks are what makes Seamless *ambient* - a briefing
injected at session start, prompts matched against stored memories, findings
harvested when the session ends, all without the agent calling a tool. Every
other client connects as a plain MCP client: the [full tool
surface](/reference/mcp/) works, and nothing happens by itself.
| Capability | Claude Code | Codex | Cursor / Cline / Windsurf / Zed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Every MCP tool | yes | yes | yes |
| Briefing at session start | hook-injected | hook-injected | agent calls `session_start` |
| Prompt-matched recall injection | every prompt | every prompt | agent calls `recall` explicitly |
| Findings harvested | at session end | at turn end | agent calls `session_end` |
| Plan-mode capture | yes | no | no |
The right column is a manual mode, not a broken one. The loop the agent has to
run itself - `session_start` to bind scope, `recall` before guessing,
`session_end` with findings - is short, and [Integrate your
agent](/guides/integrate-your-agent/) walks through every step of it.
[Make the agent run the loop](#make-the-agent-run-the-loop), below, shows how
to put that loop into a rules file so the agent actually does.
## Before the config
Three facts every block below shares:
- The daemon binds **localhost only** by default (`127.0.0.1:8081`), so the
client has to run on the same machine. `curl -s
http://127.0.0.1:8081/healthz` proves it is up, no auth needed. A daemon
[shared across a LAN](/guides/network-install/) is the opt-in exception:
substitute its `server_url` for `http://127.0.0.1:8081` in every block below,
and under https make sure the client trusts the server's CA - these clients
use their own HTTP stack and never read Seamless's `tls.ca_file`.
- The bearer key is `mcp.api_key` in your
[`seamless.yaml`](/reference/configuration/) (usually
`~/.config/seamless/seamless.yaml`). `seam mcp-headers` prints the current
`Authorization` header as JSON if you would rather not open the file.
- **Auth is checked at `tools/call`, not at connect time.** A client with a
wrong key still initializes and lists tools, so the server can show as
connected while every call fails with `unauthorized: valid bearer key
required` as a tool-error result. If tools list but never work, check the
key before anything else.
## Cursor
Cursor connects to a local HTTP MCP server with a `url` and a bearer header.
Register Seamless globally in `~/.cursor/mcp.json` - one daemon serves every
repository, so the global file is the right scope (a per-project
`.cursor/mcp.json` also works, but would put the key in the repo's
working tree):
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"seamless": {
"url": "http://127.0.0.1:8081/api/mcp",
"headers": {
"Authorization": "Bearer <mcp.api_key>"
}
}
}
}
```
A bare `url` is treated as streamable HTTP; no transport field is needed. If
you would rather not store the key as a literal, Cursor interpolates
`${env:VAR}` inside `headers` - or skip the problem entirely with the
[stdio bridge](#keep-the-key-out-of-client-config).
## Cline
Cline configures MCP servers from its panel: MCP Servers, then Configure MCP
Servers, which opens `cline_mcp_settings.json`:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"seamless": {
"type": "streamableHttp",
"url": "http://127.0.0.1:8081/api/mcp",
"headers": {
"Authorization": "Bearer <mcp.api_key>"
},
"disabled": false,
"autoApprove": []
}
}
}
```
The `type` must be exactly `streamableHttp` - camelCase, no hyphen. Spelled
`streamable-http`, or omitted, Cline falls back to the legacy SSE transport,
which the daemon does not serve, and the connection fails with an unhelpful
error.
## Windsurf
Windsurf's MCP config lives at `~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json`. It
spells both fields differently from the clients above: the endpoint goes in
`serverUrl` (not `url`), and the transport is `streamable-http` (hyphenated
where Cline camelCases - neither client accepts the other's spelling):
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"seamless": {
"type": "streamable-http",
"serverUrl": "http://127.0.0.1:8081/api/mcp",
"headers": {
"Authorization": "Bearer <mcp.api_key>"
}
}
}
}
```
Windsurf interpolates `${env:VAR}` and `${file:/abs/path}` inside `headers`
if you want the key out of the JSON.
## Zed
Zed's custom context servers speak **stdio only** - there is no native
streamable-HTTP registration. That is exactly the shape `seam mcp-proxy`
exists for: it speaks MCP over stdio to the client and forwards every frame
to `/api/mcp`, reading the bearer key from Seamless's own 0600 config. In
Zed's `settings.json`:
```json
{
"context_servers": {
"seamless": {
"source": "custom",
"command": "/abs/path/to/seam",
"args": ["mcp-proxy", "--config", "/abs/path/to/seamless.yaml"],
"env": {}
}
}
}
```
Use absolute paths for both the binary and the config - Zed launches the
command from its own working directory, not your repo. The generic
`mcp-remote` proxy would also bridge Zed to a local HTTP server, but it takes
the bearer token on its command line, which lands the secret in
`settings.json`; the bridge keeps it in the one file that already holds it.
## Keep the key out of client config
The bridge is not Zed-specific. Every client on this page can spawn a stdio
server, so every one of them can trade its HTTP block for `command` + `args`
and hold no key at all - the same policy choice Seamless makes when
[installing for Codex](/codex-cli/):
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"seamless": {
"command": "/abs/path/to/seam",
"args": ["mcp-proxy", "--config", "/abs/path/to/seamless.yaml"]
}
}
}
```
(Adapt the envelope to the client: Cline keeps its `disabled`/`autoApprove`
fields, Zed uses `context_servers` with `source: "custom"` as above.)
Direct HTTP is one fewer process; the bridge is one fewer place the key
lives. Both carry the full protocol, including the `Mcp-Session-Id` binding
that [session scope](/guides/integrate-your-agent/) depends on, so nothing on
this page changes between them.
## Make the agent run the loop
Without hooks, nothing tells the agent that Seamless exists or when to use
it. The fix is standing instructions in whatever rules file the client reads
(Cursor's `.cursor/rules`, `.clinerules`, `.windsurfrules`, Zed's `.rules`):
```text
Seamless is this machine's shared agent memory (MCP server "seamless").
- Start every task by calling session_start with cwd set to the repo root,
and read the briefing it returns.
- Call recall before re-deriving project knowledge or asking the user.
- Durable knowledge goes to memory_write (compact) or notes_create (long);
do not duplicate what the code or the current conversation already holds.
- Before finishing, call session_end with findings - it is what the next
agent's briefing is built from.
```
That is the whole loop. The subtleties - scope resolution, when a write is
rejected as ambiguous, what deserves to be a memory - are covered in
[Integrate your agent](/guides/integrate-your-agent/) and [Write memories
that get recalled](/guides/write-good-memories/).
## Verify the connection
```bash
seam doctor # /healthz, key acceptance, tools/list count
```
A green `mcp_tools` line proves the endpoint answers and the key works - the
two things a client config can get wrong. Then, in the client, ask the agent
to call `session_start`: getting a briefing back end-to-end exercises auth,
session binding, and scope in one call. If the tool list shows up but calls
fail, re-read the auth note [above](#before-the-config); for anything else,
[Troubleshooting](/guides/troubleshooting/) is symptom-first.
---
# Write memories that get recalled
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/guides/write-good-memories/
A memory that is never retrieved is worse than one that was never written: it
cost budget, it cost a write, and it is now something the gardener has to reason
about. Getting recalled is not luck. It is almost entirely a property of the
`description`.
## The description is the retrieval surface
[Memory & notes](/concepts/memory/) says the description is the only text an index
ever shows. That is the visible half. The mechanical half is sharper, and it is
where most bad memories die:
| Path | What it reads |
|---|---|
| Briefing, memory list, recall results | The `description`. Nothing else |
| The `<seam-recall>` prompt injection | `name` + `description`, tokenized. **The body is never considered** |
| A `recall` call - keyword leg | `name`, `description`, `body` (FTS5) |
| A `recall` call - vector leg | `name` + `description` + `body`, embedded together |
Read the second row again. The [UserPromptSubmit matcher](/reference/hooks/) is
purely lexical - it has to be, it runs inside a five-second hook - and it scores
each memory on the tokens in its name and description alone. A memory whose
description is vague is **invisible to ambient recall** no matter how good its
body is. It can only be found by an agent that already decided to go looking.
The body is not wasted; it is what the agent reads once the description got the
memory into the room. But the description is what does the getting.
Two mechanical details that follow from this:
- The matcher requires at least two distinct shared tokens above an IDF-weighted
floor, drops stopwords and tokens under three characters, and returns at most
three hits. Descriptions built from common words compete with everything and win
nothing. **Rare, specific terms are what score.** Among matches that clear the
floors, a memory's [utility](/concepts/recall/#the-utility-nudge) - its record
of actually being used - breaks the ties for the three slots.
- A description over 150 characters is **silently truncated**, not rejected. Write
to the limit deliberately, or the sentence that mattered gets cut mid-word.
## Good and bad, worked
These are real memories from this repository's own store, paired with the vague
version each could have been.
**A gotcha.**
```text
Vague notes about gofmt
Retrievable gofmt walks the filesystem while Go's ./... skips dot-dirs: gofmt -w . rewrites other agents' .claude/worktrees mid-edit. Use make fmt .
The useful description carries the trigger, rare search terms, mechanism, and fix.
```
The bad one shares no rare token with any prompt an agent would write. The good
one carries `gofmt`, `dot-dirs`, `worktrees` - an agent typing "why did my
formatter touch files I didn't edit" hits it, and the description *already
contains the fix*. The body never has to open.
**Another gotcha, where the description is the whole answer.**
```text
Vague seamlessd gotcha
Actionable pkill -f 'seamlessd serve' kills the user's launchd daemon too, not just your dev instance; match the port or pid instead.
A reader can avoid the incident without opening the body.
```
**A constraint.**
```text
Vague rules for errcheck
Decision-complete errcheck runs with check-blank: every _ -discarded error is either in exclude-functions or carries //nolint with a reason. No third category.
Pinned briefing space should carry the rule itself, not a pointer saying that rules exist.
```
A constraint is pinned into every briefing and never dropped for budget - though
only the top `briefing.constraint_max_full` of them render this description in
full; the rest are pinned as names on the compact `+N more, equally binding`
line. That is
expensive real estate either way, and "rules for errcheck" spends it to tell an
agent that rules exist.
The pattern in every good one: **symptom or trigger, then the mechanism, then the
consequence or the fix.** Not the topic. The topic is what a filename is for.
## Name it the way it will be searched
The name is tokenized alongside the description, so it is retrieval surface too,
not just a filename. `chroma-boot-race` earns its tokens; `note-3` earns nothing.
Kebab-case, unique within the project, and made of the words a future prompt will
actually contain.
## Choosing a kind
The kind is not filing paperwork - it changes what happens to the memory:
| Kind | Use it for | Consequence |
|---|---|---|
| `constraint` | A rule any agent must follow regardless of task | **Pinned.** Never dropped for budget, never staleness-archived |
| `stage` | Where multi-session work stands | **Pinned while its `Status:` header marks a live gate** - `done` unpins immediately; a missing header ages out after `briefing.stage_unknown_max_age_days` |
| `convention` | A project-local choice or layout fact | Its own budget-competing Conventions section; the overflow sits behind a count line pointing at `recall kind=convention`, which lists the kind newest-first when called without a query |
| `gotcha` | A trap, led by its symptom | Ordinary budget and staleness rules |
| `decision` | A choice plus the alternatives it rejected | Ordinary |
| `refuted` | A belief that turned out false | Ordinary |
| `runbook` / `protocol` / `reference` | A procedure, an agreement, a pointer | Ordinary |
Four calls people get wrong.
**`constraint` vs `convention`.** Ask whether the rule binds regardless of task.
"No CGO" binds every agent on every task - `constraint`. "The wordmark markup
must stay in sync across three files" binds only the agent touching the wordmark
- `convention`. Both are rules; the difference is delivery. A constraint is
pinned into the head of every briefing; a convention renders lower, competes for
budget, and rides prompt-matched recall when its topic comes up. Filing a
convention as a constraint costs only head space - but the head is exactly the
space that keeps real constraints visible.
**`decision` vs `constraint`.** "We chose SQLite over ChromaDB, because a second
service buys ANN we do not need" is a `decision` - it carries reasoning and a
rejected alternative, and it exists so the argument does not happen again. "No
CGO" is a `constraint` - there is no reasoning to weigh at call time, only a rule
to not violate. Filing a preference as a constraint crowds out real constraints;
filing a real constraint as a `reference` means agents violate it.
**`stage` vs the task queue.** A task is work someone here can claim and
finish; a stage is a state of the world you wait on that every session must
know while it holds. "PR 10593 awaits maintainer re-review" gates work but is
not claimable by anyone here - filed as a task it pollutes the ready queue as
forever-claimable work; filed as a stage it pins into every briefing until the
gate releases. A stage's body opens with
`Status: open|in_progress|blocked|done` and optionally `Gate: human|ai`, and
the pin belongs to that header: `done` unpins it immediately, a missing header
ages out. Update the status by re-writing the memory with `memory_write` -
`memory_append` cannot change the header, which is parsed from the top of the
body.
**`refuted` is the one that gets skipped.** Nobody wants to write down what they
were wrong about. But a store that only records what is true keeps paying for the
same wrong turn forever: the fleet re-derives the dead end, tries it, finds it
dead, and moves on - every time, for every agent. Recording the refutation makes
that cost one-time. It is the highest-leverage memory kind and the least written.
## Supersede, don't accrete
Four ways to change memory, and the wrong one rots the store:
| You want to | Use |
|---|---|
| Correct or extend what *this* memory says | `memory_write`, same `name` - updated in place, id stable |
| Add to the end without rereading it | `memory_append` |
| Replace a **different**, now-outdated memory | `memory_write` with `supersedes` |
| Remove something written by mistake | `memory_delete` |
**Delete is for things that were never true; supersede is for things that stopped
being true.** Deleting the latter destroys the reasoning that explains the current
state, and the argument reopens in six weeks.
The subtle one is `memory_append`. It grows the body and **does not touch the
description** - which is correct, and also exactly how a memory rots. Append four
times and the description now summarizes the first paragraph of a memory that has
moved on. The retrieval surface has silently decoupled from the content: recall
still finds the memory for the old topic, and never finds it for what it now
mostly says. Append for a genuine addendum; `memory_write` the same name when the
memory's *point* changed, so the description changes with it.
## Four anti-patterns
**Journaling.** "Investigated the retrieval funnel today, found the stats were
session-scoped, fixed it in two commits." Too long to inject, too specific to
generalize, and it displaces a constraint. That is `session_end` findings, or a
note. The test: *would a future agent need this injected before it starts working?*
**Duplicating the codebase.** Seamless stores what agents *learned*, not what the
code says. The code is already in the repo, and a memory mirroring it goes stale
the moment someone edits the file - silently, because nothing links them. The same
goes for anything `CLAUDE.md` already injects: restating it spends budget to say
what the agent was told anyway.
**"Notes about X" descriptions.** Covered above, and worth naming as a habit
rather than a mistake. If the description names a topic instead of making a claim,
it is a label. Labels do not retrieve.
**Accreting near-duplicates.** Writing `console-theme-fix-2` beside
`console-theme-fix` gives recall two answers and lets the agent pick. Seamless
pushes back twice: `memory_write` on a new name reports a semantically similar
existing memory as an advisory hint (the write still proceeds - it is a hint, not
a veto), and [the gardener](/concepts/gardener/) proposes a merge for pairs above
its similarity threshold. Take the hint. If the new thing replaces the old thing,
that is what `supersedes` is for.
## The one-line test
Before writing, say the memory out loud as its description alone. If a future
agent - with none of your context, three weeks from now, mid-task - could not
decide from that line whether to read further, the line is not done yet. That is
the description's entire job, and it is the only part of the memory most agents
will ever see.
---
# Coordinate multiple agents
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/guides/coordinate-agents/
Coordinating multiple coding agents with Seamless means pointing N workers -
Claude Code, Codex, or any MCP client - at one shared, dependency-aware task
queue with atomic lease-based claiming: every worker runs the same claim loop,
exactly one wins each task, and a dead worker's lease expires instead of
stranding its work. There is no scheduler process and no orchestrator - the
coordination is the workers cooperating over the queue.
One agent with memory is a better agent. Several agents with *shared* memory and
no coordination is a worse outcome than one - they duplicate work, contradict each
other's writes, and discover the same dead end in parallel.
This page is the part of Seamless that exists for the fleet: how N agents divide
work without colliding, and what happens when one of them dies holding something.
## Fan-out over the ready queue
The pattern is a seeder and N identical workers. The seeder decomposes the work
once:
```text
tasks_add title="extract the parser" → 01K...A
tasks_add title="port callers" depends_on=A → 01K...B
tasks_add title="delete the old path" depends_on=B
```
`depends_on` is the whole schedule. A task is **ready** when no blocker is still
`open` or `in_progress`; either `done` or `dropped` unblocks a dependent, because
work abandoned on purpose should not wedge the queue forever. Cycles are rejected
at creation rather than discovered at scheduling time.
Every worker then runs the same loop, and needs no knowledge of the others:
```text
Worker loop
session_start Establish identity Every claim is attributable to a live session.
tasks_ready Read actionable work Dependencies are already resolved.
tasks_claim Race atomically Win and work, or lose and refresh the ready list.
finish Close and hand off Update the task; session_end releases any claim still held.
Workers coordinate through shared state, so the planner never has to remain alive as a referee.
```
`tasks_claim` fails with *no active session to claim as* if the connection has no
session. That is not incidental strictness: the claim records **who** holds the
task, and a claim by nobody could never be released, reclaimed, or attributed.
### What the loser of a race sees
`tasks_ready` orders oldest-created first, ties broken by id. That order is stable
and identical for every worker - which means every worker tries the *same task
first*. Contention on the head of the queue is the designed behavior, not a
thundering-herd bug, because losing is cheap and unambiguous:
```text
task already claimed: task "01K7ABCD..." held by "01K7SESS..."
```
The holder is named as a **session id**, not an agent name. One claim landed; the
loser got a clean error, not a corrupted second claim.
What the loser does next matters more than the error. **Do not retry the same
id** - someone is working it, and a retry loop is just a slower way to do nothing.
**Do not walk to the next id in the list you already have** either: that list was
read before the race and is now stale in exactly the way that caused the
collision. Call `tasks_ready` again and claim from the fresh list. Two workers
that both do this converge on disjoint tasks within one round trip.
Claiming is a coordination signal, not a lock on the files. Nothing physically
stops an agent from editing code for a task it did not claim. The model works
because well-behaved agents do not collide - not because misbehaving ones cannot.
## Planner and executor, split by plan composition
Fan-out works when the work is a flat list. Real work has a design, and a design
that lives only in the planner's context dies when that agent does.
A [plan](/concepts/tasks-and-plans/) is not a primitive - it is everything keyed
by `plan:<slug>`. That is what makes the split possible:
| The planner writes | With |
|---|---|
| The narrative - the design and why it looks like that | `notes_create plan=<slug>` |
| Supporting context - the research behind it | More notes, same `plan=<slug>` |
| The steps, with their dependencies | `tasks_add plan=<slug> depends_on=...` |
The executors never need the planner. They read the narrative note, then work the
plan's queue:
```text
tasks_ready plan=<slug> ─▶ that plan's claimable steps
tasks_claim <id> ─▶ same race, same rules
```
**Plan steps are excluded from the default queue.** `tasks_ready` and `tasks_list`
skip them unless you pass `plan=`, so a twelve-step plan does not bury the handful
of tasks that are genuinely loose work. This is why a planner can decompose
aggressively without drowning every other agent on the machine.
The briefing surfaces each active plan as one rolled-up row rather than a step
list:
```text
Plans:
- marketing -- 2/3 done, 1 claimable, 0 in flight
(steps: tasks_ready plan=<slug>; claim: tasks_claim id=<task id>; attach work via the plan:<slug> tag)
```
That is enough for an arriving agent to decide whether to pick something up,
without spending briefing budget on steps it will not touch.
Claude Code's plan mode builds this composition automatically - plan-file saves
become notes, approval creates the tracking task. See
[Tasks & plans](/concepts/tasks-and-plans/).
## Shared-lab investigation
Some work does not decompose into tasks at all. Chasing an intermittent bug is N
agents trying things, and the expensive failure is two of them trying the same
thing an hour apart.
A lab is the shared record for one line of investigation:
```text
lab_open lab=dfu-timeout ─▶ binds the lab; returns up to 10 recent trials
trial_record title="..." changes="..." expected="..." actual="..." outcome=fail
metrics={"hz":497}
trial_query outcome=fail metrics_filter={"hz":497}
```
`lab_open` binds the lab to the connection the way `session_start` binds the
project, so `trial_record` inherits it. The context it returns on open is the
point: an agent joining an investigation already in progress sees what has been
tried before it tries anything.
Record failures, and record them with the `expected` and `actual` fields
populated. A trial that says what you thought would happen and what did is the
only kind another agent can reason from. `metrics` is an exact-match structured
filter, so "every trial where the rate was 497" is a query rather than a reading
exercise.
When the investigation resolves, **distill it into a memory** - a `gotcha` for the
trap, a `refuted` for the theory that looked right and wasn't. The lab is the
working record; it is not the conclusion, and nothing reads it into a briefing.
## Leases, crashes, and reclaiming
A claim stamps a lease - 900 seconds by default, overridable with
`lease_seconds`. Four rules cover the model:
1. **Claiming is atomic.** A compare-and-set: the write lands only if the task is
claimable. The loser gets an error, never a second claim.
2. **Re-claiming refreshes the lease.** That is the heartbeat. An agent still
working long work keeps its claim by claiming again - there is no separate
heartbeat tool, and `seam task heartbeat` is this path under a clearer name.
3. **An expired lease is reclaimable.** Expiry is enforced **lazily, inside the
claim** - there is no background sweeper watching leases.
4. **Closing frees it.** `tasks_release`, `tasks_update` to `done`/`dropped`, or
`session_end`, which releases every claim the session still holds.
Rule 3 has a consequence worth stating plainly, because "reclaimable" is easy to
over-read: **an expired lease does not put the task back in `tasks_ready`.** The
task is still `in_progress`, and `tasks_ready` returns only `open` tasks. Nothing
re-queues it, because nothing is scanning for it.
So when an agent dies holding a task, two different clocks are running:
| Clock | Length | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| **The lease** | `lease_seconds`, default 900s | The task becomes stealable **by id** - a worker that knows the id can `tasks_claim` it and win. It is still not in the ready queue |
| **The session idle reap** | `gardener.session_idle_minutes` (45), on the gardener's tick | The reaper expires the dead session and **releases its claims** - status back to `open`, and the task is genuinely back in the queue |
The reaper is the backstop that makes crashes self-healing, and it is the only one
that re-queues. A clean `session_end` does the same thing immediately, which is
the real reason a fleet worker should always end its session rather than just
exiting.
One caveat that turns a self-healing system into a stuck one: **the reaper runs
inside the gardener's pass**. With `gardener.enabled` off, nothing reaps idle
sessions and nothing returns a dead agent's claims. See
[Troubleshooting](/guides/troubleshooting/).
Nobody wants to wait 45 minutes for an obvious corpse, so there is an owner
override - the console's **release lock** button, or `seam task release --force
<id>`. It force-releases any holder's claim regardless of the lease, and it is
deliberately **not on the MCP surface**: agents get the cooperative protocol, you
get the override.
## What you see while it runs
The console is read-mostly and live over SSE - it is how you watch a fleet without
being in its loop.
| Screen | What it answers |
|---|---|
| `/console/tasks` | Ready, In progress, Blocked (with each task's blockers), Closed - the queue at a glance |
| A task's detail panel | Who claims it, whether the lease is **live** or **expired**, and the release-lock button |
| `/console/sessions` | Which agents are alive, and each one's claimed tasks with remaining lease |
| A project's detail | The plan timeline - each step's status, holder, and lease |
| `/console/plans` | Captured plans with status, iteration, and task progress |
The same view without a browser:
```bash
seam ready --blocked # the queue plus what is blocking what
seam task list --status in_progress # what is claimed right now
seam sessions --status active # who is alive
```
A task sitting in **In progress** with an **expired** lease is the signature of a
crashed holder. If the gardener is running, leave it - the reaper will return it.
If you need it now, release the lock.
## One more collision to know about
Coordination has a scope failure mode, not just a queue one. When several agents
are live in **different repos** and one of them writes durable knowledge without a
bound session, Seamless cannot tell which project the write belongs to - and
refuses it as ambiguous rather than inheriting from whichever ambient session was
most recent. That refusal is the feature: the alternative is one agent's memory
silently landing in another agent's project.
Bind the session ([Integrate your agent](/guides/integrate-your-agent/)), or pass
`project` explicitly. See [Projects & scope](/concepts/projects/).
---
# Capture Claude Code plans
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/guides/plan-mode/
Claude Code's plan mode produces exactly the artifact that usually evaporates: a
considered design, written down, immediately before the work starts and gone
immediately after it. Seamless captures it without you doing anything.
Codex also has a Plan mode, but this automatic artifact capture is
Claude-Code-specific. Seamless has no verified Claude-style plan-file and
`ExitPlanMode` surface to capture from Codex; Codex SubagentStart/Stop hooks
provide bounded constraints and parent heartbeats, not plan notes. A Codex agent
can still compose durable plans explicitly with a `plan:<slug>` note plus tasks.
The result is a [plan composition](/concepts/tasks-and-plans/) - narrative,
supporting context, and steps - built for you as you plan.
## Which hook captures what
| Hook | Fires when | Captures |
|---|---|---|
| `PostToolUse` (`Write`/`Edit`/`MultiEdit`) | A plan file is saved | Upserts a `cc-plan-<basename>` note - one note per plan, updated on each iteration |
| `PostToolUse` (`ExitPlanMode`) | The plan is approved | Creates the tracking task |
| `PermissionRequest` (`ExitPlanMode`) | You are asked to review the plan | Marks the plan `presented` |
| `SubagentStop` | A planning subagent finishes | Caches its prompt and report as a `cc-agent-<id>` note in the same composition |
The `SubagentStop` capture is the one people do not expect and end up valuing:
when a plan was informed by four research subagents, their findings are usually
lost the moment the planning turn ends. Here they stay attached to the plan, so
the agent that executes it can read the research that justified it.
## A plan's life
```text
Captured-plan lifecycle
1 · plan mode Plan file saved Upserts cc-plan-<name> with plan-status:draft ; later saves create iterations.
2 · presented Awaiting approval The briefing names the presented plan.
3a · approved Tracking begins Status becomes approved and an implementation task is created.
3b · abandoned Closed deliberately An unapproved plan can be marked abandoned instead of lingering.
3c · shipped Landed without ceremony When the repo's history shows the work was implemented anyway, the gardener proposes settling it as shipped.
3d · merged Folded into another plan When the capture has no steps and another composition holds them for the same work, the gardener proposes moving its notes there.
A captured plan remains one composition across edits; approval changes its state and opens the execution loop.
```
The statuses are stored as a `plan-status:<value>` tag on the note:
`draft`, `presented`, `approved`, `abandoned`, `shipped`, `merged`.
## Why unapproved plans show up in the briefing
A captured-but-unapproved plan appears in briefings as:
```text
PLAN (awaiting approval): seamless-documentation-site -- (presented, 2m)
```
This is deliberate. A plan that was designed, presented, and then forgotten is
the most expensive kind of lost work - the thinking already happened. Surfacing
it costs one briefing line and makes the decision explicit: pick it up, or
abandon it on purpose.
Unapproved captures are budget-participating, unlike the pinned lines above
them, and they expire from the briefing on their own after
`briefing.pending_plan_max_days`: a hint, unlike a constraint, is allowed to
lapse rather than crowd out your actual memories.
## The escape hatches
Sometimes Claude Code skips the approval hook, and a plan you did approve stays
`presented`.
```bash
seam plan list # every captured plan and its status
seam plan show <slug> # the narrative + its steps
seam plan check <slug> # staleness: has the repo moved since capture?
seam plan approve <slug> # force approval + create the tracking task
```
`seam plan check` compares the git stamp recorded at capture against the repo
now. A plan written against a tree that has since moved on is not automatically
wrong, but it is worth re-reading before executing - that is the question this
answers.
`--cwd` picks the repo to check against and defaults to the current directory. It
goes on either side of the slug: `seam plan check --cwd ~/repos/myproj my-slug`
and `seam plan check my-slug --cwd ~/repos/myproj` are the same line. See the
[seam CLI](/reference/cli-seam/).
You can also browse everything at `/console/plans`.
## Turning it off
Capture is controlled by the `plan_capture` block - see
[Configuration](/reference/configuration/):
- `plan_capture.enabled` - capture at all.
- `plan_capture.auto_task` - create the tracking task on approval.
- `plan_capture.inject_related` - surface related captures in briefings.
All default to on.
---
# Run research trials
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/guides/research-trials/
Some problems are not solved by thinking harder; they are solved by trying twelve
things and keeping track. Firmware that boots sometimes. A race that reproduces
one time in thirty. A config that works on one machine.
Agents are bad at this in a specific way: each one starts fresh, re-derives the
same first three hypotheses, and tries them again. A **lab** is where that stops.
## Turn it on first
Labs and trials are an
[optional feature](/reference/console/#optional-features), and optional features
ship **off**. On a fresh install the screens and the three tools below are not
there until you enable research, in any one of three places:
- **The console** - Settings → Features, the fastest route. It applies to the
console immediately; agents pick it up on their next session.
- **The config file** - `features: research: true` in `seamless.yaml`.
- **The environment** - `SEAMLESS_FEATURES_RESEARCH=1`.
A console toggle stores an override that wins over the file and the environment
until you reset it, so if the YAML says one thing and the tools disagree, check
the console first. An installation that was already recording trials before this
became optional keeps it on across the upgrade - the feature is never switched
off underneath existing data, and switching it off later hides the screens and
the tools without deleting a single trial. See
[Configuration](/reference/configuration/#precedence).
## The loop
```text
Evidence loop
1 · lab_open Name and bind the investigation Several sessions can share the same lab.
2 · trial_query Read before trying See prior outcomes and avoid repeated dead ends.
3 · trial_record Expected vs actual Record the change, outcome, evidence, and metrics; query again before the next trial.
4 · memory_write Distill the durable finding Close the loop with a gotcha, decision, or protocol.
Trials are the working evidence; memory is the compact conclusion that future agents need.
```
`lab_open` binds the lab to the connection the same way `session_start` binds a
project, so `trial_record` inherits it without you naming the lab every time.
## Record the expectation, not just the result
The field that earns its keep is **what you expected**. A trial that says "tried
X, it failed" is worth little. One that says "expected the firmware to enumerate
after DFU because the descriptor changed; it enumerated but with the old PID"
tells the next agent which model of the system was wrong - and that is the actual
product of debugging.
Record trials that *succeeded* too. "This worked" is what stops the next agent
from redesigning a thing that already works.
## Parallel agents in one lab
This is the reason the lab exists rather than a scratch note.
Several agents can open the **same lab** and work the same problem concurrently.
Each one calls `trial_query` first and sees what the others have already
eliminated. Where a fleet of independent agents would explore the same three
obvious hypotheses three times, a fleet sharing a lab divides the space.
Pair it with the [ready queue](/concepts/tasks-and-plans/) when the trials are
enumerable up front: one task per hypothesis, `tasks_claim` to avoid two agents
testing the same one. See [Coordinate multiple
agents](/guides/coordinate-agents/).
## Watching a lab
The console has a twin for this surface:
[`/console/labs`](/reference/console/#labs) lists each investigation with its
trial and outcome counts, and [`/console/trials`](/reference/console/#trials)
shows every trial with expected and actual side by side - which is where a
mis-predicted expectation is easiest to spot. Watch there while a fleet works a
lab; nothing on either screen writes.
## Distil, then stop
A lab is a working record, not a conclusion. When the investigation resolves,
write **one memory** that captures what is now known:
- The thing that was wrong, as a `gotcha` - with the symptom in the description,
so the next agent recognizes it before diagnosing it.
- The thing you decided, as a `decision` - with the alternatives you rejected.
- The thing you believed that turned out false, as `refuted` - this is the kind
people skip, and it is what stops the fleet re-deriving the dead end.
Do not copy the trial log into memory. The trials stay in the lab, queryable; the
memory carries the conclusion. A briefing has a token budget, and twelve trials
of a solved problem are not what an agent needs injected before it starts work.
See [Write memories that get recalled](/guides/write-good-memories/).
## The skill
While the feature is on, the installer drops the portable `seam-research`
package into the selected client's skill home - and while it is off, `seamlessd
install-hooks` skips it and removes a copy it previously delivered, so no agent
reads about tools its server will refuse. A toggle in the console cannot reach a
client's skill home on its own, so `seamlessd doctor` raises an info line until
the next install run reconciles the two. From a clone, use
`make install-research-skill
CLIENT=claude` for Claude Code or `make install-research-skill CLIENT=codex` for
Codex (`CLIENT=detect` is the default). It wraps this loop
- open the lab, query before trying, predict before running, record once with
the outcome, distill decisions into memory - and can activate when an
investigation becomes repeated experiments. Start or resume one explicitly with
`/seam-research <lab-name> <problem>` in Claude Code or
`$seam-research <lab-name> <problem>` in Codex.
## The tools
`lab_open`, `trial_record`, and `trial_query` are documented in
[Lab, gardener & usage](/reference/mcp/lab-gardener-usage/).
---
# Import, back up & restore
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/guides/data/
Because durable knowledge is markdown files, backup and restore are boring - and
that is the feature. This page is mostly about knowing which half of
`~/.seamless` is precious and which half regenerates.
## What is precious, and what is not
```text
Backup priorities
Precious memory/{project|_global}/{name}.md Source of truth for durable memory.
Precious notes/{project|_global}/{slug}.md Source of truth for long-form artifacts.
Mixed seam.db Rebuildable search mirrors plus irreplaceable session, task, trial, and event history.
Back up the whole directory. The file trees are always authoritative; parts of SQLite are authoritative too.
```
`seam.db` holds two different kinds of thing, and conflating them is what makes
people either over-protect it or under-protect it:
| In `seam.db` | If it were lost |
|---|---|
| FTS index, embeddings | **Rebuilt automatically** from the files |
| Sessions, tasks, trials, events, telemetry, briefing overrides | **Gone** - there is no file to rebuild them from |
So: **deleting `seam.db` costs you the record of what happened, not the knowledge
of what is true.** Every memory and note survives, because they are files.
## Put it in git
The strongest backup is the one you already know how to use:
```bash
cd ~/.seamless
git init
printf 'seam.db\nseam.db-wal\nseam.db-shm\n' > .gitignore
git add . && git commit -m "seamless: initial"
```
Ignoring the database is deliberate. It is a binary that changes constantly, it
does not diff usefully, and its contents are either rebuildable or high-churn
state that a nightly commit would capture uselessly. What you want in git is the
knowledge - and that diffs beautifully, because it is markdown.
Commit periodically (a cron job or a `launchd` timer is plenty). The payoff is
that `git log` over your memory directory is a real history of what your agents
learned and when they changed their minds.
Git gives you the knowledge with a history. It deliberately leaves out the other
half - sessions, tasks, trials, events - which is what
[`seamlessd export`](#the-whole-instance-in-one-archive) is for. They compose:
git for the diffable record of what your agents learned, an archive for the whole
instance.
## The whole instance in one archive
```bash
seamlessd export
# wrote /Users/you/seamless-nuc.local-20260923T220501Z.tar.gz (4.1 MiB)
# host nuc.local, seamlessd 0.9.1, created 2026-09-23T22:05:01Z
# corpus: 214 memories, 38 notes
# database: schema v25, 18422 rows across 21 tables
```
One gzipped tar with the markdown corpus, a consistent snapshot of `seam.db`, and
a manifest describing what is inside. Full flags in
[the CLI reference](/reference/cli-seamlessd/#seamlessd_export).
Three things worth knowing:
- **Run it while the daemon is up.** The snapshot is SQLite's `VACUUM INTO`,
taken inside a read transaction, so a write in flight is simply not in it. No
`cp` of a WAL-mode database, no stopping anything. (A plain `cp` of
`seam.db` under a live writer can capture a torn state; this cannot.)
- **The key is not in it.** Config and `mcp.api_key` are deliberately excluded,
so an archive can go to a NAS or another machine without carrying this
machine's only credential.
- **`-` streams.** `seamlessd export -o - | ssh backup-box 'cat > seam.tgz'`
writes the archive to stdout and the report to stderr.
`--no-db` gives you a knowledge-only archive: the two markdown trees, nothing
else. It is the tarball equivalent of the git recipe above.
## Restore
```bash
seamlessd stop
seamlessd import --from seamless-nuc.local-20260923T220501Z.tar.gz
seamlessd doctor && seamlessd start
```
Into an **empty** data directory, that is a restore: every `.md` lands
byte-for-byte and the database snapshot is renamed into place last. Into a
**populated** one it is a merge instead, first-writer-wins by ULID. Which one it
will be is a property of the destination, is printed in the report, and cannot be
overridden - so there is no way to ask for a restore and get a populated instance
wiped. Add `--dry-run` to see the mode and the counts without writing anything.
A restore refuses while a daemon is answering for that data directory (it would
be replacing `seam.db` underneath it) and names `seamlessd stop`; `--force`
overrides. A merge does not need the daemon down.
You can also restore the knowledge alone, from an archive or from git:
```bash
# files back in place
cp -R backup/memory backup/notes ~/.seamless/
make run
```
Startup reconciliation walks the tree, notices which files the index does not
know about (or whose content hash changed), and indexes them. A file watcher
keeps it in sync from then on. You do not run a reindex command, because there
isn't one to forget.
To force a full rebuild, stop the daemon, delete `seam.db`, and start it again.
You lose sessions, tasks, trials, and events; you lose no knowledge.
## Merging two instances
Importing an archive into an instance that already has data is a **merge**, and
it is idempotent: anything whose ULID is already here is skipped, so running the
same archive twice inserts zero the second time. That makes it the way to fold a
laptop's instance into a desktop's, or several devices' into one.
Two rules keep it honest:
- **Collisions are reported, never resolved.** A memory whose path is already
held by a different item is left unwritten and both ids are printed; a session
name or project slug already taken is reported rather than renamed. Deciding
which one wins is yours.
- **This machine's settings stay this machine's.** Repo mappings, families,
briefing overrides, and the embedder switch are not merged, and neither are
embeddings - vectors belong to whichever model you run here, so imported items
are embedded on write instead.
## Import from Seam v1
```bash
seamlessd import --from ~/.seam
```
`seamlessd import` fronts two operations and picks between them by what
`--from` names on disk: a **directory** is a Seam v1 store, a **file** (or `-`)
is an archive. Point it at a v1 data directory and it brings that store's
memories, sessions, and tool-call events into `seam.db`. It is **idempotent**:
running it twice does not double anything, so a partial import is safe to re-run.
## Hand-editing
Files are the source of truth, so editing them by hand is allowed and expected -
the watcher picks up your change and reindexes it.
Two rules:
1. **Never hand-stamp `invalid_at` or `superseded_by`.** Those are set by the
supersede path, which also updates the indexes and the pointer between the two
memories. Writing them by hand produces a file that says one thing and a
database that believes another, and the lifecycle invariants (stamp once,
point only at an active memory, never self-supersede) stop being true. Use
`memory_write` with `supersedes` - see [Memory & notes](/concepts/memory/).
2. **Do not hand-edit `id`.** It is a ULID assigned once and referenced by
`superseded_by` pointers elsewhere.
Everything else - the body, the description, tags, the kind - is yours to edit in
any text editor.
## Moving machines
```bash
# on the old machine
seamlessd export -o seamless.tar.gz
# on the new one
make install # seeds a config with a NEW generated key
seamlessd stop # the installer starts the service
seamlessd import --from seamless.tar.gz
seamlessd doctor && seamlessd start
```
The new machine's data directory is empty, so this is a restore: every memory
and note lands byte-for-byte, and the sessions, tasks, trials, and events come
with it. If you are folding the old machine into an instance that already has
data, the same command is a merge instead - see
[Merging two instances](#merging-two-instances).
The install generates a fresh `mcp.api_key` rather than copying the old config:
the key is the only credential, it is deliberately not in the archive, and a
machine migration is a good moment not to spread it around. See
[Install & deploy](/install/).
If all you want is the knowledge, the git recipe moves it just as well
(`git clone <remote> ~/.seamless`), and so does `seamlessd export --no-db`. The
index rebuilds itself on first start either way.
---
# Share one daemon across a LAN
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/guides/network-install/
The default install is one daemon per machine, bound to loopback. This guide is
the other shape: **one daemon, several devices**, so a laptop, a desktop, and a
build box share a single corpus instead of three that drift apart.
It is an opt-in with real tradeoffs. The bearer key is still the only
authentication and there is still no per-client authorization, so the supported
boundary is a trusted LAN - see
[the security posture](/install/#going-beyond-loopback-deliberately). Some
daemon-side captures stop working for remote devices, deliberately and visibly;
[what a remote device does not get](#what-a-remote-device-does-not-get) is the
honest list, and it is worth reading before you start.
## The topology
One machine is the **server**: it runs `seamlessd`, owns `~/.seamless` (the
SQLite database and the markdown corpus), and is the only machine that needs a
service. Every other machine is a **client**: it installs the two binaries and
wires its agent clients' hooks and MCP registrations at the server's URL, and
it runs no daemon of its own.
| | Server | Client |
|---|---|---|
| `role` | `server` (the default) | `client` |
| Daemon | `seamlessd serve` | none - `serve` refuses outright |
| Service (launchd / systemd / Scheduled Task) | installed | none |
| Data dir, database, corpus | here | none; `seam status` does not even print a data dir |
| Config keys that matter | `addr`, `server_url`, `allowed_hosts`, `tls.cert_file`, `tls.key_file`, `mcp.api_key` | `role`, `server_url`, `mcp.api_key`, `tls.ca_file` |
| Console, gardener, embeddings | here | the server's |
A client's config is deliberately tiny. `role: client` requires `server_url` -
a client that dials nowhere is a contradiction, and loading one is an error -
and `tls.cert_file` on a client is refused too: a client holds no server
certificate, it trusts one with `tls.ca_file`.
## Step 1: widen the server
Edit the server's `~/.config/seamless/seamless.yaml`:
```yaml
addr: "0.0.0.0:8081" # listen on every interface
server_url: "http://studio.local:8081" # what clients dial
```
Both keys, not one. `addr` answers "where do I listen"; `server_url` answers
"where do clients reach me", and they stop having the same answer the moment
the bind is a wildcard. Leaving `server_url` unset on a wildcard bind derives
`http://127.0.0.1:8081` - an address that means "your own machine" on every
client that receives it - and the daemon warns about exactly that combination
at startup. Putting the wildcard in `server_url` instead is refused outright at
config load: `http://0.0.0.0:8081` is an address no client can dial, so it can
never be the right answer to "where do clients reach me".
Naming `server_url` also arms the **Host-header allowlist**: the daemon then
answers the loopback names, a concrete bind host, and the host of `server_url`,
and refuses everything else with `421 Misdirected Request`. Add any further
name the daemon is reached by - a short hostname, a raw IP - to
`allowed_hosts`. (A wildcard bind has no concrete host of its own, which is why
naming one somewhere is what turns the guard on there.)
Restart the daemon and check it:
```bash
seamlessd restart
seamlessd doctor
```
Doctor's transport lines are the ones to read:
| Line | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| `bind` | Loopback is OK. Non-loopback without TLS is a **warn** naming what travels in the clear; non-loopback with TLS is OK with the reminder that the bearer key is still the only authentication. |
| `server_url` | Fetches `/healthz` through the advertised URL. A `421` here is a **fail** that names the Host header it just refused - the allowlist and the advertised name disagree. |
| `tls` | Off, or the certificate's expiry and whether its SANs cover the advertised host. |
## Step 2: TLS
Plain http over a LAN is a legitimate choice and Seamless will not stop you -
`seamlessd client-config` prints a warning and continues. But the bearer key
and every memory it fetches cross the network unencrypted, so prefer https.
Both `tls.cert_file` and `tls.key_file` must be set; one without the other is
refused at load, because it cannot serve TLS. With both set the listener is
https (TLS 1.2 floor), the console session cookie is marked `Secure`, and
`server_url` derives an `https://` scheme.
The certificate must cover **the host of `server_url`** - bare host, no scheme,
no port, lower-cased. That is the name clients verify and the name doctor
checks the SANs against.
### mkcert (the friction-free path)
[mkcert](https://github.com/FiloSottile/mkcert) installs a local CA into your
system trust store and issues certificates from it:
```bash
mkcert -install # once per machine
mkcert -cert-file ~/.config/seamless/seamless.crt \
-key-file ~/.config/seamless/seamless.key studio.local
mkcert -CAROOT # prints the CA directory
```
Server config:
```yaml
addr: "0.0.0.0:8081"
server_url: "https://studio.local:8081"
tls:
cert_file: "~/.config/seamless/seamless.crt"
key_file: "~/.config/seamless/seamless.key"
```
Copy `rootCA.pem` from the `mkcert -CAROOT` directory to each client and point
`tls.ca_file` at it there. That one file is what makes the `seam` CLI trust the
server; it is the only TLS key a client has.
### openssl (no extra tool)
A self-signed certificate works just as well as long as it carries the SAN and
is usable as its own root - `CA:TRUE`, which is why the second `-addext` is not
optional. Needs OpenSSL 1.1.1 or newer for `-addext`:
```bash
openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 -sha256 -days 825 -nodes \
-keyout ~/.config/seamless/seamless.key \
-out ~/.config/seamless/seamless.crt \
-subj "/CN=studio.local" \
-addext "subjectAltName=DNS:studio.local,IP:192.168.1.10" \
-addext "basicConstraints=critical,CA:TRUE"
```
Include every name and address clients dial in `subjectAltName`; a client that
dials an IP the certificate does not list fails in the TLS handshake. Then copy
`seamless.crt` - the certificate, never the key - to each client as
`~/.config/seamless/server-ca.crt`, and write that client's whole config:
```yaml
role: "client"
server_url: "https://studio.local:8081"
tls:
ca_file: "~/.config/seamless/server-ca.crt"
mcp:
api_key: "<the server's key>"
```
Renewal is manual on both paths - nothing auto-renews - which is why doctor's
`tls` line warns from 30 days out.
### Why https changes the Claude Code wiring
Under an `https://` base URL, `install-hooks` writes a different shape on
purpose: **every** Claude Code hook becomes a command hook (including
`UserPromptSubmit`, normally the one http hook), and the MCP registration
becomes the `seam mcp-proxy` stdio bridge instead of a direct URL. Claude Code
performs http hooks and http MCP connections with its own client, which has
nowhere to be told about `tls.ca_file`; against a private CA that request dies
in the TLS handshake. Routing both through `seam` puts them on the CLI's trust
store, which does read `tls.ca_file`. Under plain http the shapes are
unchanged.
## Step 3: pair a client
On the **server**, ask for the pairing block:
```bash
seamlessd client-config # add --redact to paste it into a ticket
```
It prints the server URL, the key, the minimum client version, and three
paste-able commands: the macOS/Linux installer one-liner, the PowerShell one,
and the manual form for a machine that already has the binaries:
```bash
seamlessd install-hooks --server-url https://studio.local:8081 --api-key <key>
```
That command writes `role: client`, `server_url`, and `mcp.api_key` into
`~/.config/seamless/seamless.yaml` on first run and wires the detected agent
clients against the server's URL. Like every other config bootstrap it never
edits a config file that already exists: it errors and names the exact lines to
add by hand. The one existing file that is not an error is one that already
says exactly this, so re-running the installer is safe.
The installer one-liners are the same thing with the binaries and the download
included - `SEAMLESS_SERVER_URL` plus `SEAMLESS_MCP_API_KEY`, which is a pair:
the URL without the key is a hard error. A client install skips the service
branch entirely - the run prints the service step as skipped, naming the server
it is a client of - and polls the *server's* `/healthz` instead of a local one.
`client-config` refuses rather than printing a command that cannot work:
| Refusal | Why |
|---|---|
| this install is `role: client` | it has no clients of its own to pair; run it on the server |
| `mcp.api_key` is empty | a client would have nothing to authenticate with |
| `server_url` is loopback | pasted on another machine it dials *that* machine's port 8081. It names the fix: `server_url` plus `addr: 0.0.0.0:8081`, then restart |
On the client, confirm:
```bash
seam doctor # resolved URL, server reachable, key accepted, tools/list count
seamlessd doctor # the client report: role, server_url, key, hooks, MCP
```
A client's `seamlessd doctor` is a deliberately short list: role and
`server_url` reachability, the API key, the MCP tool count, and the same
desired-state hook and MCP comparisons the server runs. The database, schema,
repo map, feature skills, gardener, LLM, and embedder checks are all absent,
because every one of them describes a machine that is somewhere else. The
`server_url` probe is a **fail** on a client rather than the server's info
line: until the server answers there are no briefings, no memories, and no
tools on this machine.
## What a remote device does not get
Sessions, projects, memories, notes, tasks, trials and recall all work over the
network. What does not is every capture where the **daemon** reads the
**agent's** filesystem, because on a remote device those paths are not the
daemon's to read:
| Capture | Remote behavior |
|---|---|
| Claude Code plan-mode capture (plan-file saves, presentation, approval) | skipped |
| Subagent transcript capture and spawn-prompt matching | skipped |
| Git HEAD stamps on captured plans | left empty, which reads as `unknown` downstream |
| Session-end transcript harvest, token harvest, model sniff | skipped |
| Codex rollout harvest | skipped |
| The gardener's ship-evidence pass (git history behind a stale plan) | no evidence from repos mapped to another host |
This is a **host** check, not a "does the file exist" check, and that is the
point: two devices with the same username and home layout produce the same
transcript and plan-file paths, so a missing-file test would sometimes find a
real file - the wrong one - and capture another machine's session as this one's.
The same host scoping protects project mapping. The repo map is keyed by
`(host, path)`, and the moved-repo heal that re-points a project when its
mapped path has vanished only ever stats **this** daemon's rows. A remote
client's path is never stat'd on the server's disk.
One consequence to know about: a session on another host that sends no
repository root cannot be placed in a project. The daemon will not derive one -
that would mean reading its own disk to answer a question about the client's -
so the session succeeds with **global** scope and says so, as a `warning` field
on `session_start` and as a `register-project-remote-root` hook error event.
Current `seam` resolves the roots locally and sends them, so this is the
signature of a client too old to do that.
### How doctor reports it
None of this is silent. On the **server**:
- **`remote sessions`** - an info line listing which other machines used this
daemon in the last 24 hours and how many local captures were skipped for
them. With no remote sessions it reads `none in 24h`, which is also how you
notice a client that is not reaching you.
- **`repo map`** - counts local mapped paths and stats only those; rows
belonging to other hosts are reported as present but "not verifiable from
here" rather than treated as missing.
Every skip is also an event in the log (`hook.error`, stage
`remote-host-skip`, with the capture name and the host), recorded at INFO -
on a shared daemon a skip is the design working, not a fault.
## Windows: a second user on one box
The Windows install is per-user in where it writes (`%USERPROFILE%`) but **not**
isolated in what it registers: the Scheduled Task name (`Seamless`) is global
and the port is shared, so the last installer to run wins and a task belonging
to another account cannot be replaced without admin.
The client role is the clean way out of that collision, because **a client
install registers no Scheduled Task at all**. The first user runs the server;
every other user on the box pairs as a client against it. They do not even need
the LAN setup above - `client-config` says so in its own loopback refusal - a
second user on the same machine can pair directly:
```powershell
seamlessd install-hooks --server-url http://127.0.0.1:8081 --api-key <key>
```
`seamlessd uninstall` on such a client reports the service as `not installed`
and leaves the running daemon alone, and `--purge` removes only the config
directory - never the data dir, which belongs to the server.
## Related
- [Install & deploy](/install/#going-beyond-loopback-deliberately) - the
security posture you are accepting, and the installer overrides.
- [Configuration](/reference/configuration/) - `role`, `server_url`,
`allowed_hosts`, and the `tls:` block with every default.
- [seamlessd CLI](/reference/cli-seamlessd/#seamlessd_client_config) -
`client-config`, `install-hooks --server-url`, and `serve` under TLS.
- [Import, back up & restore](/guides/data/) - `seamlessd export` and a merge
import, which is how you fold each device's existing local instance into the
shared one before switching it to a client.
- [Hooks](/reference/hooks/) - the identity the hooks send, and what the
daemon does with it.
---
# Troubleshooting
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/guides/troubleshooting/
Seamless has one property that makes troubleshooting unlike most software:
**hooks fail open**. A stopped daemon, a wrong key, a `seam` binary that moved -
none of these produce an error you or your agent will see. The handler returns
200 with empty context, `seam hook` reports to stderr and exits 0, and work
proceeds as if Seamless were not installed.
So the failure mode is *silence*. Nothing is broken-looking; you just quietly stop
getting briefings. That is a deliberate trade - a memory system must never block
an agent - but it means you cannot wait for an error. You have to go ask.
## Start here, always
```bash
seamlessd doctor # server side: config, database, credentials, embedder, hooks
seam doctor # client side: reachable, key accepted, tool count matches
```
They answer different questions and neither subsumes the other.
| | `seamlessd doctor` | `seam doctor` |
|---|---|---|
| Runs | Against config and the database directly - no daemon needed, except on a `role: client` install, where the tool count dials the server | Against a running daemon over HTTP and MCP |
| Checks | `binary`, `config`, `data_dir`, `mcp.api_key`, `llm`, `embedder`, `database`, `mcp_tools`, **`hooks`**, `gardener` | `server` (`/healthz`), `mcp_tools` (`tools/list`), `projects` |
| Fails on | Only a `fail` - warnings are informational | Any failed check |
**The `hooks` check exists only in `seamlessd doctor`.** If your symptom is "no
briefing", `seam doctor` cannot tell you why - it will happily report a healthy
server that no hook is calling. Run both.
`seamlessd doctor`'s `embedder` check makes a **real embed call**, which is the
one way to learn that recall has quietly gone keyword-only.
---
## No `<seam-briefing>` appears at session start
**What is happening.** Something in the chain - hook installed, `seam` on disk,
daemon up, key valid - is broken, and every link in it fails silently by design.
**Fix.** Walk the chain in order:
1. `seamlessd doctor` → read the client-specific definition line. Claude Code
checks `~/.claude/settings.json` and then `./.claude/settings.json`; Codex
names exact `current`, `stale`, and `missing` events in its hooks file. A
warning does **not** fail the run, so read it rather than trusting the exit
code. Repair owned drift with `seamlessd install-hooks`.
2. **Codex only:** read `codex hook trust`. `trust unverified` is honest, not a
failed probe - open `/hooks`, inspect the current commands, and approve them.
A recent activity timestamp is supporting evidence only; it cannot prove a
newly changed definition is trusted.
3. `seam doctor` → is the daemon actually up and is the key accepted? An empty
`mcp.api_key` makes the daemon reject every MCP and hook request while looking
perfectly healthy on `/healthz`.
4. Did the `seam` binary move? Command hooks bake in an **absolute path**, and
`make install` points them at `~/.local/bin/seam` - a stable copy, not your
working tree. If you moved the install prefix or wired the hooks up by hand
against some other path, re-run `make install`.
5. Check the hook's **type** if you hand-edited settings.json. Claude Code
silently ignores an `http` hook for `SessionStart` - it must be a `command`
hook. Codex's Seamless profile uses command handlers for all five events.
Definition classification is stricter than “contains `hook <event>`.” A current
entry must match the desired event, paths, arguments, client discriminator,
timeout, and OS command shape. The installer can adopt a marker-free entry only
when it is unmistakably a documented Seamless URL or `seam`/`seam.exe` command;
foreign entries survive install and uninstall.
## Codex hooks are current, but doctor says `trust unverified`
**What is happening.** Definition validity and trust are different facts. Codex
does not expose a supported command that tells Seamless whether the current hook
hash is trusted, and Seamless deliberately does not parse or pre-seed private
trust state.
**Fix.** Open `/hooks` inside Codex. Review and approve the current Seamless
definitions. This warning remains honest even after approval; use a real session
briefing as the end-to-end check. `codex hook activity` can tell you when
SessionStart/UserPromptSubmit last reached the daemon, but it is not proof for a
definition that may have changed since then.
## Codex MCP is stale or incompatible
**What is happening.** `seamlessd doctor` compares `codex mcp get seamless
--json` with the exact enabled stdio bridge the installer wants, including the
absolute `seam` path, ordered `mcp-proxy --config ...` arguments, and target-file
existence. Mere registration is not enough.
**Fix.** Run `seamlessd install-hooks --client codex`. A disabled or drifted
owned stdio bridge is replaced in place and verified. A direct-HTTP or arbitrary
foreign entry under the reserved `seamless` name is not overwritten: either keep
it and use `--mcp=false` for future hook/skill refreshes, or explicitly run
`codex mcp remove seamless` before reinstalling the maintained proxy.
## A briefing appears, but it is nearly empty or names the wrong project
**What is happening.** The hook fired and the daemon answered - this is not a
plumbing problem. The cwd resolved to a project you did not expect, or to none.
**Fix.** The [precedence chain](/concepts/projects/) resolves scope from the
working directory via the repo map. Three outcomes:
- **Wrong project** - the cwd matched a mapping you forgot about. Check
`/console/projects`, and re-map with `seamlessd map-repo --path <dir> --project
<slug>`.
- **A project named after your directory** - an unmapped *git* repo
auto-registers a project named after the repository root. It is real, it is
just new and therefore empty.
- **A `<slug>-2` project after moving a repo on disk** - the repo's old path
still owned the slug, so registration minted a fresh project and the
briefing lost the original's memories. Current daemons adopt the existing
project automatically when the old path is gone (a `repo.moved` event lands
in the console feed); if a split already happened, point the path back with
`seamlessd map-repo --path <new-root> --project <slug>`. `seamlessd doctor`
lists mapped paths that no longer exist on disk.
- **No project at all** - the cwd is not inside a git repo, so nothing resolved
and the session is global.
An empty briefing for a project that genuinely has no constraints and no memories
is correct behavior, not a fault. The header counts what exists; if it says zero,
the store is telling the truth.
## A write is rejected as ambiguous scope
**What is happening.** This is the [fail-closed rule](/concepts/projects/) doing
its job. A durable write with no resolvable scope is rejected rather than landing
in the global scope, because a global memory is seen by every agent in every repo
forever - and that must never be what happens when the system is *unsure*.
**Fix.** The message tells you which of two cases you are in:
| Message says | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| *no bound or ambient session to infer the project from* | No `session_start`, and no ambient session for this cwd | Call `session_start` with your `cwd`, or pass `project=<slug>` |
| *active ambient sessions span multiple projects* | You are unbound and other agents are live in several repos, so inheriting would bleed your write into someone else's project | Pass `project=<slug>` explicitly |
In both cases `project=<slug>` may name a project that does not exist yet - the
write creates it. Do not answer this error with `project=global` because a new
slug felt riskier: an invented project is cheap and local, while global puts the
item in every project's briefing forever. The error text lists the slugs that do
exist, so you can match one instead of coining a near-duplicate.
If a call that worked all morning starts failing this way, suspect a **lost
binding** - see the daemon-restart section below. `project: global` is always
accepted; it is a token you pass on purpose.
## Recall returns junk, or misses what you just wrote
**What is happening.** Three unrelated causes wear the same symptom.
**Recall has degraded to keyword-only.** If the embedding provider is unreachable,
rate-limited, or rejecting the key, recall **degrades rather than errors** - you
get worse ranking, not a failure, because a partial answer beats no answer during
a network incident. That is correct in the moment and terrible for three weeks.
Run `seamlessd doctor` and read the `embedder` line: it probes with a real call.
Note that provider `anthropic` has no embeddings API at all, so selecting it means
permanently lexical recall.
**The memory is not written to be findable.** The `description` is the retrieval
surface - the only text indexes show, and the *only* text the prompt-injection
matcher scores (name and description; never the body). A description like "notes
about the console" cannot be retrieved by anything. See [Write memories that get
recalled](/guides/write-good-memories/).
**You wrote it seconds ago.** The prompt matcher's corpus is rebuilt on a 30-second
interval, and an expired lookup serves the *stale* corpus while the rebuild runs
behind the hook - so the hook never pays for a cold rebuild, and a brand-new
memory can miss the next prompt's injection by a little more than the interval
suggests. An explicit `recall` call does not use that corpus and sees the write
immediately.
Before searching at all: **read what was already injected.** The briefing is in
context. Re-recalling it spends tokens to learn what the agent was already told.
## A task is stuck `in_progress` and nobody is working it
**What is happening.** Its holder died, and you are between two clocks. An expired
lease makes a task **stealable by id** - but it does *not* re-queue it. The task
is still `in_progress`, and `tasks_ready` returns only `open` tasks, so nothing
surfaces it. Lease expiry is enforced lazily inside `tasks_claim`; there is no
sweeper watching leases.
What *does* re-queue it is the session reaper: it expires sessions idle past
`gardener.session_idle_minutes` (default 45) and releases their claims back to
`open`.
**Fix.**
1. Confirm the diagnosis: `seam task list --status in_progress`, or
`/console/tasks` - a task's detail panel shows its holder and whether the lease
is **live** or **expired**.
2. **Check `gardener.enabled`.** The reaper runs inside the gardener's pass. With
the gardener off, nothing reaps idle sessions and nothing ever returns a dead
agent's claims - they stay stuck forever. `seamlessd doctor` warns when the
gardener is disabled.
3. Do not wait if you do not want to: `seam task release --force <id>`, or the
**release lock** button in the console. Both force-release any holder
regardless of the lease. Neither is on the MCP surface - agents get the
cooperative protocol, you get the override.
## `tasks_update` says the task is already claimed - by my own session
**What is happening.** The connection binding was lost. The task is genuinely held
by your session id; your *connection* no longer knows that, so the holder check
sees a stranger.
**Fix.** Re-run `session_start` with the **same name** to rebind. It resumes the
session rather than opening a second one.
The binding is keyed by the transport's `Mcp-Session-Id`, held in the daemon's
memory. Any daemon restart drops it - see below.
## A `seam` flag did nothing
**This no longer happens.** A trailing flag was once dropped in silence - `seam
task release 01K7ABCD --force` took the normal holder-checked path and the
override never happened, with no error and no warning. Both halves of that are
gone:
```bash
seam task release --force 01K7ABCD # --force applies
seam task release 01K7ABCD --force # --force applies here too
```
Every `seam` command parses flags and positionals in any order. A typo'd flag
(`--projct`) is an error everywhere rather than being absorbed into the
positionals, and an unrecognized enum value (`--status bogus`) is rejected at
parse time rather than quietly widening the filter.
**If a flag still looks ignored**, it is not a flag-order problem. Check that you
are running the `seam` you think you are (`seam doctor`), and see the [seam CLI
reference](/reference/cli-seam/) for what each command accepts.
## A briefing setting in the YAML is ignored
**What is happening.** The `briefing:` block has a fourth precedence layer above
file and environment: a **runtime override stored in the database**, written by the
console's Settings → Briefing section. It wins over both, applies from the
next session start without a restart, and stays until reset.
**Fix.** Check the console before you check the YAML. This is the one place the
config file is not the last word, and it exists so you can tune what agents get
injected while they are running. See
[Configuration](/reference/configuration/).
## A tool is missing, or a console screen says it is switched off
**What is happening.** It belongs to an
[optional feature](/reference/console/#optional-features), and optional features
ship **off**. Nothing is broken and nothing was deleted - the feature's data is
untouched, and every surface returns the moment it is switched back on. Tools
and whole screens belong to research (the Labs and Trials screens, the trials
search scope, and `lab_open`, `trial_record`, `trial_query`); the in-page
momentum surfaces (finish-line cards, the capture calendar, payoff moments,
maturity stages) belong to momentum; the Now screen's arcade (the day tape,
personal records, the hot-streak pulse, celebration moments) belongs to
gamification - the Now screen itself is core and always on.
**Fix.** Turn the feature on in the console under Settings → Features (or set
its `features:` key in YAML, or `SEAMLESS_FEATURES_RESEARCH=1` /
`SEAMLESS_FEATURES_MOMENTUM=1` / `SEAMLESS_FEATURES_GAMIFICATION=1`). The
console toggle stores an override that beats both the file and the
environment, so check it before you edit YAML.
**If you already turned it on and the agent still cannot call the tool**, you
are looking at the propagation seam, not a failure:
| Surface | When the change lands |
|---|---|
| The console | Immediately. |
| A tool call | Immediately - and while a feature is off its tools are refused as *unknown*, which is what a client holding a stale list should see. |
| A client's tool list | The next time it lists tools, in practice its next session. Seamless declares `listChanged: false` and sends no tool-list notification, so a connected client keeps the list it was given. Start a new session rather than hunting for a refresh button. |
| The `seam-research` skill in a client's skill home | The next `seamlessd install-hooks` run. `seamlessd doctor` raises an **info** line while a skill for a disabled feature is still installed - it never deletes in a client's directory behind your back. |
One thing that is *not* a symptom of this: a gated tool call leaves no row in
the Interactions feed. The filter rejects it before the middleware that records
tool calls, so silence there is expected.
## A console screen is not in the sidebar
**What is happening.** If a link still opens it - with a note that it is not in
your sidebar - it is the console's
[experience level](/reference/console/#choose-how-much-you-see), not a switched-off
feature. A fresh installation starts at Basic, which keeps the sidebar to the
essentials. Levels only change what the console shows: your agents get the same
tools and briefings at every level.
**Fix.** Choose a level in the console under Settings → Experience (the note's
**Switch** button does it in one click), or set `console.level` in YAML /
`SEAMLESS_CONSOLE_LEVEL`. A choice made in the console wins over both until you
reset it there.
## Two daemons, the wrong port, or code changes that never land
**What is happening.** Seamless is **one server instance per machine**: one port
(8081), one data directory (`~/.seamless`). The dev and release install layouts
drive that same instance, so installing one replaces the other. (A `role: client`
install has neither a port nor a data directory, so it cannot collide this way -
see [Share one daemon across a LAN](/guides/network-install/).) Most confusion here is
someone accidentally interacting with a second copy, or with the same copy running
older code.
**Fix.**
- **Compare versions.** The same version string appears in `/healthz`, the MCP
handshake, and the startup log line. `seam status` prints health and version.
If it disagrees with what you just built, the daemon is running older code.
- **A rebuild does not restart anything.** `make build` and `make check` rewrite
`bin/seamlessd`, but a running process keeps its in-memory image. The new binary
takes effect on the next restart - which also means an *accidental* restart
silently upgrades the running daemon to whatever is in your working tree.
- **Never `pkill -f "seamlessd serve"`.** Running a throwaway daemon on a spare
port is the right way to test in isolation, but that pattern matches the real
service's command line too and kills it. Under launchd it comes back in about a
second with a new pid and no data loss - but **every agent's MCP connection
drops and their session bindings are lost mid-task**, which resurfaces as the
ambiguous-scope and self-claimed-task symptoms above. Kill the throwaway by its
own pid, or by its port.
- **Tools missing in some repos?** That is not a daemon problem. `claude mcp add`
defaults to `local` scope, tying the registration to the directory you ran it
from. Register with `--scope user`.
- **Codex tools missing?** Run `codex mcp get seamless --json`, then
`seamlessd doctor`. The maintained registration is an enabled user-level stdio
bridge; a disabled entry, stale binary/config path, or project override is a
client-configuration problem even while `/healthz` is green.
## `memory_write` says the name is held by a superseded memory
**What is happening.** A superseded or archived memory leaves every index but
stays on disk as provenance - and it still owns its filename. The name is taken by
something you cannot see in any index.
**Fix.** Pick a different name, or free the old one with `memory_delete`. Prefer a
different name: the old file is the record of what you used to believe, and
deleting it destroys the history that explains the current state. See [Memory &
notes](/concepts/memory/).
## A `supersedes` failed but the memory was written
**What is happening.** This is a deliberate partial failure, reported rather than
swallowed. The new memory's content is valid knowledge, so it is **written and
kept** - but the supersession did not happen, which means **the old memory is
still active**, live in briefings and recall alongside its replacement. That is
exactly the contradictory-store state the lifecycle exists to prevent, so it comes
back as a tool error rather than an error field inside a success payload.
**Fix.** Correct the `supersedes` target and re-run the write. Re-writing the same
name is a lossless in-place update, so retrying is safe.
---
# Reference
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/reference/
This section is the contract: the complete enumeration of every surface
Seamless exposes, with the parts that are generated straight from the code so
they cannot drift from it. The MCP tool reference is rendered from the same
catalog the server registers, and the configuration reference from the same
defaults the daemon loads - adding a tool or a key makes stale docs a build
error, not a doc bug.
Agents mostly care about the [MCP API](/reference/mcp/): the endpoint and auth
model, the scope rules, and every tool grouped by area - sessions, memory and
recall, notes and projects, tasks, and the research lab. Humans get the two
CLIs: [seam](/reference/cli-seam/), the short handle an agent or owner types,
and [seamlessd](/reference/cli-seamlessd/), the daemon and operator commands.
Deployment behavior lives in [Configuration](/reference/configuration/) (every
key, type, and default, plus the four layers that resolve them),
[Hooks](/reference/hooks/) (what `install-hooks` writes per client, the
transports and timeouts, and the fail-open contract), and
[The service & where things live](/reference/service/) - the one page with the
OS-specific service commands, log locations, and every path Seamless touches.
The two compatibility matrices -
[Claude app](/reference/claude-app-compatibility/) and
[Codex](/reference/codex-compatibility/) - hold versioned, platform-specific
evidence rather than assumptions, and record how to re-verify each claim.
The remaining pages describe what you can see and touch directly:
[Console](/reference/console/) documents the observability UI at `/console`
and the complete list of what it can change,
[Storage and file formats](/reference/storage/) specifies the `~/.seamless`
tree and every frontmatter field, and the [Glossary](/reference/glossary/)
pins the vocabulary - including the distinctions that actually matter, like
memory versus note versus finding, and archive versus supersede versus delete.
---
# MCP API overview
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/reference/mcp/
Seamless serves its tool surface over **streamable HTTP MCP** at
`/api/mcp`, guarded by a single static bearer key.
```text
POST http://127.0.0.1:8081/api/mcp
Authorization: Bearer <mcp.api_key>
```
`GET /healthz` needs no auth and reports the running build - the fastest way to
tell whether a daemon is up and which version it is.
## Client transports and key handling
The daemon endpoint is always Streamable HTTP. A client can reach it in either
of two ways:
- **Direct HTTP** - configure the URL and an `Authorization: Bearer` header.
Current Codex, Claude Code, and other HTTP-capable MCP clients support this
shape.
- **A stdio bridge** - register `seam mcp-proxy --config <absolute yaml>` as a
local stdio MCP server. The bridge forwards the protocol unchanged and keeps
`Mcp-Session-Id` stable across HTTP calls.
Seamless installs the bridge for Codex by policy even though Codex supports both
stdio and Streamable HTTP. The bridge reads the bearer key from Seamless's 0600
config, avoiding a literal secret in `~/.codex/config.toml` or an environment
dependency. Claude Code's default direct-HTTP registration uses `seam
mcp-headers` as `headersHelper` for the same reason: the bearer value stays out
of client config and process argv.
The MCP initialize response also carries concise server instructions. Their
first 512 characters contain the essential cross-tool workflow: recall before
guessing, memory versus note, explicit scope when ambiguous, session handoff,
`plan:<slug>` composition, and treating `inputSchema` required fields/enums as
authoritative. That guidance is available even before a user runs the optional
onboarding skill.
## Scope resolution
Almost no call passes `project`. Scope is resolved once, in this order, and
inherited by everything after it:
1. An explicit `project` argument on the call.
2. The **bound session's** project - set by `session_start`, held per connection.
3. The **ambient session's** project, resolved from the agent's cwd via the
`repo_project_map` setting.
Writes **fail closed**: with no session and no explicit `project`, a durable
write is rejected as ambiguous rather than silently landing in the global scope.
Pass `project: global` to mean global deliberately.
## Conventions
- **Body aliases.** Tools taking a markdown body accept `body`, `content`, or
`text` interchangeably - agents disagree about the name, and the disagreement
is not worth an error.
- **IDs are ULIDs**, never UUIDs. They sort lexically by creation time.
- **Errors** come back as tool errors with a `<tool>: <reason>` message, not as
transport failures.
## The tool surface
Seamless registers **33 tools**. They are documented in groups:
| Group | Tools |
|---|---|
| Sessions, memory, and recall | `session_start`, `session_update`, `session_end`, `memory_write`, `memory_append`, `memory_edit`, `memory_read`, `memory_delete`, `recall` |
| Notes, projects, and capture | `notes_create`, `notes_read`, `notes_update`, `notes_edit`, `notes_append`, `notes_delete`, `project_list`, `project_create`, `capture_url` |
| [Tasks](/reference/mcp/tasks/) | `tasks_add`, `tasks_update`, `tasks_ready`, `tasks_list`, `tasks_claim`, `tasks_release` |
| Lab, gardener, and usage | `lab_open`, `trial_record`, `trial_query`, `gardener_proposals`, `gardener_request`, `gardener_split`, `gardener_apply`, `usage_summary`, `favorite_set` |
That is the count the server **registers**; what a client is offered can be
smaller. Tools belonging to an
[optional feature](/reference/console/#optional-features) are hidden from
`tools/list` while that feature is off, and a call to one is refused as an
unknown tool. Optional features ship off, so a fresh install advertises fewer
than 33 until you turn one on - each affected tool says so on its own reference
page. Nothing about registration changes: the catalog these pages are generated
from, and the registered-tool count `seamlessd doctor` asserts, stay the full
set either way.
Every tool's parameters on these pages are generated from the running server's
own registration, so they cannot drift from what the daemon accepts.
---
# Sessions, memory & recall
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/reference/mcp/sessions-memory-recall/
These nine tools are the agent loop. In a repo mapped to a project, most of them
need no `project` argument at all: `session_start` binds the connection, and
everything after it inherits that scope.
## The shape of a session
`session_start` returns the project briefing and binds the session to the
connection. `session_end` persists findings for the next agent's briefing. Both
are optional in the sense that Claude Code's hooks already open an *ambient*
session per agent - calling `session_start` explicitly adopts it and gets you the
full briefing rather than the short injected one.
If `tasks_update` ever fails claiming a task is held by *your own* session id,
the connection binding was lost. Re-run `session_start` with the same name to
rebind.
## Edit, update, append, supersede, or delete?
Five ways to change memory, and picking the wrong one is how a store rots:
| You want to | Use | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Fix part of a memory without resending it | `memory_edit` | Exact search/replace on the body, plus `description` and tag add/remove; returns a diff |
| Rewrite what a memory says, whole | `memory_write` with the same `name` | Updated in place; the id is stable |
| Add to the end without rereading it | `memory_append` | Body grows; nothing else changes |
| Replace a **different**, now-outdated memory | `memory_write` with `supersedes` | The old one is marked invalid, leaves every index, and stays readable with a pointer to its replacement |
| Remove something written by mistake | `memory_delete` | Gone |
The distinction that matters is **supersede vs. delete**. Superseding is how the
store stays honest about its own history: the old memory leaves the briefing and
recall, but an agent that follows an old reference still finds it, marked
invalid, pointing at what replaced it. Delete is for mistakes - things that were
never true - not for things that stopped being true.
A `supersedes` that fails is reported rather than swallowed: the new memory is
still written and kept, and the call returns an error naming it. The target is
then still active, so re-run the supersede.
### Edit vs. supersede
`memory_edit` is cheap, which is exactly why its boundary has to be explicit.
Edit is for changes that carry no new claim: a typo, broken formatting, a stale
path or command, a stage's `Status` flip, a description, a tag. If the **meaning**
changes - the conclusion is now different, the advice reversed - that is a new
memory, and it goes through `memory_write` with `supersedes`.
The reason is provenance. A supersession retires the old memory into readable
history; an in-place edit leaves no trace that the store ever believed something
else. Using edit to change what a memory claims silently rewrites the record.
`memory_edit` is also the only way to change a memory's `description` or tags
without rewriting its body, and `tags_remove` is the only way to clear a tag at
all - an empty `tags` array reads as absent everywhere else.
## Concurrency: content_hash and expect_hash
`memory_read` and `notes_read` return a `content_hash` - the SHA-256 of the whole
file. Pass it back as `expect_hash` on `memory_edit`, `notes_edit`, or
`notes_update`, and the write is refused if the stored file has moved on since
you read it. Omit it and the write is unconditional.
It answers a different question from the daemon's own serialization. Every
application write already goes through a per-file lock, so two agents can no
longer interleave a read and a write and lose one of them. What the lock cannot
see is an agent acting on something it read minutes ago, or the owner editing the
markdown in an editor - which is why the precondition is checked against the
**file**, inside the lock, rather than against the index (the watcher re-indexes
on a debounce, so the index would happily confirm the stale hash).
## Scope
`memory_write` **fails closed**: with no session and no explicit `project`, it is
rejected as ambiguous rather than silently landing in the global scope. Pass
`project: global` to write a deliberately cross-project memory.
`memory_edit` targets a memory that already exists, so it resolves like
`memory_append`: the session's scope first, then a global fallback. The write is
judged against the project the memory actually sits in.
## Recall is the only search tool
There is one search entry point. `recall` fuses FTS5 keyword matching and vector
similarity with reciprocal rank fusion, nudges the fused order by favorite and
[utility](/concepts/recall/#the-utility-nudge) (both bounded), scoped to the
current project plus global items, and packs results into a token budget. A call
that finds nothing is recorded as a miss - recurring misses become the
gardener's [memory-wanted proposals](/concepts/gardener/#what-it-looks-for).
The optional `kind` filter restricts hits to memories of one frontmatter kind.
It implies memories-only: combining it with `scope=notes` is rejected as
contradictory rather than returning a misleading empty result, and a
kind-filtered miss still counts as memory-wanted demand.
With `kind` set, `query` becomes optional: a kind alone is the **browse mode**
behind briefing hints like `recall kind=convention` - the scope's active
memories of that kind, listed newest-first under the same limit and token
budget. A browse is a listing, not a search: no fusion, no favorite or utility
boost, its hits record as passive exposure (never query-gated demand), and an
empty browse records no miss - "this project has no conventions yet" is not a
missing memory.
It degrades rather than fails: if the embedding provider is unreachable, recall
falls back to keyword-only results instead of erroring. A local misconfiguration
is surfaced instead of hidden - the two cases are deliberately not treated alike.
## Results and failures
| Call | Success result | Failure that matters |
|---|---|---|
| `session_start` | `session_id`, `name`, resolved `project`, explanatory `scope`, and `briefing`; resumed/adopted sessions also say `resumed: true` | Briefing assembly degrades to an empty string and logs; creating or binding the session itself still fails loudly |
| `memory_write` | Stable `id`, canonical `name`, resolved `project`, `updated`, optional `similar`, and optional `superseded` | An occupied tombstone path is an error; if the new memory lands but supersession fails, the tool errors while naming the kept replacement and the still-active target |
| `memory_edit` | `id`, `name`, `project`, the new `content_hash`, a unified `diff`, and a `stage_hint` when a `kind=stage` body still has no parseable `Status` | An `old_string` that matches zero or several places is an error naming the count, and **nothing** is written - the edits apply all-or-nothing. A stale `expect_hash` is refused rather than overwriting |
| `recall` | `hits`, possibly empty | Remote embedder failures degrade to lexical-only; local request/config construction errors surface |
| `session_end` | Confirmation of the close - `session_id`, `claims_released`, `mishaps_recorded`; findings persist for the next briefing | A missing/ambiguous session is an error rather than a fabricated successful close |
## session_start {#session_start}
Begin or resume an agent work session and bind it to this connection. Returns the project briefing. Later memory/recall/notes calls inherit this session's project scope, so you rarely pass project again.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `cwd` | string | no | Absolute working directory; auto-mapped to a project from the repo root on a repo's first session (no setup step -- `seamlessd map-repo` only overrides the derived slug) |
| `host` | string | no | Machine this agent runs on (hostname). Defaults to the X-Seamless-Host header, then to the daemon's own host; pass it only when dialling a daemon on another machine |
| `main_worktree_root` | string | no | Absolute root of the repository's MAIN checkout when repo_root is a linked worktree; defaults to repo_root |
| `model` | string | no | Model id powering this agent, exactly as the provider names it (e.g. claude-fable-5, gpt-5.5). Stamped onto memories/notes this session writes; hooks keep it current for Claude Code/Codex sessions, so pass it mainly from other clients |
| `name` | string | no | Optional stable session name; reusing a name resumes that session |
| `repo_origin` | string | no | The repository's origin remote URL, which is how the same repo checked out on two machines is recognized as one project |
| `repo_root` | string | no | Absolute git repository root enclosing cwd, resolved on YOUR machine. Required when host is not the daemon's: the daemon cannot read your filesystem to find it |
| `source` | string | no | what began this session (default explicit). One of: `startup`, `resume`, `clear`, `compact`, `explicit`. |
## session_update {#session_update}
Record interim progress on the current session (working findings so far). Uses the bound session unless you pass one.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `findings` | string | **yes** | Working findings / progress note so far |
| `session` | string | no | Session name to operate on: the cc/<id> or cx/<id> on your briefing's 'Seam session' line, or a sess/* name. Defaults to the bound session; pass it whenever you have not run session_start and several agents are active -- the bare call is then ambiguous and fails rather than guesses |
| `session_id` | string | no | Session ULID to operate on; takes precedence over session and the bound session |
## session_end {#session_end}
Complete the current session, persisting its findings for future briefings. Uses the bound session unless you pass one.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `findings` | string | **yes** | Final findings: what was learned, decided, or left open. Prefer a tight summary (briefings show a short preview), but long findings are stored in full -- they are not rejected. |
| `mishaps` | array | no | Self-report mishaps this session caused: an action a warning or convention said not to take, live state touched by mistake, a command that hit the wrong target. Pass an array with one short entry per incident; omit when none happened. When a mishap violated a stored memory, name that memory by its exact slug in the entry (e.g. "violated chroma-boot-race by ...") -- the report is then linked to it. Recorded for recurrence review, not blame -- report them even when fully recovered. |
| `session` | string | no | Session name to operate on: the cc/<id> or cx/<id> on your briefing's 'Seam session' line, or a sess/* name. Defaults to the bound session; pass it whenever you have not run session_start and several agents are active -- the bare call is then ambiguous and fails rather than guesses |
| `session_id` | string | no | Session ULID to operate on; takes precedence over session and the bound session |
## memory_write {#memory_write}
Create or update a durable memory -- the compact knowledge a future session must not miss (a constraint, gotcha, decision, runbook). Long-form write-ups belong in notes_create; put the one-line lesson here. Writing an existing name updates it in place (its id is stable). On a new name, a semantically similar existing memory is reported as an advisory hint; the write still proceeds. The hint is withheld when the target project's content is fenced from you (see the withheld marker on the response) -- the write lands either way. Pass supersedes to replace a DIFFERENT, now-outdated memory: it is marked invalid and leaves every index (briefing, recall) but stays readable with a pointer here. If superseding fails, the new memory is still written and kept; the error says how to retry.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `name` | string | **yes** | kebab-case identifier, unique within the project |
| `kind` | string | **yes** | memory kind; constraint = what any agent must or must not do regardless of task; convention = a project-local choice or layout fact (naming, branding, where things live or deploy, which files sync together); for kind=stage, open the body with Status: open\|in_progress\|blocked\|done and optionally Gate: human\|ai, and flip the status with memory_edit (or a full memory_write) -- append cannot change the header, which is parsed from the top of the body. One of: `constraint`, `convention`, `runbook`, `protocol`, `gotcha`, `decision`, `refuted`, `reference`, `stage`. |
| `description` | string | **yes** | one line, <=150 chars -- the only text shown in indexes |
| `body` | string | **yes** | markdown body (aliases: content, text) |
| `project` | string | no | project slug; defaults to the bound/ambient session's project. An unknown slug CREATES that project -- naming a new one is normal and never an error. Pass project=global ONLY for knowledge that belongs in EVERY project's briefing; it is not a neutral default. With no session and no explicit project the call is rejected as ambiguous. A session bound to a confidential or sealed project can write ONLY into that project. |
| `supersedes` | string | no | name of an existing memory this one replaces; that memory is marked superseded (invalid) and pointed here |
| `tags` | array | no | tags, replacing all (a comma-separated string is also accepted); omit to leave an existing memory's tags untouched, and note an empty list reads as absent, not as a clear |
## memory_append {#memory_append}
Append markdown to an existing memory's body. The memory keeps its id. To create a new memory, use memory_write.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `name` | string | **yes** | memory name |
| `body` | string | **yes** | markdown to append (aliases: content, text) |
| `project` | string | no | project slug; defaults to the bound/ambient session's project, then global. Pass project=global to target a global memory. |
## memory_edit {#memory_edit}
Edit an existing memory in place with exact search/replace, instead of resending its whole body through memory_write. Each edit's old_string must match the current body exactly and uniquely (or pass replace_all); all edits apply together or none do, so a failed match changes nothing. It is also the only way to change a memory's description or tags on their own: send description/tags_add/tags_remove with no edits and the body is left untouched (memory_write requires a body, so there was no metadata-only path before this), and tags_remove is the only way to clear a tag at all. Returns a unified diff of what landed plus the new content_hash. Use this for corrections that do not change what the item CLAIMS: typos, broken formatting, a stale path or command, a stage's Status flip, metadata. If the MEANING changes -- the conclusion is now different, the advice reversed -- that is a new memory: use memory_write with supersedes, which retires the old one into readable history instead of erasing what it used to say.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `name` | string | **yes** | memory name (kebab-case, as memory_read takes it) |
| `description` | string | no | replace the one-line description (<=150 chars -- the only text shown in indexes); omit to leave it untouched |
| `edits` | array | no | ordered list of exact search/replace edits, applied in order to the CURRENT body. Each is {old_string, new_string, replace_all?}. old_string must match the body EXACTLY (whitespace and indentation included) and must be unique unless replace_all is true; include surrounding lines to make it unique. All-or-nothing: if any edit fails to match, nothing is written. |
| `expect_hash` | string | no | optional precondition: the content_hash you last read for this item (memory_read/notes_read return it). The write is refused if the stored file has changed since -- another agent or the owner edited it -- so re-read and re-apply your change instead of overwriting theirs. Omit it to write unconditionally. |
| `project` | string | no | project slug; defaults to the bound/ambient session's project, then global. Pass project=global to target a global memory. |
| `tags_add` | array | no | tags to add, leaving the rest in place (a comma-separated string is also accepted) |
| `tags_remove` | array | no | tags to remove, leaving the rest in place; this is how a tag gets cleared (a comma-separated string is also accepted) |
## memory_read {#memory_read}
Read a memory by name within the current project (falling back to a global memory of the same name), or directly by id.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `id` | string | no | memory id (ULID), as carried by events, recall results, and gardener proposals; bypasses name/project resolution |
| `name` | string | no | memory name; pass exactly one of name or id |
| `project` | string | no | project slug; defaults to the bound session's project |
## memory_delete {#memory_delete}
Delete a memory by name: the markdown file leaves the disk and its index row goes with it, with no provenance and no pointer left behind. Prefer nearly anything else. To replace knowledge that turned out to be wrong, use memory_write with supersedes -- the old memory drops out of every index (briefings, recall) but stays readable, pointing at what replaced it, which is how a later reader learns the thing was reconsidered rather than that it was never believed. To retire something merely stale, leave it for the gardener's archive proposal. Reserve deletion for memories written by mistake: a duplicate, a test, a write into the wrong project.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `name` | string | **yes** | memory name |
| `project` | string | no | project slug; defaults to the bound session's project |
## recall {#recall}
Search durable knowledge (memories, notes) and the work record (tasks, trials, session findings) by meaning and keyword (fused), scoped to the current project plus global items. This is the single search entry point. Work-record hits carry a status (a task's status, a trial's outcome) and match on keyword only. With kind set and no query it lists that memory kind newest-first instead (browse).
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `kind` | string | no | only memories of this frontmatter kind (e.g. convention); implies memories-only, so any scope that excludes memories is rejected; with no query, lists the kind newest-first. One of: `constraint`, `convention`, `runbook`, `protocol`, `gotcha`, `decision`, `refuted`, `reference`, `stage`. |
| `limit` | integer | no | maximum results (default 10, max 100) |
| `project` | string | no | project slug; defaults to the bound session's project |
| `query` | string | no | what you are looking for; required unless kind is set (kind alone lists that kind newest-first) |
| `scope` | string | no | what to search (default all). One of: `all`, `memories`, `notes`, `tasks`, `trials`, `sessions`. |
---
# Notes, projects & capture
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/reference/mcp/notes-projects-capture/
## A note is not a memory
This is the most common confusion in the whole system, so it is worth being blunt
about it.
| | Memory | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Answers | "What is true about this project?" | "What did we produce?" |
| Length | One idea, one line of `description` | However long the artifact is |
| Lifecycle | Superseded and archived | Written, occasionally updated |
| Reaches a briefing | Yes - this is what agents get injected | No; found via `recall` |
| Good examples | A constraint, a gotcha, a decision | Research findings, a meeting summary, a design record |
The test: **would a future agent need this injected into its context before it
starts working?** If yes, it is a memory, and it needs to fit in a `description`.
If it is something you'd want to *find* and read in full when the topic comes up,
it is a note.
Writing a journal entry into memory is the classic failure: it is too long to
inject, too specific to generalize, and it pushes real constraints out of the
briefing's budget.
Agent-created notes are automatically tagged `created-by:agent`.
## Four ways to change a note
Notes are long, and the transport caps a request body at 1 MB, so resending a
whole note to fix one paragraph is both wasteful and the thing most likely to
fail on the biggest artifacts.
| You want to | Use | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Fix or restructure part of the body | `notes_edit` | Exact search/replace, all-or-nothing, returns a diff |
| Replace the body, or change title/description/project/tags | `notes_update` | Field-wise patch; omitted fields are untouched |
| Add to the end | `notes_append` | A UTC-timestamped line joins the body |
| Remove an artifact that should not exist | `notes_delete` | Gone, with no pointer left behind |
`notes_edit` takes the note's `id` and a list of `{old_string, new_string}`
edits. Each `old_string` must match the current body exactly and uniquely - or
pass `replace_all` - and if any edit fails to match, **nothing** is written. That
refusal is the feature: a partial apply, or a fuzzy match landing somewhere
plausible, is the silent corruption the exact-match contract exists to prevent.
`notes_update` gains the same staleness guard (`expect_hash`) plus `tags_add` and
`tags_remove`, which are race-friendlier than replacing the whole tag list and
are the only way to clear a tag - an empty `tags` array reads as absent. See
[Concurrency](/reference/mcp/sessions-memory-recall/#concurrency-content_hash-and-expect_hash).
Every note mutation now records a `note.written` event, and `notes_read` records
`note.read` - the note-side twin of `memory.read`, which is what lets note demand
count toward [recall's utility nudge](/concepts/recall/#the-utility-nudge).
## Notes are how plans get their narrative
A plan is not a primitive - it is a composition keyed by `plan:<slug>`. Tag a
note `plan:<slug>` and it joins that plan's supporting context, so the next agent
inherits the design and the reasoning behind it, not just the step list. See
[Tasks](/reference/mcp/tasks/) for the step half of the composition.
## Projects and scope
`project_list` and `project_create` manage the scopes everything else inherits.
Most agents never call either: a git repo maps itself on the first session and
resolves its project from the agent's working directory, and `session_start`
binds it.
The `global` project slug is the deliberate cross-project scope. It is a token
you pass on purpose, never a default you fall into - see the fail-closed rule in
the [MCP API overview](/reference/mcp/).
## capture_url is SSRF-safe on purpose
`capture_url` fetches a URL and returns its content as markdown. It is the one
tool that makes an outbound request on an agent's behalf, so it is guarded:
destination ports are restricted to `capture.allowed_ports` (80 and 443 by
default, never "any port"), and the fetcher refuses to be talked into reaching
things it should not. See [Configuration](/reference/configuration/).
Scope resolves before the network fetch, so an ambiguous durable destination
fails without making a request. Success returns the note's `id`, `slug`, `title`,
resolved `project`, and `source_url` - the URL as requested; redirects are
followed but do not rewrite it. The fetcher validates the initial URL and every
redirect, rejecting non-HTTP schemes, private/loopback destinations, and
disallowed ports. Size is bounded by truncation rather than rejection: at most
2 MB of the response is read, and the stored readable body is capped again at
50,000 runes with a visible `[content truncated]` marker.
## notes_create {#notes_create}
Create a work note -- a research finding, decision record, meeting summary, or any artifact long enough to deserve its own file. Auto-tagged created-by:agent. Notes carry the long form; memory_write carries the compact durable knowledge a future session must not miss, so put the write-up here and the one-line lesson there rather than duplicating either. Pass plan=<slug> when the note is a plan's narrative or supporting context, so it joins that plan's composition beside its tasks. Do not use this for what the repo, AGENTS.md/CLAUDE.md, or the current conversation already records, and use notes_append to extend an existing note rather than creating a near-duplicate of it.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `title` | string | **yes** | note title |
| `body` | string | **yes** | markdown body (aliases: content, text) |
| `description` | string | no | optional one-line summary |
| `plan` | string | no | optional plan slug (plan:<slug> convention): tags this note into that plan's composition so it surfaces on the Plans screen alongside its tasks_add plan=<slug> steps. Use it whenever this note is a plan's narrative or supporting context. |
| `project` | string | no | project slug; defaults to the bound/ambient session's project. An unknown slug CREATES that project -- naming a new one is normal and never an error. Pass project=global ONLY for knowledge that belongs in EVERY project's briefing; it is not a neutral default. With no session and no explicit project the call is rejected as ambiguous. A session bound to a confidential or sealed project can write ONLY into that project. |
| `source_url` | string | no | optional source URL |
| `tags` | array | no | tags (a comma-separated string is also accepted) |
## notes_read {#notes_read}
Read a note by id, or by slug within the current project (falling back to a global note of the same slug).
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `id` | string | no | note id (ULID); pass exactly one of id or slug |
| `project` | string | no | project slug for the slug lookup; defaults to the bound session's project |
| `slug` | string | no | note slug, as briefings, plan compositions, and notes_create responses name notes (alias: name) |
## notes_update {#notes_update}
Update a note's fields by id (title, description, body, project, tags). Omitted fields are untouched; the slug and id stay stable. body replaces the WHOLE body, so pass expect_hash (notes_read returns it) to have the write refused rather than silently overwriting an edit that landed after you read the note -- and use notes_append when you only mean to add to it. Tags come in three flavors: tags replaces the whole set, while tags_add and tags_remove edit it in place; prefer add/remove, since a replace discards whatever another agent tagged in between and tags_remove is the only way to clear a tag at all.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `id` | string | **yes** | note id (ULID) |
| `body` | string | no | new body, replacing the whole body (aliases: content, text) |
| `description` | string | no | new description |
| `expect_hash` | string | no | optional precondition: the content_hash you last read for this item (memory_read/notes_read return it). The write is refused if the stored file has changed since -- another agent or the owner edited it -- so re-read and re-apply your change instead of overwriting theirs. Omit it to write unconditionally. |
| `project` | string | no | new project slug ("" or "global" = global scope) |
| `tags` | array | no | tags, replacing all (a comma-separated string is also accepted); an empty list is read as absent and leaves the tags untouched -- to drop a tag use tags_remove |
| `tags_add` | array | no | tags to add, leaving the rest in place; a tag already on the note is not duplicated. Applied after tags. |
| `tags_remove` | array | no | tags to drop, matched exactly; a tag the note does not carry is ignored. Applied last, so it also removes what tags/tags_add just set. |
| `title` | string | no | new title |
## notes_edit {#notes_edit}
Edit an existing note in place with exact search/replace, by id, instead of resending its whole body through notes_update. Each edit's old_string must match the current body exactly and uniquely (or pass replace_all); all edits apply together or none do, so a failed match changes nothing. This is the tool for correcting or restructuring part of a long note -- notes_append only ever adds, and notes_update replaces the whole body. Returns a unified diff of what landed plus the new content_hash.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `id` | string | **yes** | note id (ULID), as notes_create returns and briefings and plan compositions carry |
| `edits` | array | **yes** | ordered list of exact search/replace edits, applied in order to the CURRENT body. Each is {old_string, new_string, replace_all?}. old_string must match the body EXACTLY (whitespace and indentation included) and must be unique unless replace_all is true; include surrounding lines to make it unique. All-or-nothing: if any edit fails to match, nothing is written. |
| `expect_hash` | string | no | optional precondition: the content_hash you last read for this item (memory_read/notes_read return it). The write is refused if the stored file has changed since -- another agent or the owner edited it -- so re-read and re-apply your change instead of overwriting theirs. Omit it to write unconditionally. |
## notes_append {#notes_append}
Append a UTC-timestamped line to an existing note's body, by id. Use it when a note is already the right home for what you learned -- a running investigation log, a decision record gaining one more data point -- so the note keeps its id, slug, and place in any plan composition instead of fragmenting into near-duplicates. Appending only ever adds: use notes_update to correct or restructure what is already there, and notes_create when the finding deserves an artifact of its own. Needs the note's id (ULID), which notes_create returns and briefings and plan compositions carry; notes_read resolves one from a slug.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `id` | string | **yes** | note id (ULID) |
| `body` | string | **yes** | text to append (aliases: content, text) |
## notes_delete {#notes_delete}
Delete a note by id: the markdown file leaves the disk and its index row goes with it. Permanent, and it leaves no pointer behind, so reserve it for notes that should never have existed -- a duplicate, a write into the wrong project, an agent's own scratch. To fix a note's content use notes_update, and to add to it notes_append; neither loses the artifact. A note tagged into a plan (plan:<slug>) is that plan's narrative for whoever inherits it, so read it with notes_read before deciding it is disposable.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `id` | string | **yes** | note id (ULID) |
## project_list {#project_list}
List every project (slug, name, description, isolation). Use it to learn the exact slug before a deliberate cross-project write or a project_create -- coining a near-duplicate of a slug that already exists is the failure this prevents -- and to see whether work already has a home. You usually do NOT need it to pick a scope: memory, note, and task calls inherit the project from the session binding, and passing project= is for writing outside that on purpose. Each row carries its isolation state (open|confidential|sealed), which is what a cross-project call has to respect: a confidential or sealed project is readable only from a session bound to it, and a sealed one takes no writes from outside either. It returns identity, not contents; to search what is inside a project, use recall.
Takes no parameters.
## project_create {#project_create}
Register a project up front, with a human-readable name and an optional description. You rarely need this: any durable write naming an unknown project slug (memory_write, notes_create, tasks_add, capture_url, trial_record) already registers that project, and a git repo maps itself to one on its first session. Reach for this only to give a project a proper name and description BEFORE anything is written into it, or to create one you will not write to yet -- an auto-registered project is named after its own slug until someone fixes it. Call project_list first: coining a near-duplicate of an existing slug is the failure mode here. To divide an existing project into children, use gardener_split rather than creating them by hand. The slug defaults to a slugified name; "global" and "all" are reserved, and an existing slug is an error, not an update -- this never renames or edits a project.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `name` | string | **yes** | human-readable project name |
| `description` | string | no | optional one-line description |
| `isolation` | string | no | optional isolation state (open\|confidential\|sealed); omit for open. open shares normally. confidential means nothing leaves: agents in other projects never read this one, and agents bound to it cannot write outside it. sealed adds the inbound half -- agents here see only this project: no global memories, no family, no cross-project reads. Set it at creation for work that is sensitive from the start; there is no tool to change it afterwards, because tightening detaches family and parent links and is an owner decision, made on an owner surface. Isolation requires a standalone project, so do not create an isolated child of another project. One of: `open`, `confidential`, `sealed`. |
| `slug` | string | no | optional explicit slug |
## capture_url {#capture_url}
Fetch a web page (SSRF-guarded: private/loopback addresses are rejected) and save its readable content as a note. Returns the new note's id.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `url` | string | **yes** | http(s) URL to capture |
| `project` | string | no | project slug; defaults to the bound/ambient session's project. An unknown slug CREATES that project -- naming a new one is normal and never an error. Pass project=global ONLY for knowledge that belongs in EVERY project's briefing; it is not a neutral default. With no session and no explicit project the call is rejected as ambiguous. A session bound to a confidential or sealed project can write ONLY into that project. |
---
# Tasks
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/reference/mcp/tasks/
Tasks are how agents hand work to each other. A task is **ready** when it has no
unfinished blocker; `tasks_ready` returns exactly those, so an agent asking "what
can I do now?" never has to reason about the dependency graph itself.
## How claiming works
Claiming is the concurrency control. Two agents that both see the same ready task
will both try to take it, and exactly one wins:
1. `tasks_claim` atomically moves a ready task to `in_progress` and stamps a
lease (default 900 seconds). The loser gets an error naming the holder.
2. Re-claiming a task you already hold **refreshes** the lease - that is the
heartbeat for long work.
3. An **expired** lease is reclaimable *by id* - but the task stays
`in_progress`, so `tasks_ready` does not show it. Only releasing it (by hand,
or by the gardener's session reaper expiring the dead holder's session) sets
the status back to `open` and returns it to the queue. See [the two
clocks](/concepts/tasks-and-plans/).
4. `tasks_release`, closing the task (`tasks_update` to `done`/`dropped`), or
`session_end` frees the claim.
A lease is not a lock on the files - it is a coordination signal between
cooperating agents. Nothing stops a determined agent from working on a task it
did not claim; the point is that well-behaved agents do not collide.
## Plan steps are not queue items
A task created with `plan=<slug>` is a **step of a plan**, and is excluded from
the default `tasks_ready` and `tasks_list`. That keeps a twelve-step plan from
burying the handful of tasks that are actually loose work. Pass `plan=<slug>` to
either tool to see that plan's steps instead.
## Results and refusal modes
Every successful task mutation returns the resulting task row, including its id,
status, dependency state, claim holder, and lease fields when present.
| Call | Refuses when |
|---|---|
| `tasks_add` | A blocker is missing or the new dependency would create a cycle |
| `tasks_update` | Nothing was supplied to change, a new dependency is invalid, or another live session holds the task |
| `tasks_claim` | The task is blocked, closed, or held by another live claimant; each error names the actual cause |
| `tasks_release` | The acting session is not the holder; force release exists only on the owner console/CLI surface |
An expired claim is not reported as live. Claiming that task by id succeeds at
the exact lease boundary, even while its status remains `in_progress`.
## tasks_add {#tasks_add}
Add a task to the dependency-aware ready queue. depends_on lists task ids that must finish first (done or dropped unblocks); each must exist and must not create a cycle. The task is 'ready' once it has no open/in_progress blocker.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `title` | string | **yes** | short task title |
| `body` | string | no | optional details / acceptance criteria (aliases: content, text) |
| `depends_on` | array | no | task ids this task is blocked by (a comma-separated string is also accepted) |
| `plan` | string | no | optional plan slug (plan:<slug> convention) that composes this task as a step of a plan. Plan steps are excluded from the default ready-queue and surfaced under the plan filter. |
| `project` | string | no | project slug; defaults to the bound/ambient session's project. An unknown slug CREATES that project -- naming a new one is normal and never an error. Pass project=global ONLY for knowledge that belongs in EVERY project's briefing; it is not a neutral default. With no session and no explicit project the call is rejected as ambiguous. A session bound to a confidential or sealed project can write ONLY into that project. |
## tasks_update {#tasks_update}
Update a task: change status (open|in_progress|done|dropped), edit title/body, or add dependencies. Moving to done/dropped closes it and unblocks its dependents. A task another session holds via a live claim is locked to its holder: updating it fails with 'already claimed' until the lease lapses or the holder releases it.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `id` | string | **yes** | task id |
| `add_depends_on` | array | no | task ids to add as blockers (a comma-separated string is also accepted) |
| `body` | string | no | new body (aliases: content, text) |
| `project` | string | no | reassign the task to another project slug (used when a split moves a project's open work to a child) |
| `session` | string | no | the acting agent's session (the cc/<id> or cx/<id> on your briefing's 'Seam session' line, or a session name); needed only to mutate a task you hold a live claim on when several agents are active |
| `session_id` | string | no | the acting agent's session ULID; takes precedence over session and the bound session |
| `status` | string | no | new status. One of: `open`, `in_progress`, `done`, `dropped`. |
| `title` | string | no | new title |
## tasks_ready {#tasks_ready}
List the actionable (ready) tasks for a project -- open tasks with no unfinished blocker -- oldest first, plus the blocked tasks with their still-open blockers. By default plan-step tasks are excluded; pass plan=<slug> to list that plan's steps instead.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `plan` | string | no | optional plan slug: return that plan's ready/blocked step tasks instead of the default (non-plan) queue |
| `project` | string | no | project slug; defaults to the bound session's project |
## tasks_list {#tasks_list}
List a project's tasks, optionally filtered by status, newest first. By default plan-step tasks are excluded; pass plan=<slug> to list that plan's steps instead. Pass id=<task id> to load a single task by its globally-unique id (a direct lookup that ignores project/status/plan and needs no session scope).
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `id` | string | no | load exactly one task by its globally-unique id; when set, project/status/plan are ignored and the response's tasks array holds just that task |
| `plan` | string | no | optional plan slug: list that plan's step tasks instead of the default (non-plan) tasks |
| `project` | string | no | project slug; defaults to the bound session's project |
| `status` | string | no | optional status filter. One of: `open`, `in_progress`, `done`, `dropped`. |
## tasks_claim {#tasks_claim}
Atomically claim a task for the current session, moving it to in_progress with a lease. A refused claim names its cause: held by another live claim ('task already claimed'), waiting on unfinished dependencies ('task blocked', naming the blockers -- finish those first), or already done/dropped ('task closed'). Re-claiming a task you already hold refreshes (heartbeats) the lease; a task whose lease has expired can be reclaimed. Release it with tasks_release or by closing it (tasks_update done/dropped); session_end releases all of a session's claims.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `id` | string | **yes** | task id to claim |
| `lease_seconds` | number | no | lease duration in seconds before the claim lapses and the task becomes reclaimable (default 900) |
| `session` | string | no | the acting agent's session: the cc/<id> or cx/<id> on your briefing's 'Seam session' line, or a session name. Defaults to the connection's bound session, then a sole active ambient. Pass it whenever you have not run session_start and several agents are active -- the bare call is then ambiguous and fails rather than guesses. |
| `session_id` | string | no | the acting agent's session ULID; takes precedence over session and the bound session |
## tasks_release {#tasks_release}
Release a task the current session holds, reopening it (status back to open, claim cleared) so another agent can claim it. Only the current holder may release.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `id` | string | **yes** | task id to release |
| `session` | string | no | the acting agent's session: the cc/<id> or cx/<id> on your briefing's 'Seam session' line, or a session name. Defaults to the connection's bound session, then a sole active ambient. Pass it whenever you have not run session_start and several agents are active -- the bare call is then ambiguous and fails rather than guesses. |
| `session_id` | string | no | the acting agent's session ULID; takes precedence over session and the bound session |
---
# Lab, gardener & usage
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/reference/mcp/lab-gardener-usage/
## The research lab
A lab is a shared workspace for a systematic investigation: a hypothesis, a
series of trials, and what each one actually did. `lab_open` binds a lab to the
connection, so `trial_record` inherits it the way memory inherits a session's
project. `trial_query` reads the trials back.
The point is **parallel agents collaborating on one investigation**. Several
agents chasing the same bug can open the same lab, record what they tried, and
see each other's dead ends instead of re-walking them. When the investigation
resolves, distill the finding into a memory - the lab is the working record, not
the conclusion.
## The gardener proposes; it never acts
The gardener runs periodically over the store looking for drift. Every pass it
makes ends in a **proposal row for you to review** - it never rewrites your
knowledge behind your back. That is the whole contract, and it is why the tool
surface has both `gardener_proposals` (read them) and `gardener_apply` (act on
one) instead of a single "tidy up" button.
Its passes:
| Pass | What it looks for |
|---|---|
| dedup | Two memories that say the same thing, above `gardener.dedup_threshold` similarity. Proposes a **merge**: one is kept, the other superseded and pointed at it. |
| staleness | Memories untouched for `gardener.staleness_days`. Proposes an **archive**: marked invalid, still readable. |
| stale-stage | A `stage` memory whose gate is done, missing, or unparseable, unchanged for `gardener.stale_stage_days`. Proposes an **archive**. |
| dead-weight | A memory briefings keep injecting with zero recall hits, prompt matches, or reads. Proposes an **archive**. |
| digest | Enough recent activity to be worth a summary over `gardener.digest_days`. Proposes a **digest** note. |
| stale-plan | Plans idle for `gardener.stale_plan_days` with steps still open. |
| memory-wanted | The same recall query missing across sessions. Proposes a **memory_wanted**: applying opens a task to write the knowledge agents keep searching for. |
| tool-error | The same normalized tool or hook error recurring (tool errors across 2+ sessions). Proposes a **tool_error**: applying opens an investigation task with the observed evidence. |
Constraints and pinned stages are never age-filtered or staleness-archived. A
constraint does not become less true by sitting still.
`gardener_request` takes a request in natural language ("fold the two console
theme memories together") and turns it into the same reviewable proposals. It can
also **reproject** a memory filed under the wrong project - moving it to a
different project that already exists - and **rekind** a memory filed under the
wrong kind, reclassifying it in place (most often demoting a project-local
constraint to a convention, or the reverse).
Its `project` argument scopes the memories it may reference: a project slug (that
project plus globals), `global` for globals only, or `all` for every project on
the machine. Omit it and the scope resolves the way every other read does - from
the session - rather than quietly widening to everything. A slug that is not a
project is an error, not an empty result.
## Splits are a different thing
Moving a memory into a project that does not exist yet is not a reproject - it is
a split, and `gardener_split` plans it. Splitting one project into new children
creates those projects and a shared parent, so it is planned as a unit rather
than as a pile of individual moves.
## usage_summary
`usage_summary` reports what the store actually contains and what retrieval has
been doing: memory counts, retrieval statistics including the highest-utility
memories by decayed demand, events by kind. It answers "is
this thing working, and on how much?" - the same question the console's Overview
answers, for an agent that cannot open a browser.
## favorite_set
`favorite_set` stars or unstars an item - a memory, note, project, plan, task,
session, or trial. A starred memory is pinned into every session briefing as a
`FAVORITE:` line and gets a mild recall rank boost; in the console, favorites
carry a star, sort first, and can be filtered. For memories and notes the flag
lives in the file's frontmatter (`favorite: true`), so it survives an index
rebuild and can be hand-edited. A plan's favorite lives on its primary note, so
a task-only plan (no note) cannot be starred. Starring never bumps an item's
updated time - it is metadata, not authorship.
## Applying is an explicit boundary
`gardener_apply` accepts `apply`, `dismiss`, or `hide`. Both rejections close
the proposal without changing its target; they differ in how long the answer
holds. `dismiss` settles the evidence in front of you, so a pattern that keeps
recurring is raised again later - reach for it by default. `hide` blocks the
pattern permanently, for a suggestion that is wrong in principle rather than
wrong for now; the owner can lift it from the console's **Hidden forever** list.
Apply performs the proposal's typed action and
returns that real outcome; it never substitutes a plausible dummy when the
target disappeared or a file/store mutation failed. Memory-changing actions
route through the lifecycle/files services, so supersession, atomic Markdown
writes, and occupied-path protections remain the same as direct tools.
## lab_open {#lab_open}
Open a research lab and get its recent trial history for context -- including trials other agents recorded, so parallel agents can share one investigation. Use a lab for systematic investigations whose expected-vs-actual results must outlive the session. Binds the lab to this connection so later trial_record calls inherit it. A lab is just a label -- a new one needs no setup; it exists once its first trial is recorded.
**Optional** - part of *Research labs & trials*, hidden when the `research` feature is disabled: the tool leaves `tools/list` and a call to it is refused as an unknown tool, while its stored data stays exactly where it was. See [Optional features](/reference/console/#optional-features).
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `lab` | string | **yes** | lab name (a stable label for a line of investigation) |
| `goal` | string | no | optional note on what this lab is investigating |
## trial_record {#trial_record}
Record one experiment in a research lab: what changed, expected vs actual, outcome, and optional structured metrics for later querying. Inherits the lab from lab_open unless you pass one.
**Optional** - part of *Research labs & trials*, hidden when the `research` feature is disabled: the tool leaves `tools/list` and a call to it is refused as an unknown tool, while its stored data stays exactly where it was. See [Optional features](/reference/console/#optional-features).
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `title` | string | **yes** | short trial title |
| `actual` | string | no | observed result |
| `changes` | string | no | what was changed for this trial |
| `expected` | string | no | expected result |
| `lab` | string | no | lab name; defaults to the lab opened on this connection |
| `metrics` | object | no | optional object of structured metrics, e.g. {"hz":497,"err_pct":0.2} (a JSON-object string is also accepted) |
| `outcome` | string | no | suggested values pass\|fail\|partial\|inconclusive; free text accepted |
| `project` | string | no | project slug; defaults to the bound/ambient session's project. An unknown slug CREATES that project -- naming a new one is normal and never an error. Pass project=global ONLY for knowledge that belongs in EVERY project's briefing; it is not a neutral default. With no session and no explicit project the call is rejected as ambiguous. A session bound to a confidential or sealed project can write ONLY into that project. |
## trial_query {#trial_query}
Query recorded trials, filtered by lab, outcome, and/or an exact-match metrics filter over the metrics recorded by trial_record.
**Optional** - part of *Research labs & trials*, hidden when the `research` feature is disabled: the tool leaves `tools/list` and a call to it is refused as an unknown tool, while its stored data stays exactly where it was. See [Optional features](/reference/console/#optional-features).
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `lab` | string | no | lab name; defaults to the lab opened on this connection |
| `limit` | integer | no | max results (default 20, max 200) |
| `metrics_filter` | object | no | optional object; trials whose metrics equal every given key match, e.g. {"hz":497} (a JSON-object string is also accepted) |
| `outcome` | string | no | filter by outcome (e.g. fail) |
## gardener_proposals {#gardener_proposals}
List pending gardener proposals (merge/consolidate duplicate memories, archive stale memories, write a monthly session digest, reproject a memory to another project, rekind a memory to a different kind, set up a project split, abandon a never-approved captured plan, fold a stranded captured plan into the composition that carries its steps, write a memory agents keep searching for in vain, or fix an error agents keep hitting). Review, then apply, dismiss or hide each with gardener_apply. Read-only.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `kind` | string | no | filter by proposal kind (default: all pending). One of: `merge`, `archive`, `digest`, `consolidate`, `reproject`, `split`, `abandon_plan`, `memory_wanted`, `tool_error`, `rekind`, `ship_plan`, `relocate`, `merge_plans`. |
## gardener_request {#gardener_request}
The natural-language entry point for REORGANIZING memory. Describe the change in plain language and it returns reviewable pending proposals -- fold duplicates together ("these two memories are duplicates -- keep the newer"), retire stale memories ("archive anything about the old port 8080"), synthesize several into one ("combine the three auth-flow notes"), move a mis-filed memory to another EXISTING project ("the iOS DFU memory belongs in arctop-ios"), or reclassify a memory's kind ("the wordmark memory is a convention, not a constraint"). Use this whenever the user describes how they want their knowledge organized; if the intended change is ambiguous, ask them a clarifying question first. It NEVER mutates memories: it only creates pending proposals -- review with gardener_proposals, resolve with gardener_apply. If the request is to split one project into NEW child projects, it recognizes that and returns guidance (splitSource) pointing you at gardener_split instead. Needs an LLM chat client.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `request` | string | **yes** | the reorganization request in plain language |
| `project` | string | no | scope candidate memories: a project slug (its memories + globals), "global" for globals only, or "all" for every project on the machine. Omit to use the session's project. |
## gardener_split {#gardener_split}
Plan a project SPLIT: divide one existing project into two or more NEW child projects, keeping cross-platform memories in a shared parent (e.g. split arctop-app into arctop-ios + arctop-android with shared arctop-mobile-apps). Use this when the user wants to break one project into several -- gardener_request points you here (via splitSource) when it detects that intent. It NEVER creates a project or moves a memory: it only creates reviewable pending proposals -- one 'split' setup proposal plus one 'reproject' per memory, all under plan 'split-<source>'. Review with gardener_proposals, then apply each with gardener_apply (or retarget a memory first in the console). Needs an LLM chat client and a known source project slug (see project_list).
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `source` | string | **yes** | the project slug to split (its own memories are classified into the children/shared parent) |
| `instruction` | string | no | optional guidance: which children, what stays shared |
## gardener_apply {#gardener_apply}
Resolve a gardener proposal. action=apply carries out the effect (archive -> retire the memory; merge -> supersede the older by the newer; consolidate -> write a unified memory superseding its sources; digest -> save the summary as a note; reproject -> move the memory to another project; rekind -> reclassify the memory's kind in place; split -> create the child/shared projects, link the family, parent the children, retire the source; memory_wanted -> open a task to write the missing memory; tool_error -> open a task to fix the recurring error; merge_plans -> retag a stranded captured plan's notes onto the plan that holds the steps and settle the capture as merged). Rejecting has two strengths: action=dismiss discards this proposal and the evidence behind it, so a pattern that keeps recurring is raised again later; action=hide blocks the pattern permanently, so no recurrence re-raises it. Prefer dismiss unless the suggestion is wrong in principle rather than wrong for now. Both are reversible by the owner from the console.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `id` | string | **yes** | proposal id (ULID) |
| `action` | string | no | apply (default), dismiss (until it recurs), or hide (forever). One of: `apply`, `dismiss`, `hide`. |
## usage_summary {#usage_summary}
Report a roll-up of activity: memory/note/session/task counts, retrieval totals with the most-injected memories, pending gardener proposals, and events by kind. Every count is machine-wide and identical for every caller; only the named memory lists (topInjected, topUtility) are fenced, so memories this session may not read under project isolation are dropped from them and those lists can come back shorter than the counts imply. Read-only.
Takes no parameters.
## favorite_set {#favorite_set}
Star or unstar an item. Favorites sort first in the console, are pinned into session briefings (memories), and get a mild recall rank boost. For memories and notes the flag is stored in the file's frontmatter; starring never bumps an item's updated time.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `kind` | string | **yes** | what kind of item to star. One of: `memory`, `note`, `project`, `plan`, `task`, `session`, `trial`. |
| `id` | string | **yes** | the item's identifier: memory name, note id (or slug), project slug, plan slug, task id, session id (or name), trial id |
| `favorite` | boolean | **yes** | true to star, false to unstar |
| `project` | string | no | project scope for memory-name/note-slug resolution; defaults to the bound session's project |
---
# seam CLI
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/reference/cli-seam/
`seam` is the headless CLI. It does no work itself: it loads the same
configuration the daemon does, then talks to a running `seamlessd` - over MCP at
`/api/mcp` for most commands, and over the console's JSON endpoints for the
owner-only actions that do not exist as MCP tools (force-releasing a task lock,
approving a plan). Both paths authenticate with the static bearer key from
[Configuration](/reference/configuration/), so if the key is wrong or the daemon
is down, every subcommand below fails at the connection.
The target address is derived from the configured bind address, with a bind-all
host (`0.0.0.0`, `::`, or empty) mapped to loopback.
## Flags and positionals
Every `seam` command takes flags on either side of its positionals. These two
lines are the same line:
```bash
seam capture --project myproj https://example.com/page
seam capture https://example.com/page --project myproj
```
```bash
seam task release --force 01K7ABCD # --force applies
seam task release 01K7ABCD --force # --force applies here too
```
An unknown flag is rejected rather than absorbed into the positionals, so a typo
is an error instead of a silently different command: `seam recall foo --projct p`
reports `flag provided but not defined: -projct`. A positional that starts with
`-` needs the `--` terminator (`seam recall -- -foo`).
`seam task done|start|drop|reopen` and `seam plan show|approve` parse no flags at
all. Commands that take only flags and no positionals (`ready`, `task list`,
`task add`, `plan list`, `status`, `usage`, `doctor`) are unaffected either way.
## Agent loop
The four commands an agent - or you, standing in for one - uses to start a
session, write knowledge, and search it back.
### seam prime {#seam_prime}
```bash
seam prime [--cwd DIR] [--name NAME]
```
Calls `session_start` with `source=explicit` and prints the briefing to stdout;
the session id and resolved project go to stderr, so the briefing pipes cleanly.
`--cwd` defaults to the current directory and is what resolves the project via
the repo mapping. Reusing a `--name` resumes that session rather than opening a
new one. When there is no briefing content yet, it says so on stderr.
This is the explicit form of what the SessionStart hook does automatically.
### seam remember {#seam_remember}
```bash
seam remember --name N --kind K --description D [--body TEXT] [--project P]
```
Calls `memory_write`. `--name`, `--kind`, and `--description` are required.
`--kind` is one of `constraint`, `runbook`, `protocol`, `gotcha`, `decision`,
`refuted`, `reference`, or `stage`. `--description` is the one-line summary
(<=150 chars) that indexes show.
The body comes from `--body`, or from **stdin** when `--body` is omitted - an
empty body after either route is an error, not an empty memory. `--project`
resolves the same way as it does for [capture](#seam_capture): empty inherits the
session's project and is an error when nothing pins it, and `global` is the
explicit escape hatch. Output reports whether the write created or updated the
memory, and names a similar existing memory when the server flags one.
### seam recall {#seam_recall}
```bash
seam recall QUERY [--scope all|memories|notes] [--project P] [--limit N]
```
Calls `recall`, the single RRF-fused search entry point. Scope defaults to `all`
and limit to `10`. Query words are joined with spaces, and flags may sit on
either side of them. A query word that starts with `-` needs the `--` terminator
(`seam recall -- -foo`), which is the only reason to reach for it. Each hit
prints its kind, name, age, source, score, and description; no matches prints
`no results`.
An unknown flag is an error, not a search word: `seam recall foo --projct p`
reports `flag provided but not defined: -projct` rather than quietly searching
for the literal text `foo --projct p`.
### seam capture {#seam_capture}
```bash
seam capture [--project P] URL
```
Calls `capture_url` to fetch a page through the SSRF-safe fetcher and store it
as a note. An empty `--project` does not mean global: the scope resolves to the
session's project - the bound session's, or a single unambiguous ambient one.
The server refuses to guess rather than pick a default, so a capture with
nothing to infer from, or one made while ambient sessions span several projects,
is an error naming the fix. Pass `--project global` to file the note globally
(`notes/_global/`), or `--project <slug>` to name a project outright.
`--project` binds on either side of the URL: `seam capture --project p URL` and
`seam capture URL --project p` are the same line.
## Tasks
The queue side of the CLI. See [Tasks](/reference/mcp/tasks/) for what ready,
blocked, and claimed mean.
### seam ready {#seam_ready}
```bash
seam ready [--project P] [--blocked] [--plan S]
```
Calls `tasks_ready` and lists the actionable queue by short id and title.
`--blocked` additionally lists blocked tasks, each followed by its blockers and
their statuses. `--plan S` shows that plan's step tasks instead of the default
queue - plan steps are excluded from the default view. Prints
`ready: (nothing actionable)` when the queue is empty.
### seam task list {#seam_task_list}
```bash
seam task list [--id ID] [--project P] [--status S] [--plan S]
```
Calls `tasks_list`. `--status` filters to `open`, `in_progress`, `done`, or
`dropped`. `--id` loads a single task by its globally-unique id and ignores the
project, status, and plan filters. `--plan` lists a plan's steps instead of the
default non-plan tasks. Bare `seam task` is not an alias: it names the available
task subcommands and exits 2. Use `seam task list` when listing is what you mean.
### seam task add {#seam_task_add}
```bash
seam task add --title T [--body B] [--project P] [--depends id,id] [--plan S]
```
Calls `tasks_add`. `--title` is required. `--depends` takes a comma-separated
list of blocker task ids. `--plan S` composes the task as a step of the plan
`plan:<slug>`, which keeps it out of the default queue.
### seam task done|start|drop|reopen {#seam_task_transition}
```bash
seam task done <id>
seam task start <id>
seam task drop <id>
seam task reopen <id>
```
Calls `tasks_update` with the mapped status: `done` → `done`, `start` →
`in_progress`, `drop` → `dropped`, `reopen` → `open`. These parse no flags.
### seam task claim {#seam_task_claim}
```bash
seam task claim [--lease SECS] <id>
```
Calls `tasks_claim` to atomically take a ready task, printing the new status and
the lease expiry. `--lease` overrides the server's default lease (900 seconds);
it is only sent when greater than zero.
### seam task heartbeat {#seam_task_heartbeat}
```bash
seam task heartbeat [--lease SECS] <id>
```
The same `tasks_claim` call as `claim`. Re-claiming a task you already hold
refreshes its lease, so `heartbeat` is that path under a name that says what it
is for during long work. There is no separate heartbeat tool.
### seam task release {#seam_task_release}
```bash
seam task release [--force] <id>
```
Without `--force`, calls `tasks_release`, which only releases a claim you hold.
`--force` is the owner override and takes a different route entirely: it POSTs
to the console's release endpoint, which is bearer-authenticated and force-releases
any holder's claim. Agents on the MCP surface cannot reach that path.
## Captured plans
Owner surface over the plans Claude Code plan mode captures. `list`, `show`, and
`approve` are backed by the console's JSON endpoints; `check` also runs `git`
locally. Bare `seam plan` is not a command - it names its subcommands and exits
2, the same as bare `seam task`.
### seam plan list {#seam_plan_list}
```bash
seam plan list [--project SLUG] [--window WINDOW]
```
Lists captured plans with slug, status, title, project, iteration, agent count,
task progress, and age. `--window` is `24h`, `7d`, `30d`, or `all` (default
`all`) and is applied by the server; anything else is a parse error rather than a
silent fall back to the server's `24h` default. `--project` filters the returned
rows client-side.
Prints `(no captured plans)` when nothing matches.
`plan list` takes no positional: `seam plan list <slug>` is an error pointing at
`seam plan show`, not a listing of every plan.
### seam plan show {#seam_plan_show}
```bash
seam plan show <slug>
```
Prints one plan: its status, project, title, source file and iteration, the
notes attached to the composition (each marked `note` or `agent`), its tasks,
and then the plan body.
### seam plan check {#seam_plan_check}
```bash
seam plan check [--cwd DIR] <slug>
```
Staleness check against a repo's git history. `--cwd` defaults to the current
directory and must be a git repo. For the plan body and each attached note, it
reads the capture stamp (the `> captured from ... | git <head> | ...` line) and
compares it to the repo's current HEAD:
- **FRESH** - stamped at the current HEAD, or nothing changed since the stamped
commit, or files changed but none the note mentions.
- **STALE** - files the note mentions by path changed between the stamped commit
and HEAD. The changed paths are listed (truncated after five).
- **UNKNOWN** - no git stamp, captured outside a git repo, the stamped commit no
longer resolves (rebased away), or the note could not be read.
Mentioned paths are extracted from the prose by pattern, and match whether the
note wrote them absolute or repo-relative. **The command exits non-zero when any
note is stale**, so it works as a gate in a script.
### seam plan approve {#seam_plan_approve}
```bash
seam plan approve <slug>
```
Escape hatch for when Claude Code skips the approval hook: flips the plan to
approved and creates its tracking task, reporting the new task or noting that
one already exists.
## Observability
### seam status {#seam_status}
```bash
seam status
```
Server health from the unauthenticated `/healthz` endpoint (status and version),
the configured data directory, then the project count and slugs via
`project_list` - which doubles as proof the static key works.
**`seam status` exits non-zero if any check failed**, so it works as a scripted
health gate. A partial answer is still printed - if MCP is unavailable it reports
health and names the failure on the projects line - but the command fails rather
than reporting success. The printed lines are its output; the exit code is its
result. Exit 1 means the server had a problem, not that the command line did
(that is exit 2).
### seam sessions {#seam_sessions}
```bash
seam sessions [--status STATUS] [<id>]
```
With no positional, lists sessions with name (or short id), project, status, age,
and an ambient marker, under a total/active count. With an id, prints that
session's detail: status, project, tool calls, memory writes and reads, the
read-after-inject ratio, and findings when present. Both read the console's JSON
endpoint.
`--status` is `active`, `completed`, or `expired`; anything else is a parse
error. The console rejects an unrecognized `?status=` too, so a direct URL cannot
silently list everything either.
### seam fav {#seam_fav}
```bash
seam fav <kind> <id> [--off] [--project SLUG]
```
Stars (or with `--off`, unstars) an item via `favorite_set`. `kind` is one of
`memory`, `note`, `project`, `plan`, `task`, `session`, or `trial`; `id` is the
kind's natural identifier - a memory name, note id or slug, project slug, plan
slug, task id, session id or name, or trial id. `--project` scopes memory-name
and note-slug resolution when the ambient scope is not the right one.
Favorites sort first in the console, can be filtered there, and starred
memories are pinned into every session briefing and rank-boosted in recall. A
plan's star lives on its primary note, so a task-only plan cannot be starred.
### seam project isolation {#seam_project_isolation}
```bash
seam project isolation [--yes] <slug> [<state>]
```
Shows or sets a project's [isolation](/concepts/project-isolation/) state.
`state` is one of `open`, `confidential`, or `sealed`; omit it to print the
current state and its promise line. Unlike most subcommands this one talks to
the console's JSON endpoint rather than an MCP tool - there is deliberately no
tool to change isolation, because tightening detaches family and parent links
and is an owner decision.
**Tightening requires `--yes`.** Without it, the command prints exactly the
consequences the console's confirm panel shows - the family and parent it would
detach from - applies nothing, and exits non-zero, so a script cannot mistake an
unconfirmed tighten for a fence that went up. **Loosening is immediate** and
ignores `--yes`.
A project with children refuses to tighten until they are re-parented; the
refusal names them. Promise text is echoed from the server rather than
transcribed here, so the console and the CLI cannot drift apart.
### seam usage {#seam_usage}
```bash
seam usage
```
Activity roll-up from `usage_summary`: active memories broken down by kind, note
count, session and task counts by status, retrieval injections and reads with a
read-after-inject percentage, the most-injected items, the highest-utility
memories by decayed demand, and pending gardener proposals.
### seam doctor {#seam_doctor}
```bash
seam doctor
```
Client-side checks, each reported `ok` or `FAIL`, exiting non-zero if any failed:
1. **server** - `/healthz` reachable and reporting `ok`.
2. **mcp_tools** - `tools/list` returns the tool count this CLI was built to
expect, minus the tools of any [optional
feature](/reference/console/#optional-features) that is switched off (the
line reads `31 registered, 28 exposed (research disabled)`). A mismatch that
feature state does not explain means the running daemon is a different build.
When the feature state cannot be read - the daemon is older than optional
features, or its settings endpoint did not answer - the check judges the
plausible range instead and names the reason rather than failing a healthy
daemon.
3. **projects** - `project_list` answers.
This is the client-side view. `seamlessd doctor` checks config, database, and
credentials on the server side; they are different commands answering different
questions.
### seam version {#seam_version}
```bash
seam version
seam -v
seam --version
```
Prints the version of the daemon this CLI is configured to talk to, in the same
form as `seamlessd version`:
```
seamlessd 0.3.8 (commit 6d664d2, built 2026-07-18T09:12:04Z)
```
`seam` carries no version of its own. Both binaries ship from one tag and one
commit, so a number stamped into `seam` could only repeat this one or contradict
it - and only the daemon can report what is actually *running*. An installed CLI
sitting next to a daemon nobody restarted would otherwise report the new version
for a process still serving the old one.
The version therefore comes from the daemon's `/healthz`, and an unreachable
daemon fails the command rather than falling back: there is no second source, and
printing the CLI's own build is the confusion this avoids. `seamlessd version`
accepts the same three spellings and answers from the binary directly, without a
running server.
## MCP bridge and auth helper
```bash
seam mcp-proxy [--config PATH]
seam mcp-headers [--config PATH]
```
These are client-launched helpers, not interactive commands.
- `mcp-proxy` speaks MCP over stdio to its parent and forwards frames to
Seamless's Streamable HTTP `/api/mcp`, preserving `Mcp-Session-Id`. The Codex
installer registers it as Seamless's default policy so the bearer key remains
in the 0600 Seamless config. Current Codex also supports direct Streamable
HTTP; the bridge is a key-handling choice, not a Codex transport requirement.
- `mcp-headers` prints the current Authorization header as a JSON object for
Claude Code's `headersHelper`. That keeps the key out of `claude mcp add`
argv and stored client configuration.
`--config` selects the exact `seamless.yaml` both helpers read. Installers bake
an absolute path into the client registration so it works from every repository.
## Hooks
```bash
seam hook session-start|user-prompt-submit|session-end|stop
seam hook subagent-start|subagent-stop|post-tool-use|permission-request
```
Invoked by Claude Code or Codex, not by hand. Each reads the hook payload from stdin,
forwards it to the matching `/api/hooks/...` endpoint with the bearer key, and
copies the JSON response to stdout - so a `command` hook drives the same server
logic an `http` hook would. Claude Code requires a command hook for SessionStart;
Codex's profile uses command hooks throughout and passes `--client codex` so the
daemon selects its payload adapter.
Two behaviours matter if you are debugging a hook:
- **Failures do not block the session.** A missing config, an unreachable
daemon, or an unreadable stdin is reported on stderr and exits 0. An unknown
event name or present-but-invalid `--client` value is an install/configuration
bug and exits 1; it never silently becomes Claude Code.
- **`post-tool-use` pre-filters locally.** It fires machine-wide on every
`Write`/`Edit`, so the CLI drops everything that is not an `ExitPlanMode`
approval or a write to a file directly under `~/.claude/plans` before loading
config or touching the network. The daemon re-validates the path anyway.
Install these with `seamlessd install-hooks`.
---
# seamlessd CLI
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/reference/cli-seamlessd/
`seamlessd` is both the server and the operator CLI. `serve` runs the daemon;
every other subcommand is a one-shot that opens the same config and database
directly, without going through a running server. That means most of them work
whether or not the daemon is up - and that `map-repo` and `family` write state
the running daemon reads.
Each subcommand parses its own flags. None of them take positional arguments
except `family`, which takes only positionals.
For the keys every command below resolves, see
[Configuration](/reference/configuration/).
## seamlessd serve {#seamlessd_serve}
```bash
seamlessd serve [--addr HOST:PORT]
```
Starts the HTTP server and blocks until SIGINT or SIGTERM, then shuts down
gracefully. `--addr` overrides the configured bind address (default
`127.0.0.1:8081`). The flag is the bind address, so everything downstream that
derives "where do clients reach this daemon" answers from the address actually
listened on - a configured `server_url` still wins over both.
It refuses to start at all under `role: client`, before it opens a file or a
port: a client install has no daemon of its own by definition, and serving one
would give the machine a second, empty corpus its own hooks never write to.
With `tls.cert_file` and `tls.key_file` both set, the listener is **https**
with a TLS 1.2 floor, and the console session cookie is marked `Secure`. One
without the other is refused when the config loads. Outermost in the handler
chain is the Host-header allowlist: the loopback names, a concrete bind host,
the host of `server_url`, and `allowed_hosts`. Anything else gets `421
Misdirected Request`. A wildcard bind with no host named anywhere is the single
unguarded case - naming one arms the guard there too. Binding beyond loopback
logs a `SECURITY` warning at startup whose text differs with TLS on or off, and
a second warning when the bind is wide while `server_url` still names loopback.
[Share one daemon across a LAN](/guides/network-install/) is the setup guide.
On a true first run - no config file anywhere in the search order and no
`SEAMLESS_MCP_API_KEY` in the environment - it generates the bearer key and
writes it to `~/.config/seamless/seamless.yaml` before starting. An existing
config file is never edited, even when its key is empty.
It wires up:
- `/healthz` - liveness plus a database ping. Reports `degraded` with a 503 when
the ping fails.
- `/api/mcp` - the MCP tool endpoint, bearer-authenticated.
- `/api/hooks/...` - the session and plan-capture hooks.
- `/console/...` - the observability console. The bare root `/` redirects here.
Startup is deliberately tolerant of a half-configured install, and the log is
where you find out:
- **No embedder** - recall degrades to FTS-only for the life of the process. A
missing credential logs a warning; a *malformed* setting (a bad `base_url`)
logs an error, because that one is a typo rather than a choice.
- **No chat client** - gardener digest passes no-op.
- **Empty `mcp.api_key`** (a config file exists but leaves it blank) - logs a
warning, and every MCP and hook request is then rejected.
- **Gardener disabled** - logged, and no maintenance passes run.
The startup line carries the version, commit, and data directory, which is how
you spot a daemon running older code than your working tree.
## seamlessd doctor {#seamlessd_doctor}
```bash
seamlessd doctor
```
Server-side self-checks. Each line reports `ok`, `info`, `warn`, or `fail`;
**only a `fail` exits non-zero** - warnings and info lines are informational.
Checks stop early if config or the database cannot be loaded at all.
| Check | What it reports |
|---|---|
| `binary` | The version that ran. |
| `config` | Which file it loaded, or that it fell back to defaults + env. |
| `data_dir` | The resolved data directory. |
| `mcp.api_key` | Set, or a warning that `/api/mcp` will reject everything. |
| `llm` | The provider, or a warning that its credential is missing. |
| `embedder` | Probes the embedder with a real embed call. Unreachable, unconfigured, or provider `anthropic` (no embeddings API) is a warning: recall degrades to FTS. |
| `bind` | Loopback is OK. Non-loopback with TLS is OK with the reminder that the bearer key is still the only authentication; non-loopback *without* TLS is a warning naming what travels in the clear. |
| `server_url` | Fetches `/healthz` through the advertised URL. Not answering is **info** (the daemon is often stopped while doctor runs); a `421` is a **fail** naming the Host header it just refused, which means the allowlist and the advertised name disagree. A derived URL says so. |
| `tls` | Off, or the certificate's expiry (a warning from 30 days out, nothing auto-renews) and whether its SANs cover the host of `server_url` - the one that fails at the client's handshake with a message that names no file on the server. |
| `database` | Path, schema version, and table count. Opens and migrates if needed. |
| `schema version` | An **info** line pairing what the database has applied with what this binary compiles - `v25 applied / v25 compiled`. A database *ahead* of the binary warns: it was written by a newer `seamlessd`, which is also why an archive from it would be refused. |
| `repo map` | Warns when mapped paths belonging to **this** host name directories that no longer exist on disk. A moved repo adopts its project at its next session start; a moved-and-renamed repo needs the printed `map-repo` override. Rows belonging to other hosts are counted and reported as not verifiable from here - never stat'd, never treated as missing. |
| `remote sessions` | An **info** line: which other machines used this daemon in the last 24 hours, and how many daemon-side captures were skipped for them. `none in 24h` on a single-machine install. |
| `mcp_tools` | On a server install, fails if the number of registered tools disagrees with the expected count - catches a tool written but never wired in. On a `role: client` install it is the live count instead: `tools/list` against the server, judged against that server's effective feature state. |
| `claude CLI runtime` / `claude app runtime` | Each discoverable Claude Code runtime's self-reported version, separately: the PATH CLI and, on macOS, every runtime the desktop app has retained - they can differ, and collapsing them would hide exactly that skew. No discoverable runtime means no lines. |
| `hooks` | Claude Code definitions compared with today's desired profile. |
| `claude desktop mcp` | The chat surface's `claude_desktop_config.json` entry compared with the desired stdio bridge. Absent is an **info** line naming the opt-in command, never a nag; an exact entry reports OK while stating that the running app's loaded state is unverifiable (the app reads the config at startup). No lines when neither the app nor a desktop config exists. |
| `codex CLI runtime` / `codex app runtime` | Each discoverable Codex runtime's self-reported version, separately, on the same principle. |
| `codex hooks` | Codex current, stale, and missing definitions, including command targets. |
| `codex hook trust` | Always warns that trust is unverified and directs you to Codex `/hooks`; no private trust state is read. |
| `codex hook activity` | Last observed SessionStart/UserPromptSubmit event, if any; evidence only, not proof of current trust. |
| `codex mcp` | Exact enabled stdio bridge state from `codex mcp get seamless --json`, plus executable/config target existence. |
| `feature skills` | An **info** line when a client's skill home still holds a skill for an [optional feature](/reference/console/#optional-features) you switched off - the daemon never deletes there on a toggle. Re-run `install-hooks` to remove it, or re-enable the feature. |
| `gardener` | The ticker configuration, or a warning that it is disabled. |
Under `role: client` the report is a deliberately short, different list: a
`role` info line naming the server it dials, a `server_url` reachability probe,
the API key, the live MCP tool count, and the same desired-state hook and MCP
comparisons above. That tool count is the one client check that presents the
bearer key, so a wrong or rotated key surfaces there rather than as a silent
green. Everything else is absent because it describes a machine
that is somewhere else - the database, schema version, repo map, remote
sessions and feature skills all read a local `seam.db` a client does not have
(opening one would *mint* the database whose absence is what `role: client`
means); the gardener runs inside the daemon; and the LLM and embedder belong to
the server that does the embedding. The `server_url` probe is a **fail** rather
than info on a client, because a client has no benign "daemon is stopped"
state: until the server answers there are no briefings, memories, or tools on
this machine.
The definition checks compare current desired state, not mere existence. The
shared classifier recognizes exact current definitions, marked stale entries,
and only unmistakable legacy Seamless shapes; arbitrary foreign hooks survive.
Codex trust is a separate fact because Codex exposes no supported query for the
current trust decision. A recent hook observation cannot make a changed command
healthy.
Reach for it after changing config, after an upgrade, or as the first step when
recall has quietly gone lexical.
## seamlessd export {#seamlessd_export}
```bash
seamlessd export [-o FILE|-] [--no-db]
```
Writes the whole instance to one gzipped tar: the markdown corpus, a consistent
snapshot of `seam.db`, and a `manifest.json` describing what is inside.
**Config and `mcp.api_key` are never in the archive.** A restored instance gets
its own config and a freshly generated key, which is what lets an archive be
copied to another machine, a NAS, or a colleague without carrying this machine's
only credential.
| Flag | Default | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| `-o` | `seamless-<host>-<UTC timestamp>.tar.gz` in the working directory | Where to write the archive. `-` streams it to stdout and puts the report on stderr. |
| `--no-db` | `false` | Export the markdown trees only. Sessions, tasks, trials, events, and embeddings are then **not** in the archive. |
Layout, in tar order:
```text
manifest.json always first
seam.db absent with --no-db
memory/{project|_global}/{name}.md
notes/{project|_global}/{slug}.md
```
`manifest.json` first is deliberate: a reader can refuse an archive - wrong
format, or a schema newer than its own binary understands - before extracting a
single byte. Every entry is a regular file with mode `0600` and uid/gid zeroed,
so a restore under another account carries no ownership from the exporting
machine.
**It is safe to run against a live instance.** The snapshot is SQLite's
`VACUUM INTO` on a handle that never migrates, so a newer binary cannot move the
schema under a running older daemon, and a write in flight is simply not in the
snapshot rather than half in it. The database is snapshotted *before* the trees
are walked, so the file set is a superset of what the snapshot's index describes;
the import's reconciliation heals that window.
A named destination is claimed with `O_EXCL` and written through a sibling
`.tmp` that is renamed into place, so an export never overwrites an existing
archive and never leaves a truncated one under a finished-looking name.
## seamlessd import {#seamlessd_import}
```bash
seamlessd import [--from DIR|FILE|-] [--embed=false]
[--skip LIST] # v1 directory only
[--dry-run] [--force] # archive only
```
Imports another store into this instance. **What `--from` names on disk decides
which of two unrelated operations runs** - never a flag:
| `--from` is | Source | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| a directory (the default `~/.seam`) | A Seam v1 data directory | Memory and note files are written and indexed here; trials, sessions, and tool-call events are inserted into the database. |
| a regular file, or `-` | A `seamlessd export` archive | A **restore** into an empty data directory, or a **merge** into a populated one. |
| Flag | Default | Applies to | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| `--from` | `~/.seam` | both | Source path. A leading `~` expands; `-` reads an archive from stdin. |
| `--embed` | `true` | both | Embed imported items for cosine search, using the configured provider. |
| `--skip` | `briefings` | v1 directory | Comma-separated storage projects to skip. |
| `--dry-run` | `false` | archive | Report what the import would do and change nothing. |
| `--force` | `false` | archive | Allow a fresh restore while a daemon is still answering for this data directory. |
A flag from the other family is an **error**, not an ignored no-op: `--dry-run`
against a v1 directory would otherwise read as "previewed, nothing happened"
while the import actually ran.
### Importing a v1 directory
**Idempotent by id**, so re-running imports only what is new - which makes a
delta re-import safe after the first pass. It honours SIGINT/SIGTERM, and prints
a report even when the import ends in an error. With `--embed` on and no usable
embedder, it warns and imports without vectors rather than failing.
### Importing an archive
Restore-or-merge is a property of the **destination**, printed in the report and
never overridable. There is no `restore` verb and no `--mode`: the only thing an
override could do is replace a populated instance's database.
- **Fresh** (restore) when the data directory is absent, or holds neither
`seam.db` nor `seam.db-wal` and no regular non-dot file in either tree. The
markdown is restored byte-for-byte and the snapshot is renamed into place last,
so an interrupted restore leaves files and no database - which the next run
reads as fresh again and repeats cleanly.
- **Merge** otherwise, first-writer-wins by ULID: an item or row whose id is
already here is skipped, which makes re-merging the same archive a no-op.
A fresh restore replaces `seam.db` wholesale, so it **refuses while a daemon is
answering** for that data directory and tells you to run `seamlessd stop`;
`--force` overrides. A merge and a `--dry-run` need no such thing - a merge
writes through the same files layer the daemon uses, and a dry run writes
nothing.
What a merge does **not** touch:
| Not merged | Why |
|---|---|
| `settings` | Repo paths, families, briefing overrides, and the embedder switch describe *this* machine. |
| `embeddings` | Vectors belong to whichever model this instance runs; imported items are embedded on write instead. |
| `*_index`, `fts`, `retrieval_stats`, `jobs` | Rebuildable mirrors, refreshed by the import itself. |
Collisions are **reported, never resolved**. A corpus file whose path is already
held by a different item is left unwritten and both ids are named; a
`sessions.name` or `projects.slug` already taken is reported rather than renamed,
because minting a new name would invent an identifier nothing refers to. The run
still exits 0 - the report is the work item.
When the archive's `embedding_models` differ from this instance's embedder, the
report says so and points at the console's re-embed
(Settings → Embeddings). Vectors from two models are not comparable, so that
mismatch does not heal itself.
## seamlessd install-hooks {#seamlessd_install_hooks}
```bash
seamlessd install-hooks [--client claude|claude-desktop|codex|all|detect] [--settings PATH] [--codex-hooks PATH] [--desktop-config PATH] [--url BASE] [--server-url URL] [--api-key KEY] [--seam PATH] [--mcp=false] [--skills=false]
```
Wires the selected install target(s) to Seamless: merges the hook entries into
each hook client's file (Claude Code `settings.json`, Codex `hooks.json`),
registers the MCP server (via the client's CLI, or for the Claude app chat
surface by editing `claude_desktop_config.json` directly), and installs the
embedded skills into each hook client's skill home - `seam-onboard` always, and
`seam-research` only while its
[optional feature](/reference/console/#optional-features) is on. A skill whose
feature is off is not installed, and a copy this installer previously delivered
is removed, so an agent never reads about tools the server no longer exposes.
The `claude-desktop` target is the chat surface's MCP bridge only -
it has no hooks and no skills - so selecting only it together with
`--mcp=false` is an error rather than a silent no-op.
| Flag | Default | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| `--client` | `detect` | Which target(s) to wire: `claude`, `codex`, `claude-desktop`, a comma list of those (`claude,claude-desktop`), `all` (every target this platform can host), or `detect` (the targets present on this machine). With the flag omitted on a terminal, a multi-select menu prompts, defaulting to the detected set; non-interactive runs detect without prompting. With nothing detected, `detect` is an error, never a silent Claude Code default. |
| `--settings` | `~/.claude/settings.json` | Target Claude Code settings file, created if absent. Point it at a project-scoped `.claude/settings.json` to scope the hooks to one repo. |
| `--codex-hooks` | `$CODEX_HOME/hooks.json`, else `~/.codex/hooks.json` | Target Codex hooks file, created if absent. |
| `--desktop-config` | the app's per-OS location | Claude app `claude_desktop_config.json` to register the chat-surface bridge in (macOS `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/`, Windows `%APPDATA%\Claude\`). |
| `--url` | derived from the config addr | Base URL of the daemon, for this run only. It does not change the config file. |
| `--server-url` | none | Install as a **client** of the `seamlessd` at this base URL: writes `role: client`, `server_url`, and `mcp.api_key` into `~/.config/seamless/seamless.yaml` on first run, and wires every client against that URL. |
| `--api-key` | `$SEAMLESS_MCP_API_KEY` | That server's bearer key, for `--server-url`. On its own it is an error, not a silent no-op - a server reads its own key from its config file. |
| `--seam` | sibling of this binary, else `seam` on PATH | Path to the `seam` CLI baked into the command hooks. |
| `--mcp` | `true` | Register the MCP server via the client CLI (`claude mcp add-json --scope user` / `codex mcp add`). |
| `--skills` | `true` | Install the embedded skills for each wired client. A failure here degrades to a warning - skills must not cost the daemon bootstrap. |
It generates `mcp.api_key` on a true first run under the same rule as `serve`,
and refuses to run when an existing config leaves the key empty, since the key
is what the hooks authenticate with. The loaded config path is made absolute
and passed to command hooks as `--config`, so they resolve config from any
working directory. A `--seam` binary that cannot be found is a printed warning,
not an error - the hooks would fail at fire time, so it says so now.
With `--server-url`, that first-run step writes a *client* config instead -
`role: client`, `server_url`, `mcp.api_key`, and deliberately no `data_dir` -
and the run wires every selected target against the server's URL. The same
bootstrap rule applies: a config file already in the search order is never
edited, and the error names the exact lines to add by hand. The one file that
is not an error is one that already says exactly this, which is what keeps
re-running the installer from failing. No key is generated, because a client's
key belongs to the server it dials: it comes from `--api-key`, else
`$SEAMLESS_MCP_API_KEY`, and neither is an error. A client also has no local
database to read the [optional features](/reference/console/#optional-features)
from, so it asks the server over HTTP and falls back to its file/env config
with a warning. The run closes by naming the server it is now a client of.
Under an **https** base URL the wiring changes shape on purpose: every Claude
Code hook becomes a command hook (including `UserPromptSubmit`, otherwise the
one http hook) and the MCP registration becomes the `seam mcp-proxy` stdio
bridge. Claude Code performs http hooks and http MCP connections with its own
client, which has nowhere to be told about `tls.ca_file`; routing both through
`seam` puts them on the CLI's trust store. Under http the shapes are unchanged.
The hook file is written before MCP registration. Claude Code registration stays
best-effort because its current CLI exposes no machine-readable state: a missing
CLI or failed `mcp add-json` prints the exact command to run yourself. Codex is
stricter. It decodes `codex mcp get seamless --json`, leaves an exact enabled
stdio bridge unchanged, repairs an owned disabled/stale bridge with `mcp add`,
and re-reads it before reporting success. A direct-HTTP or other incompatible
entry under `seamless` is not overwritten; remove it explicitly or rerun with
`--mcp=false` to keep that manual transport.
The `claude-desktop` target has no management CLI at all, so its registration
is a merge-preserving edit of `claude_desktop_config.json`: the reserved
`seamless` entry is set to the `seam mcp-proxy` stdio bridge (absolute paths,
no secret - the bridge reads the bearer key from Seamless's config), every
foreign key round-trips byte-for-byte, the file is backed up once before the
first change, and the write is verified by re-reading it. An incompatible entry
under the reserved name is an error naming the in-app fix (Settings >
Developer > Edit Config), and every change ends with a restart notice - the
app reads the file only at startup. See
[Claude app chat setup](/claude-app/).
The hook merge preserves unknown keys and foreign entries, replaces marked stale
definitions, adopts only recognizable legacy Seamless URLs/commands, deduplicates
owned entries, and backs the file up once before the first change. An arbitrary
executable merely containing `hook <event>` is foreign. An already-current file
is reported as up to date and left untouched. Each event reports `added`,
`updated`, `adopted`, `deduped`, or `unchanged`.
For Claude Code, seven events are installed together: `SessionStart`,
`UserPromptSubmit`, `SessionEnd`, `PostToolUse`, `SubagentStart`,
`SubagentStop`, and
`PermissionRequest`. All are command hooks that run `seam hook <event>` (exec
form, no shell) except `UserPromptSubmit`, which is an http hook - Claude Code
will not run an http hook for SessionStart at all, and at SessionEnd a
fire-and-forget request races process teardown, so the findings harvest would
often be lost. The Codex profile is five shell-string command hooks. Both
profiles include safe constraint injection and parent-only lifecycle handling
for subagents; the [hooks reference](/reference/hooks/) has both tables.
## seamlessd client-config {#seamlessd_client_config}
```bash
seamlessd client-config [--redact]
```
Runs on the **server** and prints exactly what you paste on another machine to
make it a client of this daemon. It reads the resolved config and formats it:
it mutates nothing, opens no connection, and contacts no network.
The output is the server URL, the bearer key, the minimum client version, and
three paste-able commands - the macOS/Linux installer one-liner
(`SEAMLESS_SERVER_URL` + `SEAMLESS_MCP_API_KEY`), the PowerShell equivalent,
and the manual `install-hooks --server-url ... --api-key ...` form for a
machine that already has the binaries. `--redact` substitutes a placeholder for
the key so the block is safe to paste into a ticket or a chat; the shape of
every command is unchanged.
Every line it prints carries a URL and a key, so the refusals matter more than
the output. It errors rather than printing a command that looks right and
cannot work:
| State | Why it refuses |
|---|---|
| `role: client` | This install has no clients of its own to pair. The message names the server to run it on instead. |
| `mcp.api_key` empty | A client would have nothing to authenticate with. It names the config file and `openssl rand -hex 32`. |
| `server_url` resolves to loopback | Pasted on a second machine that command dials *that* machine's port 8081 and fails as a connection error from the wrong end of the network. It names the fix (`server_url` plus `addr: 0.0.0.0:8081`, then restart) and points out that a second user **on the same box** needs none of that and can pair against `http://127.0.0.1:8081` directly. |
Plain `http://` is a warning, not a refusal - it is a legitimate choice on a
trusted LAN, and the operator already had to widen the bind and name
`server_url` to get here. What it must not be is silent: the key in those
commands, and every memory fetched with it, cross the network in the clear.
See [Share one daemon across a LAN](/guides/network-install/) for the whole
procedure.
## seamlessd uninstall {#seamlessd_uninstall}
```bash
seamlessd uninstall [--client claude|claude-desktop|codex|all|detect] [--dry-run] [--yes] [--purge]
```
Reverses a full install on any supported OS: stops and removes the per-user
service, strips the Seamless hook entries, deregisters the MCP server
(including the chat surface's `claude_desktop_config.json` entry - only the
reserved `seamless` key is removed, everything else stays byte-for-byte),
removes the installed skills, and deletes the binaries. Config and the data dir
(`~/.seamless` - memories and notes are markdown that outlive the program) are
kept unless `--purge` is passed. Every external step is best-effort: an
already-gone file or a missing client CLI is a note, never a failure, so
uninstall is idempotent and safe to re-run.
Hook removal uses the installer's same classifier: current, marked-stale, and
recognizable legacy Seamless definitions are removed; foreign definitions are
preserved. Skill removal is scoped to `seam-onboard`, `seam-research`, and the
one-shot delivery marker in each selected client's skill root.
Under `role: client` two steps narrow rather than run. The service block reports
`not installed` and no teardown happens - a client registered none, and running
the teardown anyway would stop the daemon of a *server* sharing the same box.
And `--purge` deletes only the config directory: the `~/.seamless` a client's
config resolves to is a default it never wrote, and on a box converted from a
server it is the server's corpus.
| Flag | Default | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| `--client` | `all` | Which target(s) to remove hooks/MCP/skills for: `claude`, `codex`, `claude-desktop`, a comma list, `all`, or `detect`. `claude-desktop` scopes the run to the chat surface's desktop-config entry. |
| `--dry-run` | `false` | Print what would be removed and exit without changing anything. |
| `--yes` | `false` | Skip the confirmation prompt. |
| `--purge` | `false` | Also delete the config dir (`~/.config/seamless`) and data dir (`~/.seamless`). |
| `--settings` | `~/.claude/settings.json` | Claude Code settings file to remove hooks from. |
| `--codex-hooks` | `$CODEX_HOME/hooks.json`, else `~/.codex/hooks.json` | Codex hooks file to remove hooks from. |
| `--desktop-config` | the app's per-OS location | Claude app `claude_desktop_config.json` to remove the chat-surface bridge from. |
| `--url` | derived from the config addr | Base URL the hook entries were installed with. |
| `--install-dir` | `$SEAMLESS_INSTALL_DIR`, else `~/.local/bin` | Directory the binaries were installed to. |
| `--mcp` | `true` | Also deregister the MCP server (`claude`/`codex mcp remove`). |
## seamlessd update {#seamlessd_update}
```bash
seamlessd update [--check] [--dry-run] [--url URL]
```
Upgrades Seamless in place to the latest published release by re-running the
canonical installer for this OS - the same script a fresh
`curl ... | sh` / `irm ... | iex` install runs, fetched from the latest GitHub
release's assets. There is deliberately no second upgrade implementation:
after verification, `update` pipes that script to `sh` (or `powershell`), so
binaries are swapped by rename, the service restarts on the new build, and
hooks are reconciled exactly as [Install & deploy](/install/) describes for a
re-run.
Before anything executes, the fetched script is verified against the
**Sigstore bundle** published alongside it - proof the bytes came out of this
repository's release workflow on a version tag, not merely from the right
host. Verification failure is fatal, with no fallback. The fetch is
HTTPS-only, including every redirect hop.
| Flag | Default | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| `--check` | `false` | Report installed vs latest release version and exit without changing anything. |
| `--dry-run` | `false` | Print the source URL, signature status, and the equivalent hand-run one-liner, without fetching or executing. |
| `--url` | the latest release's installer asset | Override the installer URL. A custom URL carries no Sigstore bundle, so it runs TLS-only with a printed warning. |
The installer's env knobs pass through: `SEAMLESS_VERSION=0.3.0 seamlessd
update` pins a version, `SEAMLESS_INSTALL_DIR=...` retargets, exactly as the
curl installer does.
## seamlessd map-repo {#seamlessd_map_repo}
```bash
seamlessd map-repo --project SLUG [--path DIR]
```
Adds an entry to the `repo_project_map` setting, so an agent whose working
directory is under that path resolves to that project - in the hooks and in
`session_start`. This is what makes a briefing arrive scoped to the right
project without the agent passing `project` anywhere.
Mostly you will not need it: a git repo maps itself on its first session, taking
the slug from the repo root's directory name. Run `map-repo` to override that
derived slug, or to map a directory that is not a git repo.
`--project` is required. `--path` defaults to the current directory and is made
absolute. The command also ensures the project exists, so mapping a new slug
registers it. Writes straight to the database; no running daemon needed.
## seamlessd family {#seamlessd_family}
```bash
seamlessd family list
seamlessd family add <name> <slug> [<slug>...]
seamlessd family remove <name> [<slug>...]
```
Manages the `project_families` setting: named groupings whose members surface
each other's recent findings in briefings. Use it when two projects are really
one body of work and an agent in either should see what happened in the other.
Members are **project slugs, not repo paths** - resolve a repo to its slug with
`map-repo` first. `remove` with no slugs removes the whole family; with slugs it
removes just those members. `rm` is accepted as an alias for `remove`.
Adding a slug that is not yet a registered project prints a warning but
succeeds: the membership starts taking effect once an agent opens that repo and
registers it.
## seamlessd console-open {#seamlessd_console_open}
```bash
seamlessd console-open [--browser APP]
```
Opens the console in a browser, already authenticated. It renders a one-shot
self-submitting login page to a `0600` temp file and opens it; the page POSTs
the static key to the console's login endpoint, which sets the session cookie
and redirects into the console - so you land on an authenticated page without
pasting a key.
`--browser` targets a specific browser application (for example
`"Google Chrome"`, so an agent driving Chrome gets the auth cookie even when
another browser is the default). It is **macOS only** and is rejected with an
error on other platforms rather than silently opening the default browser.
It refuses to run when `mcp.api_key` is empty, or when the server does not
answer `/healthz` within two seconds - the page has nowhere to POST otherwise.
Any HTTP response counts as reachable, including a degraded 503.
## seamlessd start / stop / restart / status {#seamlessd_service}
```bash
seamlessd start # or: stop | restart | status
```
Control the installed background service without remembering each platform's
service manager. `start`, `stop`, and `restart` act on the LaunchAgent (macOS),
the systemd `--user` unit (Linux), or the Scheduled Task (Windows); `status`
prints that manager's own state output.
These control an **already-installed** service - they do not create one. If it
was never installed, they exit with a hint to run the installer (or `make
install` from a clone) rather than a cryptic launchctl/systemctl/schtasks error.
`restart` is in-place and fast (on macOS `launchctl kickstart -k`, falling back
to a fresh load if the job was unloaded). `stop` fully stops the service - on
macOS the LaunchAgent has `KeepAlive`, so this unloads it rather than letting it
be resurrected. Idempotent no-ops - starting a running service, stopping a
stopped one - are reported as a note, not a failure.
From a clone, `make start` / `stop` / `restart` / `status` wrap these exactly.
## seamlessd version {#seamlessd_version}
```bash
seamlessd version
```
Prints the version, commit, and build date. `-v` and `--version` are aliases.
Commit and build date are link-time metadata set by the Makefile; a plain
`go build` leaves them `unknown`. The same version string appears in `/healthz`,
the MCP handshake, and the startup log - compare them when you suspect the
daemon is running older code than what you just built.
---
# Configuration
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/reference/configuration/
Seamless reads a single YAML file. Every key also has a `SEAMLESS_*` environment
override.
## Where the config comes from
The file is looked up in this order, first hit wins:
1. `$SEAMLESS_CONFIG`
2. `~/.config/seamless/seamless.yaml`
3. `./seamless.yaml`
## Precedence
Four layers resolve each key. Later layers win:
1. **Defaults** - the built-in values in the table below.
2. **File** - whatever the YAML sets.
3. **Environment** - `SEAMLESS_*` overrides the file.
4. **Runtime override (DB)** - the console's Settings forms store some blocks in
the database. They win over file *and* env, take effect without a daemon
restart, and stay until reset.
That fourth layer covers three blocks, and only those three:
| Block | Written by | When it takes effect |
|---|---|---|
| `briefing:` | Settings → [Briefing](/reference/console/#briefing) | From the next session start. |
| `features:` | Settings → [Features](/reference/console/#optional-features) | Immediately in the console; an agent sees it from its next session (tool lists and briefings alike). |
| `console.level` | Settings → [Experience](/reference/console/#experience), or the Home welcome card | Immediately, in the console only. |
It exists so you can change what agents get injected - and what they can reach -
while they are running, and it is the one place where the config file is not the
last word: check the console before concluding a `briefing:`, `features:`, or
`console.level` setting is being ignored. No form ever writes your config file,
and **Reset** on each clears the stored row and hands that block back to
file/env.
Overrides can be in force without you having set them. Upgrading an
installation that already holds trial data seeds a stored `features:` override
with research on, so a feature that now ships off does not disappear from under
data you were already using. The console labels it a stored override, not your
choice; **Reset** clears it like any other.
### The console level
`console.level` (`SEAMLESS_CONSOLE_LEVEL`) is how much of the
[console](/reference/console/#choose-how-much-you-see) you see: `basic`,
`standard`, or `advanced`. It is presentation only - briefings, MCP tools,
hooks, recall, and the gardener are identical at every level - and a screen a
level leaves out of the sidebar still opens from a link. A value outside those
three stops the daemon at startup with an error naming them; an empty value
means the default, `basic`.
A fresh installation starts at `basic`. Upgrading an installation that had
already recorded sessions stores `advanced` once, as the same kind of runtime
override (labeled "set by the upgrade" in Settings → Experience), so an upgrade
never hides a screen you were using. Like any override, it wins over this key
until **Reset** hands the level back to file/env.
## Generating a key
`mcp.api_key` guards `/api/mcp` and the console. On a true first run - no
config file anywhere in the search order and no `SEAMLESS_MCP_API_KEY` in the
environment - `seamlessd serve` (or `install-hooks`) generates one and writes
it to `~/.config/seamless/seamless.yaml`, so a fresh install never handles the
key by hand. An existing config file is never edited, even when its key is
empty; set one yourself:
```bash
openssl rand -hex 32
```
The daemon still starts with an empty key, but every MCP and hook request is
rejected until one is set - `seamlessd doctor` reports it as a warning.
## Every key
| Key | Type | Default |
|---|---|---|
| `addr` | string | `127.0.0.1:8081` |
| `data_dir` | string | `~/.seamless` |
| `role` | string | `server` |
| `server_url` | string | - |
| `allowed_hosts` | []string | - |
| `tls.cert_file` | string | - |
| `tls.key_file` | string | - |
| `tls.ca_file` | string | - |
| `mcp.api_key` | string | - |
| `budgets.max_briefing_tokens` | int | `1500` |
| `budgets.recall_budget_tokens` | int | `1000` |
| `budgets.tool_event_max_chars` | int | - |
| `briefing.constraint_max_full` | int | `4` |
| `briefing.convention_max_full` | int | `4` |
| `briefing.memory_max_age_days` | int | - |
| `briefing.memory_max_items` | int | - |
| `briefing.findings_count` | int | `3` |
| `briefing.findings_max_age_days` | int | - |
| `briefing.ready_tasks_shown` | int | `3` |
| `briefing.pending_plan_max_days` | int | `7` |
| `briefing.stage_unknown_max_age_days` | int | `7` |
| `briefing.hard_cap_multiplier` | int | `2` |
| `briefing.include_parent_memories` | bool | `true` |
| `briefing.sibling_findings_count` | int | `2` |
| `briefing.include_sibling_memories` | bool | - |
| `briefing.utility_weight` | float64 | `0.4` |
| `briefing.utility_mode` | string | `auto` |
| `features.research` | bool | - |
| `features.momentum` | bool | - |
| `features.gamification` | bool | - |
| `console.level` | string | `basic` |
| `search.semantic_floor` | float64 | `0.3` |
| `llm.provider` | string | `openai` |
| `llm.openai.api_key` | string | - |
| `llm.openai.base_url` | string | `https://api.openai.com/v1` |
| `llm.openai.chat_model` | string | `gpt-4o` |
| `llm.openai.embedding_model` | string | `text-embedding-3-large` |
| `llm.openai.embedding_dims` | int | `3072` |
| `llm.ollama.base_url` | string | `http://127.0.0.1:11434` |
| `llm.ollama.chat_model` | string | `llama3.3:latest` |
| `llm.ollama.embedding_model` | string | `qwen3-embedding:8b` |
| `llm.ollama.embedding_dims` | int | - |
| `llm.anthropic.api_key` | string | - |
| `llm.anthropic.base_url` | string | `https://api.anthropic.com` |
| `llm.anthropic.chat_model` | string | `claude-sonnet-5` |
| `gardener.enabled` | bool | `true` |
| `gardener.interval_minutes` | int | `60` |
| `gardener.dedup_threshold` | float64 | `0.88` |
| `gardener.staleness_days` | int | `90` |
| `gardener.digest_days` | int | `30` |
| `gardener.tool_event_retention_days` | int | `30` |
| `gardener.stale_plan_days` | int | `14` |
| `gardener.stale_stage_days` | int | `14` |
| `gardener.session_idle_minutes` | int | `45` |
| `capture.allowed_ports` | []int | `[80, 443]` |
| `plan_capture.enabled` | bool | `true` |
| `plan_capture.auto_task` | bool | `true` |
| `plan_capture.inject_related` | bool | `true` |
## Annotated example
This is `seamless.yaml.example` from the repository, verbatim.
```yaml
# Seamless configuration example: every key, at its default. Safe to commit --
# it holds no secrets.
#
# `make install` seeds ~/.config/seamless/seamless.yaml from this file when that
# config does not exist yet, and never overwrites it afterwards. So fill in your
# secrets THERE, not here: the installed copy is the live one, and the daemon and
# hooks read it from any directory.
#
# Every key also has a SEAMLESS_* environment override, and env wins over the
# file. Config file search order: $SEAMLESS_CONFIG, ~/.config/seamless/seamless.yaml,
# ./seamless.yaml (gitignored -- the pre-install layout's config).
# HTTP bind address. Change it here and re-run `make install`: this file is the
# single source of truth for the bind, and the Makefile reads the port back out
# of it rather than assuming 8081.
# env: SEAMLESS_ADDR
addr: "127.0.0.1:8081"
# Data directory: SQLite database + markdown trees (memory/, notes/). A leading
# ~ is expanded to the home directory.
# env: SEAMLESS_DATA_DIR
data_dir: "~/.seamless"
# This install's part in a deployment. `server` (the default) runs the daemon
# here. `client` runs no daemon at all: serve refuses, there is no database and
# no corpus on this machine, and every surface -- the seam CLI, the hooks, the
# MCP registration -- dials server_url instead. A client REQUIRES server_url.
# env: SEAMLESS_ROLE
role: "server"
# The base URL clients dial, as a bare scheme://host[:port] with no path, query
# or fragment. Empty means "derive it from addr", which is what a loopback
# install wants. Set it when the bind address is not the address clients use: a
# wildcard bind, a LAN name, a TLS listener. Naming it also adds its host to the
# Host-header allowlist, which is what arms that guard on a wildcard bind.
# A wildcard host here is refused at load (0.0.0.0, ::): that answers "where do
# I listen", not "where do I dial", so it belongs in addr instead.
# env: SEAMLESS_SERVER_URL
server_url: ""
# EXTRA Host-header values the daemon answers to, beyond the loopback names, a
# concrete bind host, and the host of server_url. Requests arriving under any
# other Host get 421 (the DNS-rebinding guard). Naming even one host turns the
# guard on for a wildcard bind, which otherwise has no allowlist to apply.
# env: SEAMLESS_ALLOWED_HOSTS (comma-separated, e.g. "studio.local,192.168.1.10")
allowed_hosts: []
tls:
# PEM certificate chain and private key. Both set -> the daemon serves https
# (TLS 1.2 floor) instead of http, and the console session cookie is marked
# Secure. One without the other is refused at load: it cannot serve TLS. The
# certificate's SANs must cover the host of server_url, which is what
# `seamlessd doctor` checks. A leading ~ is expanded.
# env: SEAMLESS_TLS_CERT_FILE / SEAMLESS_TLS_KEY_FILE
cert_file: ""
key_file: ""
# CLIENT-side extra root CA: the certificate the `seam` CLI adds to the system
# trust store when dialing an https server_url, for a private CA or a
# self-signed server. It is the client half of the pair above -- setting
# cert_file together with role: client is refused.
# env: SEAMLESS_TLS_CA_FILE
ca_file: ""
mcp:
# Static bearer key protecting /api/mcp and the console. On a true first run
# (no config file anywhere) `seamlessd serve` generates one into
# ~/.config/seamless/seamless.yaml; a file you author yourself needs one set
# by hand:
# openssl rand -hex 32
# An empty key is reported as a warning by `seamlessd doctor`.
# env: SEAMLESS_MCP_API_KEY
api_key: ""
budgets:
# Hard token budget for the SessionStart briefing.
# env: SEAMLESS_MAX_BRIEFING_TOKENS
max_briefing_tokens: 1500
# Default token budget for a recall response.
# env: SEAMLESS_RECALL_BUDGET_TOKENS
recall_budget_tokens: 1000
# Per-field cap (in runes) on captured Interactions transport events (tool-call
# args/result, hook prompt, session findings). 0 = unlimited: content is stored
# in full and the tool-event retention prune is the growth control. Set a
# positive value only as an opt-in guard against pathological payloads.
# env: SEAMLESS_TOOL_EVENT_MAX_CHARS
tool_event_max_chars: 0
# Briefing injection tunables: what the SessionStart <seam-briefing> auto-injects.
# Defaults reproduce the built-in behavior; every knob is also editable live in
# the console (Settings -> Briefing injection), which stores a runtime override
# in the database that WINS over this file and env until reset. Constraints and
# active-plan rollups are never dropped by these knobs (constraint_max_full only
# shapes how constraints render); a pinned stage is exempt too while its Status
# header marks a live gate.
briefing:
# Top-ranked constraints rendered as full bullets in the briefing's
# Constraints section; the rest collapse into one compact "+N more, equally
# binding" line that still names every one. 0 = no tiering (all full).
# env: SEAMLESS_BRIEFING_CONSTRAINT_MAX_FULL
constraint_max_full: 4
# Top-ranked conventions rendered as full bullets in the budget-competing
# Conventions section; the rest stay behind the section's count line
# ("recall kind=convention"). Starred conventions always render full.
# 0 = no tiering, like constraint_max_full.
# env: SEAMLESS_BRIEFING_CONVENTION_MAX_FULL
convention_max_full: 4
# Drop memory-index lines not updated within this many days. 0 = no filter.
# env: SEAMLESS_BRIEFING_MEMORY_MAX_AGE_DAYS
memory_max_age_days: 0
# Cap on memory-index lines before budget packing. 0 = budget-only.
# env: SEAMLESS_BRIEFING_MEMORY_MAX_ITEMS
memory_max_items: 0
# Recent findings injected. 0 hides the section.
# env: SEAMLESS_BRIEFING_FINDINGS_COUNT
findings_count: 3
# Drop findings older than this many days. 0 = no filter.
# env: SEAMLESS_BRIEFING_FINDINGS_MAX_AGE_DAYS
findings_max_age_days: 0
# Ready-task titles listed in the "Ready tasks" section. 0 hides the section.
# env: SEAMLESS_BRIEFING_READY_TASKS_SHOWN
ready_tasks_shown: 3
# Days a captured, unapproved Claude Code plan earns an "awaiting approval"
# line. 0 = no age cutoff.
# env: SEAMLESS_BRIEFING_PENDING_PLAN_MAX_DAYS
pending_plan_max_days: 7
# Grace window (days since last update) a stage memory stays pinned when its
# Status header is missing or not a live gate (open|in_progress|blocked).
# 0 = pin forever.
# env: SEAMLESS_BRIEFING_STAGE_UNKNOWN_MAX_AGE_DAYS
stage_unknown_max_age_days: 7
# Times budgets.max_briefing_tokens = the absolute truncation ceiling. 0 = 2.
# env: SEAMLESS_BRIEFING_HARD_CAP_MULTIPLIER
hard_cap_multiplier: 2
# A child project inherits its shared parent's active memories.
# env: SEAMLESS_BRIEFING_INCLUDE_PARENT_MEMORIES
include_parent_memories: true
# Recent findings from family-member projects. 0 hides the section.
# env: SEAMLESS_BRIEFING_SIBLING_FINDINGS_COUNT
sibling_findings_count: 2
# Fold family members' memories in as a low-priority "Sibling memories"
# section (their constraints/stages never cross over). Off by default.
# env: SEAMLESS_BRIEFING_INCLUDE_SIBLING_MEMORIES
include_sibling_memories: false
# Utility's share of the memory-index sort key: (1-w)*recency + w*utility,
# where utility is the time-decayed demand score from retrieval_stats.
# 0 = pure recency (legacy). Constraints/stages/favorites stay pinned.
# env: SEAMLESS_BRIEFING_UTILITY_WEIGHT
utility_weight: 0.4
# Gate for the briefing's utility re-ordering: auto = per project once the
# gardener's readiness latch trips; on = everywhere now; off = never. The
# bounded recall/prompt-recall utility boosts are always on.
# env: SEAMLESS_BRIEFING_UTILITY_MODE
utility_mode: auto
# Optional features. These ship OFF: a fresh installation exposes none of them
# until you turn one on -- here, via env, or live in the console (Settings ->
# Features), which stores a runtime override in the database that WINS over this
# file and env until reset. Turning a feature off hides its console screens, its
# MCP tools, and its agent-facing mentions; it never deletes stored data, and
# re-enabling restores every surface. An installation that already holds research
# data keeps the feature on across the upgrade (a one-time seeded override).
features:
# Research labs and trials: the Labs and Trials console screens, the trials
# search scope, and the lab_open, trial_record, trial_query MCP tools.
# env: SEAMLESS_FEATURES_RESEARCH
research: false
# Momentum surfaces woven into existing screens: the plan finish-line card
# (and its agent-briefing emphasis), the activity calendar with capture
# streaks, knowledge payoff moments, and project maturity stages.
# env: SEAMLESS_FEATURES_MOMENTUM
momentum: false
# The arcade layer of the Now screen: the day tape, personal records, the
# hot-streak pulse, and celebration moments. Every number is judged from
# real recorded activity; off, the Now screen carries no trace of it.
# env: SEAMLESS_FEATURES_GAMIFICATION
gamification: false
# The observability console. Presentation only: nothing here changes what your
# agents receive -- briefings, MCP tools, hooks, recall, and the gardener are
# identical at every level.
console:
# How much of the console you see. One of: basic | standard | advanced.
# basic -- the essentials: what your agents remember (Memories, Notes),
# what they did (Sessions), cleanup suggestions (Gardener).
# standard -- adds following the work: Now, Projects, Plans, Tasks.
# advanced -- every screen and knob, including Interactions and Retrieval.
# Hidden screens stay reachable by URL (they show a banner), so no link ever
# breaks. The console's own picker (Settings -> Experience, or the welcome
# card on Home) stores a choice in the database that WINS over this file and
# env until reset. A fresh installation starts at basic; an installation that
# already recorded sessions before levels existed starts at advanced (a
# one-time seeded choice), so an upgrade never hides a screen you were using.
# env: SEAMLESS_CONSOLE_LEVEL
level: basic
# Console search (the full page's fused semantic+lexical retrieval). Agent
# recall is not affected by these knobs.
search:
# Minimum cosine similarity a semantic-only hit needs to appear in results;
# hits the keyword leg also matched are exempt. Without a floor the cosine leg
# is pure nearest-neighbor, so any query -- including nonsense -- fills the
# page to its limit. 0 disables the floor. Useful values depend on the
# embedding model; 0.3 suits OpenAI text-embedding-3-*.
# env: SEAMLESS_SEARCH_SEMANTIC_FLOOR
semantic_floor: 0.3
llm:
# Primary provider for chat (session digests) and embeddings. OpenAI is the
# default and the first-class provider. One of: openai | ollama | anthropic.
# env: SEAMLESS_LLM_PROVIDER
provider: "openai"
openai:
# env: SEAMLESS_OPENAI_API_KEY
api_key: ""
base_url: "https://api.openai.com/v1"
# Any OpenAI chat model; set to your preferred one.
chat_model: "gpt-4o"
embedding_model: "text-embedding-3-large"
# Native dimensionality of the embedding model. 0 = auto-detect from the
# first embedding response (the store records dims per row regardless).
# Maximum: 65536.
embedding_dims: 3072
ollama:
base_url: "http://127.0.0.1:11434"
chat_model: "llama3.3:latest"
embedding_model: "qwen3-embedding:8b"
# 0 = auto-detect; maximum 65536.
embedding_dims: 0
anthropic:
# env: SEAMLESS_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
api_key: ""
# env: SEAMLESS_ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL
base_url: "https://api.anthropic.com"
chat_model: "claude-sonnet-5"
# Anthropic has no embeddings API; when provider=anthropic, embeddings fall
# back to OpenAI if its api_key is set, else Ollama.
gardener:
# The gardener only ever proposes; it never mutates memory without an explicit
# apply. Safe to leave enabled.
# env: SEAMLESS_GARDENER_ENABLED
enabled: true
# Minutes between full gardener passes (dedup, staleness, stale-stage,
# dead-weight, digest, stale-plan, memory-wanted).
# env: SEAMLESS_GARDENER_INTERVAL_MINUTES
interval_minutes: 60
# Cosine similarity at/above which two active memories are proposed for a merge.
# env: SEAMLESS_GARDENER_DEDUP_THRESHOLD
dedup_threshold: 0.88
# Days of no activity (no update, injection, or read) before a memory is
# proposed for archiving. Constraints and stages are never archived this way
# (dead stages are handled by stale_stage_days below).
# env: SEAMLESS_GARDENER_STALENESS_DAYS
staleness_days: 90
# Trailing window of completed sessions rolled into a monthly digest proposal.
# env: SEAMLESS_GARDENER_DIGEST_DAYS
digest_days: 30
# Age (days) beyond which transport-level Interactions events (tool.call,
# hook.prompt) are pruned. 0 disables the prune. Domain events are never pruned.
# env: SEAMLESS_TOOL_EVENT_RETENTION_DAYS
tool_event_retention_days: 30
# Days after which a captured Claude Code plan still in draft/presented is
# proposed for abandonment (retag plan-status:abandoned). 0 disables the pass.
# env: SEAMLESS_GARDENER_STALE_PLAN_DAYS
stale_plan_days: 14
# Days without an update after which a stage memory that is not a live gate
# (Status done, missing, or unrecognized) is proposed for archiving.
# 0 disables the pass.
# env: SEAMLESS_GARDENER_STALE_STAGE_DAYS
stale_stage_days: 14
# Minutes of no activity before an active session counts as dead: the reaper
# expires it and the console stops showing it as live. One knob drives both,
# so they never drift. Must comfortably exceed a long single agent turn.
# Must be positive; omit the key to retain the built-in 45m default.
# env: SEAMLESS_GARDENER_SESSION_IDLE_MINUTES
session_idle_minutes: 45
capture:
# Destination ports the capture_url tool may dial, enforced in the dialer on
# the initial URL and on every redirect hop (alongside the private-IP and
# scheme guards). This is an SSRF control: widen it only for a host you trust,
# and never to reach anything on your own network. An empty list or a missing
# key means the 80/443 default -- it does NOT mean "any port". Ports outside
# 1-65535 are rejected at startup.
# env: SEAMLESS_CAPTURE_ALLOWED_PORTS (comma-separated, e.g. "80,443,8080")
allowed_ports: [80, 443]
plan_capture:
# Capture Claude Code plan-mode activity via the PostToolUse/SubagentStop/
# PermissionRequest hooks: plan-file saves upsert cc-plan notes, planning
# subagents cache as cc-agent notes, approval flips the plan note's status.
# env: SEAMLESS_PLAN_CAPTURE_ENABLED
enabled: true
# Create an "Implement plan: ..." tracking task when a plan is approved.
# env: SEAMLESS_PLAN_CAPTURE_AUTO_TASK
auto_task: true
# On a session's first captured plan iteration, return related prior plans and
# memories to the planning agent as additionalContext.
# env: SEAMLESS_PLAN_CAPTURE_INJECT_RELATED
inject_related: true
```
---
# Hooks
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/reference/hooks/
Seamless installs hooks for two clients: seven for Claude Code (including
plan-mode capture) and five for [Codex](#codex-local-host-five-hooks). The
hooks are what makes sessions ambient - an agent gets a briefing at session
start, its prompts get matched against stored memories, and its findings get
harvested, all without the agent calling a single MCP tool. Every hook fails
open: an internal error still returns success, so a broken daemon never blocks
the agent - see [the fail-open contract](#the-fail-open-contract) for the cost.
`seamlessd install-hooks --client <claude|codex|all|detect>` selects the
profile; run interactively with no
`--client` it prompts for the client(s), and a non-interactive run without the
flag resolves `detect`: the clients present on this machine (the `claude`/`codex`
CLI or a `~/.claude`/`$CODEX_HOME` directory). When neither is found, an
interactive run warns and asks whether to install at all (defaulting to no), and
a non-interactive run errors - nothing is wired without an explicit choice. The
curl installer and `make install` make the same choice.
## The profiles at a glance
The [Claude app chat surface](/claude-app/) is in the table because people ask
where its hooks are: it has none - it is an MCP-only install target, not a
hook client.
| | Claude Code | Codex (app, CLI, IDE) | Claude app chat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hooks installed | seven | five | none - MCP only |
| Command form | exec form (`command` + `args`), identical on every OS | shell string, plus a `command_windows` variant | - |
| Session close | `SessionEnd` harvests and completes | no `SessionEnd` - [the idle reaper expires it](/codex-cli/#no-sessionend-the-reaper-closes-sessions) | explicit `session_end`, or it never closes |
| Trust gate | none | [/hooks approval](/codex-cli/#trust-the-hooks-once) before any hook runs | - |
| Injection cap | none | 2,400 estimated tokens per response | - |
| Plan capture | `PostToolUse` + `PermissionRequest` | none | - |
## Claude Code: seven hooks
Taken from the `seamlessHooks` definition in `internal/hooks/install.go`, in
install order:
| Event | Matcher | Transport | Timeout | Endpoint | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| `SessionStart` | `startup\|resume\|clear\|compact` | command (`seam hook session-start`) | 10s | `/api/hooks/session-start` | Registers the agent's cwd in the repo→project map, assembles the `<seam-briefing>`, and creates or resumes an opaque `cc/<prefix>-<digest>` ambient handle keyed by the full external ID. |
| `UserPromptSubmit` | none | http | 5s | `/api/hooks/user-prompt-submit` | Heartbeats the ambient session, matches the prompt against stored memories, and injects a recall block. A miss is logged as a `hook.prompt` event. |
| `SessionEnd` | none | command (`seam hook session-end`) | 10s | `/api/hooks/session-end` | Harvests findings and completes the agent's sessions. Bare ack - Claude Code's schema has no `hookSpecificOutput` for `SessionEnd`. |
| `PostToolUse` | `Write\|Edit\|MultiEdit\|ExitPlanMode` | command (`seam hook post-tool-use`) | 10s | `/api/hooks/post-tool-use` | Heartbeats the ambient session. Captures plan-file iterations (`Write`/`Edit`/`MultiEdit` under the plans dir) and plan approvals (`ExitPlanMode`). |
| `SubagentStart` | none | command (`seam hook subagent-start`) | 10s | `/api/hooks/subagent-start` | Injects the child briefing - pinned constraints, up to three `RELEVANT:` memories matched from the child's spawn prompt, and a recall/memory_read footer - into every Task subagent and heartbeats the parent. It never creates, reactivates, or re-scopes an ambient session. |
| `SubagentStop` | none | command (`seam hook subagent-stop`) | 10s | `/api/hooks/subagent-stop` | Caches a planning subagent's prompt and final report as a `cc-agent-<agent_id>` note in the plan composition. |
| `PermissionRequest` | `ExitPlanMode` | command (`seam hook permission-request`) | 10s | `/api/hooks/permission-request` | Marks the session's draft plan as presented when the user is prompted to review an `ExitPlanMode` call. |
Timeouts are in seconds, Claude Code's unit. Server-side the briefing and recall
paths are additionally bounded at 2s and the capture paths at 8s, so a slow store
cannot spend the whole hook budget.
`SessionStart` is the only hook with a matcher on session sources, and Claude
Code never fires it for Task subagents - its sources are the main-session ones
(`startup`/`resume`/`clear`/`compact`). A child is briefed by `SubagentStart`
instead: the same child briefing the Codex profile injects, keyed off
the parent's `session_id`. Subagents share the parent's session and get no
ambient session of their own.
What a child receives is deliberately narrower than the main briefing - the
parent's prompt carries the task context, so there are no findings, tasks, or
plan sections. It has three parts:
- **Constraints**, pinned and tiered exactly like the main briefing (the top
`constraint_max_full` in full, the rest named on the compact
`+N more, equally binding` line).
- **A "Relevant to this task" section** - up to three memories of any kind matched against the
child's spawn prompt (read best-effort from the child transcript or Codex
rollout; a prompt that has not been flushed yet just means no section). A
constraint already visible in either tier is never repeated here, and the
dedupe never costs the section a genuinely-new match. These are passive
injects: they carry zero utility weight, unlike a `<seam-recall>` match on
the agent's own prompt.
- **A closing footer** naming `recall` and `memory_read`, so even a child in a
project with two constraints knows how to pull more.
```text
<seam-briefing>
Seam project: seamless -- 24 constraints (subagent scope).
Constraints (binding for every session):
- fts-or-vs-allterms-presence-probe: ftsQuery ORs terms ...
- +14 more, equally binding -- memory_read name=<name> before working near one: console-csrf-origin-check-contract, ...
Relevant to this task:
- chroma-boot-race: chroma container health check startup race
Recall on demand with recall; read a memory with memory_read.
</seam-briefing>
```
## Codex local host: five hooks
`seamlessd install-hooks --client codex` installs five hooks into
`~/.codex/hooks.json` (or `$CODEX_HOME/hooks.json`) instead of the seven above.
The desktop app, CLI, and IDE extension share this profile for the same Codex
host. Seamless has no verified Claude-style plan-file/`ExitPlanMode` surface to
capture from Codex, and Codex emits no `SessionEnd` event in 0.144.6. The profile
combines the three parent-session hooks with a deliberately bounded subagent
lifecycle.
| Event | Transport | Endpoint | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| `SessionStart` | command (`seam hook session-start --client codex`) | `/api/hooks/session-start` | Registers the cwd's project, assembles the `<seam-briefing>`, and creates or resumes an opaque `cx/<prefix>-<digest>` ambient handle keyed by the full external ID. |
| `UserPromptSubmit` | command (`seam hook user-prompt-submit --client codex`) | `/api/hooks/user-prompt-submit` | Heartbeats the ambient session, matches the prompt against stored memories, and injects a recall block. |
| `Stop` | command (`seam hook stop --client codex`) | `/api/hooks/stop` | Heartbeats and harvests findings from the turn's final assistant message. No injection - Codex's `Stop` has no `hookSpecificOutput`. Fires at every turn end. |
| `SubagentStart` | command (`seam hook subagent-start --client codex`) | `/api/hooks/subagent-start` | Injects the child briefing (constraints, spawn-prompt-matched `RELEVANT:` memories, recall footer) under the Codex output cap and heartbeats the parent. It never creates, reactivates, or re-scopes an ambient session. |
| `SubagentStop` | command (`seam hook subagent-stop --client codex`) | `/api/hooks/subagent-stop` | Heartbeats the parent only. It does not apply the child's model/final message to parent state or create Claude-style plan notes. |
All five are `command` hooks. Codex's current hook schema executes command
handlers, and every non-managed command hook passes through Codex's **trust
gate**. An untrusted or changed definition is skipped, so a fresh install can
show no briefing until the current commands are reviewed in `/hooks`. The
`--dangerously-bypass-hook-trust` flag is the automation-only alternative.
The `--client codex` discriminator rides as a `?client=codex` query param on the
same `/api/hooks/*` endpoints the daemon already serves; the daemon normalizes
Codex's payload (its `prompt` field, its `Stop` `last_assistant_message`) into the
shared shape. Omitting the flag means Claude Code - the endpoint URLs are
identical. Because Codex never sends a `SessionEnd`, its sessions close through the
idle reaper rather than a clean cascade; [Codex local setup](/codex-cli/) covers
that lifecycle and the tool-call approval gate.
Codex limits each model-visible hook-output entry to roughly 2,500 tokens and
spills larger values to a temporary file. Seamless caps every Codex
`additionalContext` response at 2,400 estimated tokens before it records
injection telemetry or serializes the response. That covers SessionStart,
UserPromptSubmit, and SubagentStart, and keeps the emitted bytes equal to the
recorded bytes.
## The fail-open contract
**A hook must never block an agent.** Every handler in `internal/hooks` honors
this: an internal error yields a 200 with empty `additionalContext` rather than a
failure. Only a bad bearer key (401) or an unknown `?client=` discriminator
(400) returns non-2xx - both are install bugs, not runtime conditions.
The same contract runs client-side. `seam hook <event>` reports a failure to
stderr and exits 0 - a server that is down, a config that will not load, an
unreadable stdin, all produce exit 0. Only a misconfigured event name or
`--client` value (an install bug, not a runtime condition) is a hard error.
Plan and subagent capture are best-effort under the same rule: a capture problem
is logged and the hook still acks 200.
The consequence is that **hook failure is silent**. A stopped daemon, a bad key,
a `seam` binary that moved - none of these produce an error an agent or the user
will see. Work simply proceeds without a briefing, and nothing announces it.
So troubleshooting starts with the doctor checks, not with looking for an error:
```bash
seamlessd doctor # desired definitions, Codex trust/activity, and MCP state
seam doctor # server reachable, key accepted, tools/list count
```
For Claude Code, `seamlessd doctor` looks in `~/.claude/settings.json` and then
`./.claude/settings.json` and compares installed entries with the definitions the
installer would write now. For Codex it separately reports exact
current/stale/missing definitions, separately discoverable CLI/app runtime
versions, trust (`unverified; inspect /hooks in Codex CLI`; the desktop app does
not expose that command), recent
SessionStart/UserPromptSubmit activity (evidence only), and the machine-readable
MCP state. It also checks the recorded binary and config targets exist. A machine
with no Codex CLI, initialized home, or Seamless Codex configuration is one quiet
`not detected` line, never a failure. `seam doctor` covers the other half: it hits
`/healthz` and calls `tools/list`, which proves the endpoint and key are working.
## What rides on the query string
A hook body is the agent client's schema, not Seamless's, so everything
Seamless needs *about* the call travels beside it as query parameters on the
same `/api/hooks/*` endpoints. `?client=` is one of them; the agent's machine
identity is the rest.
| Param | On | Value |
|---|---|---|
| `client` | every hook, when `--client` was passed | `codex`; omitted means Claude Code |
| `host` | every command hook | this machine's hostname, lower-cased |
| `repo_root` | `session-start` only | the enclosing repository root |
| `main_root` | `session-start` only | the main checkout, when `repo_root` is a linked worktree |
| `origin` | `session-start` only | the `origin` remote URL, when there is one |
`seam hook` resolves the identity locally - it is the only process that can -
and every value is best-effort: an unreadable hostname, an unparseable body, or
a cwd outside any repository simply omits that param. The host goes on every
hook because it is what tells the daemon whether the paths in this payload are
on its own disk; the roots go on session start only, because that is the single
hook that places a working directory in a project.
**An absent `host` means the local machine.** That is what keeps an older
`seam` binary - which only ever talked to a daemon on its own machine - working
byte-for-byte.
Claude Code's `UserPromptSubmit` is the one http hook, so no `seam` process
computes an identity for it; the daemon attributes it through the ambient
session that client already has.
When the host is *not* the daemon's, every daemon-side read of the agent's
filesystem is skipped rather than attempted, and the skip is recorded as a
`hook.error` event with stage `remote-host-skip`. It is a host check and not a
"does the file exist" check on purpose: two devices with the same username and
home layout produce the same transcript and plan-file paths, so a missing-file
test would sometimes find a real file - the wrong one. See
[Share one daemon across a LAN](/guides/network-install/#what-a-remote-device-does-not-get)
for the full list of what that covers.
## Why Claude Code uses two transports
Six of the Claude Code hooks are `command`, one is `http`. (Codex, above, uses
`command` for all five - its trust gate applies only to command hooks.) The
split is not stylistic:
- **`SessionStart` must be a command hook.** Claude Code only runs
`command`/`mcp_tool` hooks for `SessionStart`. An `http` hook there is silently
skipped, and the briefing and ambient session never fire.
- **`SessionEnd` does support `http`, but it races.** At process exit the
fire-and-forget request races Claude Code's teardown, so the ambient-session
harvest often never lands and sessions pile up as active. A command hook is
one Claude Code waits on, which makes the harvest reliable.
- **The plan-capture hooks are commands for cost.** `PostToolUse` fires
machine-wide on every `Write`/`Edit`. The `seam` CLI pre-filters the payload
locally and drops non-plan events before any config load or network round-trip,
so the hot path never touches the network.
- **`SubagentStart` mirrors the Codex profile.** Both clients run the same
`seam hook subagent-start` command, so the subagent lifecycle stays one
transport and one code path across profiles.
- **`UserPromptSubmit` stays `http`.** It fires mid-turn, where http is reliable.
Command hooks work by having Claude Code pipe the event JSON to the command's
stdin; `seam hook <arg>` forwards that to the matching endpoint and echoes the
response back on stdout. Same server logic either way - only the transport
differs.
One practical consequence: the bearer key is only written into settings.json for
the `http` hook. Command hooks read it from the config file at hook time.
## What install-hooks writes
```bash
seamlessd install-hooks # default: --client detect
seamlessd install-hooks --settings ./.claude/settings.json
seamlessd install-hooks --url http://127.0.0.1:8081
seamlessd install-hooks --seam /path/to/seam
seamlessd install-hooks --client codex # hooks + codex mcp add + ~/.codex/skills
seamlessd install-hooks --client all # both clients in one pass
```
The base URL defaults to one derived from the config's bind address (a bind-all
host maps to loopback). `--seam` defaults to the `seam` binary sitting next to
the running `seamlessd`, falling back to a bare `seam` resolved from `PATH` at
hook time. The command fails if `mcp.api_key` is empty. The examples below are the
Claude Code (`settings.json`) shapes; the Codex profile is
[shell strings, not exec form](#the-codex-profile-is-shell-strings).
An http entry looks like this:
```text
{
"hooks": {
"UserPromptSubmit": [
{
"seamless_managed": true,
"hooks": [
{
"type": "http",
"url": "http://127.0.0.1:8081/api/hooks/user-prompt-submit",
"timeout": 5,
"headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer <mcp.api_key>" }
}
]
}
]
}
}
```
A command entry carries no key and uses **exec form** - a bare `command` plus an
`args` array, spawned directly with no shell:
```text
{
"seamless_managed": true,
"matcher": "startup|resume|clear|compact",
"hooks": [
{
"type": "command",
"command": "/abs/path/seam",
"args": ["hook", "session-start", "--config", "/abs/path/seamless.yaml"],
"timeout": 10
}
]
}
```
Exec form is deliberate: it is the one shape that behaves identically on every
OS. Claude Code runs a shell-form command hook through `sh -c` on Unix but
PowerShell on Windows, where a POSIX string (an env prefix plus single-quoting)
is not valid syntax; exec form passes each argument verbatim with no quoting at
all. The config path is passed as `--config` because the hook fires from any
cwd, where the CLI's cwd-relative search for `seamless.yaml` would miss and leave
it unable to authenticate (exec form carries no environment, so this replaces the
older `SEAMLESS_CONFIG` env prefix). It is omitted when the config came from
defaults and env with no file. The `matcher` key is omitted entirely for hooks
that have none.
### The Codex profile is shell strings
Codex's `hooks.json` schema takes a **shell-string** command, not the exec-form
`command` + `args` array Claude Code uses. So the Codex profile writes a
POSIX-quoted `command` and a double-quoted `command_windows`, both resolving the
same `seam` binary plus `hook <event> --config <yaml> --client codex`:
```text
{
"hooks": {
"SessionStart": [
{
"seamless_managed": true,
"hooks": [
{
"type": "command",
"command": "'/abs/path/seam' hook session-start --config '/abs/path/seamless.yaml' --client codex",
"command_windows": "\"C:\\abs\\path\\seam.exe\" hook session-start --config \"C:\\abs\\path\\seamless.yaml\" --client codex",
"timeout": 10
}
]
}
]
}
}
```
Both forms carry the same resolved paths; the installer runs once per OS, so only
the matching one ever fires. Codex's own file struct rejects unknown keys at the
top level (only `description` and `hooks` are allowed there), but its matcher
group and command handler tolerate extra fields, so the `seamless_managed` marker
sits safely on the matcher group exactly as it does for Claude Code.
Install behavior:
- **Unknown keys are preserved.** The file is decoded into a generic map, so
everything Seamless does not own survives.
- **Backed up once.** The first time Seamless changes a hook file it copies it to
`<file>.seamless-bak-<timestamp>`. Later installs skip the backup, so the true
original is never overwritten with a modified copy.
- **Idempotent.** An already-current file is left untouched - no rewrite, no
backup. Per-hook actions are reported as `added`, `updated`, `adopted`,
`deduped`, or `unchanged`.
- **Written atomically**, sorted-key indented, preserving the file mode (0600 for
a file Seamless creates, since it may hold a bearer key).
### Exact definitions, legacy adoption, and foreign hooks
Entries are tagged `seamless_managed: true`, but the marker alone cannot prove a
definition is healthy. It can name an old binary or config, and Claude Code may
strip the unknown marker while preserving a still-valid hook. Install, doctor,
and uninstall therefore share one four-way classifier:
| Class | Meaning | Install | Uninstall |
|---|---|---|---|
| current | Exactly the definition Seamless would write today | Leave byte-for-byte alone | Remove |
| managed-stale | Carries Seamless's marker but differs from desired state | Replace | Remove |
| recognizable legacy | Marker-free, but unmistakably a documented Seamless URL or `seam`/`seam.exe hook <event>` layout | Adopt and replace | Remove |
| foreign | Anything else, even if arbitrary arguments happen to contain `hook <event>` | Preserve | Preserve |
For Codex, “current” includes the event, command handler type, `seam` or
`seam.exe` executable, hook argv, `--client codex`, expected absolute config
path, timeout, and both OS command forms. A missing discriminator or an old
binary is stale, not healthy. Recognizable legacy matching is deliberately
narrow: arbitrary executables, extra shell operators, malformed quoting, and a
v1 `seam_managed` entry at another URL remain foreign.
This classifier is why re-install can repair owned drift without swallowing a
neighboring user's hook, why duplicates collapse to one canonical entry, and why
doctor compares current **desired state** rather than counting anything that
looks vaguely Seamless-shaped.
## Related
- [Configuration](/reference/configuration/) - `mcp.api_key`, the bind address
the hook URLs derive from, and the `briefing:` block that tunes what
`SessionStart` injects.
- [MCP API overview](/reference/mcp/) - the tool surface the same daemon serves.
- [Claude Code setup](/claude-code/) and [Codex local setup](/codex-cli/) - the
per-client walkthroughs these hooks come from.
- [Codex compatibility matrix](/reference/codex-compatibility/) - versioned
live/schema evidence and the recapture procedure.
- [Quickstart](/quickstart/) - install order for a working setup.
---
# The service & where things live
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/reference/service/
The installer registers `seamlessd` as a per-user service, so the daemon
survives reboots without you supervising it. It runs as **your** user, not
root: it reads your config, writes your files, and should die with your login
session, not the machine.
By default there is **one instance per machine**: port `8081`, data dir
`~/.seamless` - one daemon, one database, one set of files. Both are config
keys, not fixed facts: set `addr:` and `data_dir:` in
`~/.config/seamless/seamless.yaml` (or the `SEAMLESS_ADDR` /
`SEAMLESS_DATA_DIR` env overrides) and restart the service. The config is the
single source of truth for the bind address - the installer and the Makefile
both read the port back out of it, so their health checks follow your change
rather than assuming `8081`, and nothing bakes the address into the service
itself.
One instance per machine is the default, not a law. Several devices can share
**one** daemon: the server keeps the service, the database and the corpus, and
every other machine installs with `role: client` plus `server_url`, which runs
no daemon and registers no service at all (`seamlessd serve` refuses on a
client outright). Everything below describes the server's install;
[Share one daemon across a LAN](/guides/network-install/) is the setup, and
the tradeoffs.
## Control it from anywhere
Whatever the platform, one set of verbs controls the service - they resolve
your OS's service manager for you:
```bash
seamlessd start # start | stop | restart | status
make start # the same, from a clone (start | stop | restart | status)
```
These act on the already-installed service and print a hint if it was never
installed. The platform-native commands below are what they wrap - you need
them only when you want to talk to the service manager directly.
## The service on your OS
**macOS:**
A user LaunchAgent labelled `org.thereisnospoon.seamless` in
`~/Library/LaunchAgents/`, logging to `~/.seamless/seamlessd.log` (`make logs`
follows it from a clone). The universal verbs wrap:
```bash
launchctl print gui/$(id -u)/org.thereisnospoon.seamless # state
launchctl kickstart -k gui/$(id -u)/org.thereisnospoon.seamless # restart
launchctl bootout gui/$(id -u)/org.thereisnospoon.seamless # stop
```
**Linux:**
The installer writes a systemd user unit to
`~/.config/systemd/user/seamless.service` and enables lingering, so the daemon
starts at boot rather than at your next login:
```bash
systemctl --user status seamless # state, pid, last exit
journalctl --user -u seamless -f # follow the log
systemctl --user restart seamless
systemctl --user stop seamless
```
No systemd user session (some containers, WSL1)? The installer says so and
skips the step; run `seamlessd serve` under whatever supervises processes
there.
**Windows:**
An at-logon Scheduled Task named `Seamless`, running as you (`LogonType
Interactive`, no admin), logging to `~/.seamless/seamlessd.log`. The task
action is a bare exec - `seamlessd.exe serve --config <path> --log-file
<path>` - because a task cannot carry the `SEAMLESS_CONFIG` env prefix a plist
or systemd unit does; the two flags pass exactly what that prefix would have:
```powershell
Get-ScheduledTask Seamless | Get-ScheduledTaskInfo # state, last run, last result
Get-Content ~/.seamless/seamlessd.log -Wait # follow the log
Restart-ScheduledTask Seamless # stop + start
Stop-ScheduledTask Seamless # stop (it restarts at next logon)
```
It restarts on failure and never hits the default execution time limit, so it
behaves like launchd's `KeepAlive`. Because it triggers at logon, it runs while
you are signed in and stops when you sign out - a single-user desktop, which is
the shape Seamless is built for.
Windows wiring ships in every release and its hook command forms are
unit-tested, but it has fewer live-verified runs than macOS and Linux; the
[Codex compatibility matrix](/reference/codex-compatibility/) records exactly
which combinations have been observed working.
## Where things live {#where-things-live}
Every `~` path resolves under `%USERPROFILE%` on Windows - the daemon searches
the same relative locations on every OS.
| What | Where | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Binaries | `~/.local/bin/seamlessd`, `~/.local/bin/seam` | `SEAMLESS_INSTALL_DIR` retargets them - see [Install & deploy](/install/) |
| Config + bearer key | `~/.config/seamless/seamless.yaml` | mode `0600`; every key in [Configuration](/reference/configuration/) |
| Knowledge + database | `~/.seamless/` | markdown memories and notes, plus `seam.db` - see [Storage](/reference/storage/) |
| Daemon log | `~/.seamless/seamlessd.log` (macOS, Windows); journald (Linux) | `make logs` from a clone, `journalctl --user -u seamless -f` on Linux |
| Claude Code hooks | `~/.claude/settings.json` | exactly what is written: [Hooks](/reference/hooks/) |
| Codex hooks | `${CODEX_HOME:-~/.codex}/hooks.json` | same reference, [shell-string forms](/reference/hooks/#the-codex-profile-is-shell-strings) |
| Skills | `~/.claude/skills/`, `${CODEX_HOME:-~/.codex}/skills/` | `seam-onboard` always; `seam-research` while its [optional feature](/reference/console/#optional-features) is on. Delivered per client |
| Claude app chat MCP | `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json` (macOS); `%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json` (Windows) | the chat surface's only artifact - [Claude app chat setup](/claude-app/) |
## Removing the service by hand {#removing-the-service-by-hand}
[Update & uninstall](/updating/) covers `seamlessd uninstall`, which removes
the service along with everything else. For a bare binary you never registered
a service for - or a machine you are cleaning by hand - the native teardown is:
```bash
launchctl bootout gui/$(id -u)/org.thereisnospoon.seamless # macOS
systemctl --user disable --now seamless # Linux
```
```powershell
Unregister-ScheduledTask -TaskName Seamless # Windows
```
---
# Claude app compatibility matrix
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/reference/claude-app-compatibility/
This matrix records what Seamless has **observed** in the Claude desktop app,
and what remains unverified. It is an evidence ledger, not a support claim: a
row says "this was seen working on this build, on this platform, on this date",
and its absence says exactly that. The app has two distinct surfaces -
[embedded code sessions](/claude-code/#the-claude-apps-code-surface) (real
Claude Code sharing `~/.claude`) and the [chat surface](/claude-app/) (a
hookless MCP client wired through `claude_desktop_config.json`) - and evidence
for one is never evidence for the other.
## Code surface (embedded Claude Code sessions)
| App runtime / platform | Hooks observed | MCP | Sessions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bundled Claude Code 2.1.215 (PATH CLI 2.1.216 on the same machine) / Darwin arm64, 2026-07-21 | SessionStart briefing injected in 8/8 app sessions, correctly project-scoped (including global for cwd-less helper sessions); PostToolUse tool-call events recorded; SessionEnd auto-harvest fired on app close and completed the sessions with genuine findings. **UserPromptSubmit never fired** - no per-prompt recall on this surface | The shared user-scope `~/.claude.json` registration (http + `headersHelper`) worked unchanged from an app code session: a `notes_create` round trip landed a real note | Repo cwd resolved to the mapped project; ambient `cc/...` sessions behaved exactly as CLI sessions |
The UserPromptSubmit row is a live defect on that build, not a Seamless
configuration problem: a firing hook always leaves a trace (an injection or a
prompt event), and none exists for any of the eight observed app sessions. The
suspects - the bundled 2.1.215 runtime versus the app's hook dispatch - are
unresolved, so the finding is pinned to the build and should be re-tested after
each app update rather than hardened into a permanent claim.
Managed worktrees did **not** materialize during this capture (the app ran its
code sessions directly in the repo root), so the worktree-to-project mapping -
a linked worktree resolves through its git common directory to the main
checkout's project - is verified by unit tests against real worktree layouts,
not yet by a live app session inside one.
## Chat surface (stdio MCP bridge)
| Bridge / daemon / platform | Protocol evidence | Tool round trips | App evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| `seam mcp-proxy` (stdio) / Seamless 0.3.8+a189f0d / Darwin arm64, 2026-07-21 | Driven over stdio exactly as `claude_desktop_config.json` instructs the app to (newline-delimited JSON-RPC, protocol 2025-06-18): initialize handshake with server instructions delivered; capabilities are tools-only by design; `tools/list` matched the daemon's authoritative tool count | `memory_read` and a full `notes_create` round trip with explicit `project` (plan tag promoted, session model stamped, `created-by:agent` auto-tag, clean delete); session persistence across calls on one stdio connection - `session_end` with no arguments closed the exact session `session_start` had bound | A fresh app launch spawned two `seam mcp-proxy` instances, both holding established TCP connections to `127.0.0.1:8081` - process and socket evidence that this app build loads the registration, covering the "loaded state unverifiable" caveat `doctor` honestly reports. A conversation typed in the app UI invoked `memory_read` and got the memory back |
One caveat keeps the in-UI row narrow: on the test machine the code surface was
also installed, and the confirming conversation *also* fired a SessionStart
hook, so the daemon's event log cannot attribute that one tool call to the chat
stdio bridge rather than the code surface's HTTP registration. The chat stdio
protocol path is independently verified end to end; only the final in-UI hop
rests on owner confirmation plus process evidence.
The same capture probed the scope edges the
[chat setup page](/claude-app/#scope-discipline-in-a-chat) warns about, and
both quiet outcomes are real observations, not theory: a sessionless unscoped
durable write was **not** rejected while an ambient CLI session was live - it
landed in that session's project with that session's provenance - and a
cwd-less `session_start` bound the global scope, after which unscoped writes
landed global with no write-time flag. Passing a repo `cwd` delivered the full
project briefing and correctly scoped every later unscoped call.
## What remains unverified
- **Windows, entirely.** Detection there is the config file's existence (there
is no documented install location to probe), and no live Windows run of
either surface has been recorded.
- **Whether a running app has loaded the registration**, as a queryable fact.
The app reads its config at startup and exposes no way to ask; the process
and socket evidence above covers one observed build, and `doctor` keeps
reporting the general case as unverifiable.
- **An app-only machine.** The tested machine had the PATH CLI and the code
surface installed; chat-surface setup with nothing else present is untested.
- **UserPromptSubmit's permanence** on the code surface, per above.
- **A live app code session inside a managed worktree**, per above.
## Re-verifying after an app update
The chat surface's protocol path can be re-checked without the app: run the
installed `seam mcp-proxy` over stdio, speak newline-delimited JSON-RPC
(initialize, `notifications/initialized`, then tool calls), and compare against
the rows above - the [integration guide](/guides/integrate-your-agent/) shows
the same handshake over plain HTTP. For the app itself: restart it, confirm
`seam mcp-proxy` child processes with established connections to the daemon,
and have a chat conversation call `memory_read`. For the code surface: open an
app code session in a mapped repo, look for the `<seam-briefing>` block, then
prompt again and check whether recall injection ever appears - that is the
UserPromptSubmit re-test. `seamlessd doctor` reports the bundled app runtime
and the PATH CLI separately precisely so version skew between them is visible
while you do this.
---
# Codex compatibility matrix
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/reference/codex-compatibility/
This matrix records what Seamless has **observed**, what is pinned only by a
released schema or source, and what remains unverified. It is an evidence ledger,
not a claim that an older Codex release is a supported minimum. The current
fixture version is the one named by `currentCodexFixtureVersion` in
`internal/hooks/adapter.go`.
## Maintained matrix
| Codex runtime / frontend / platform | Hook events captured | Schemas | Frontends | Trust behavior | `mcp get --json` |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.144.5 / Darwin arm64 | SessionStart, UserPromptSubmit, Stop | Parent-event schemas retained with the capture; SessionEnd came from then-current source and did not fire | Exec payloads committed; model visibility observed in exec and TUI, but no TUI payload set was retained | Untrusted command hooks were skipped; bypass flag observed. Historical private-state details are evidence only, not an integration API | Not captured |
| 0.144.6 / Darwin arm64 | SessionStart, UserPromptSubmit, Stop, SubagentStart, SubagentStop | Input and output schemas copied from release commit `5d1fbf26c43abc65a203928b2e31561cb039e06d` and SHA-256 pinned | Live exec and TUI inputs/outputs for all five events; wire fields match, with `permission_mode` differing as recorded | Current definitions require review through `/hooks`; the harness uses `--dangerously-bypass-hook-trust`. No supported trust-state query is assumed | Enabled/disabled stdio and Streamable HTTP shapes captured |
| 0.145.0-alpha.18 / Codex.app 26.715.52143 / Darwin arm64 | SessionStart, UserPromptSubmit, and Stop live in Local app chats; SubagentStart/SubagentStop not app-tested | Bundled runtime contains the five current event and input/output contracts | Real Local chats captured in a global app workspace and a repo workspace; briefing, prompt recall, and Stop harvest were model-visible | `/hooks` is not intercepted in the app and directs the user to the CLI; hook execution is observed, but trust state remains uninspectable | Bundled runtime and PATH CLI read the same exact enabled stdio registration; app calls to project_list, session_start, memory_read, notes_create, and notes_read succeeded |
| 0.144.6 / Windows amd64 and arm64 | No live hook run | Same released schemas; Seamless's Windows command syntax is unit-tested | Not live-verified | Not live-verified | Not live-verified |
| Codex runtime / frontend / platform | `commandWindows` | Direct Streamable HTTP | Upstream hook-output behavior | Seamless ceiling | Live Windows status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.144.5 / Darwin arm64 | Schema/source evidence only | Supported by upstream configuration; not fixture-captured | Not captured | Not present in the historical integration | No |
| 0.144.6 / Darwin arm64 | Both `commandWindows` and `command_windows` parsed by the live macOS binary; Windows selection itself is source-only | Both enabled and disabled config shapes captured through `mcp get --json`; no direct-HTTP tool call was part of the capture | Approximate 2,500-token per-entry spill observed: a head/tail model preview plus a temporary full-output path | 2,400 estimated tokens, applied before response serialization and telemetry | No |
| 0.145.0-alpha.18 / Codex.app 26.715.52143 / Darwin arm64 | Not app-tested | Direct HTTP not app-tested; the installed stdio bridge completed a live read/write/read round trip | SessionStart/UserPromptSubmit context and Stop.last_assistant_message observed in real app chats | Same platform-independent Seamless cap; oversize behavior not app-tested | No |
| 0.144.6 / Windows amd64 and arm64 | Generated command syntax and quoting are tested; execution is not | Capability is in the cross-platform released configuration contract; not live-verified on Windows | Source/schema only | Same platform-independent Seamless cap; no live Windows observation | **Not yet run** |
The absence of a live Windows row is intentional and visible. Cross-compiling a
Windows binary, parsing `command_windows`, or testing quoting on macOS is not the
same evidence as running Codex on Windows.
The macOS Local app row is deliberately narrower than a general desktop-support
claim. It proves repo-scoped briefing/recall, the installed stdio MCP bridge, an
explicitly bound read/write/read note round trip, and Stop harvest. The tested
machine also had a PATH Codex CLI, so app-only setup is still unverified. App
subagents, managed-worktree scope, oversize output, idle reaping, uninstall
preservation, Windows, and WSL remain open. The live app did not expose `/hooks`,
so execution evidence cannot be promoted into a claim that the current hook
definition is trusted.
## What Seamless relies on
- The installed profile contains exactly the five current hook events above.
Contract tests derive that list from the canonical Codex hook profile rather
than maintaining a second count by hand.
- `Stop.last_assistant_message` is the primary findings source. Transcript paths
are useful diagnostic evidence, but Codex's rollout JSONL layout is an
**unstable fallback contract** and may change without compatibility notice.
- Codex supports both stdio and Streamable HTTP MCP. Seamless installs the stdio
`seam mcp-proxy` policy so the bearer key remains in Seamless's 0600 config;
direct HTTP is a supported manual alternative.
- Hook trust is a Codex decision over the current definition. Seamless neither
parses nor writes private trust hashes. `seamlessd doctor` can verify the
definition and show recent execution evidence, but it reports trust as
unverified and directs the operator to `/hooks`.
## Refreshing the matrix for a Codex release
Never overwrite an old version directory. The reproducible harness and the
sanitization checklist live in
[`internal/hooks/testdata/codex/`](https://github.com/0spoon/seamless/tree/main/internal/hooks/testdata/codex).
For each new release:
1. Install the exact Codex release binary and record its version, release tag,
source revision, platform/architecture, and binary/archive SHA-256 values.
2. Create a fresh absolute capture root **outside this repository**. Run
`capture.sh setup`; pass an auth file only if live turns are required. The
harness creates an isolated `CODEX_HOME` and a throwaway git repository.
3. Run the `mcp`, `exec`, `tui`, and `oversize` capture phases. Use only the
synthetic sentinel prompt. Run `clean-auth` immediately afterward.
4. Copy the exact released hook schemas from that release revision. Create a new
`v<version>/` fixture directory, update `capture.json`, and sanitize paths,
IDs, timestamps, and all conversational text before anything enters git.
5. Compare exec and TUI field sets, subagent parent/child transcript roles,
`mcp get --json` for both transports and enabled states, both Windows command
aliases, trust behavior, and the observed spill boundary. A real Windows run
must be recorded separately; source and syntax tests do not count as live.
6. Update this page and the fixture README, advance
`currentCodexFixtureVersion`, then run `go test ./internal/hooks`, `make docs`,
and the full `make check` gate.
Do not commit raw auth, full temporary hook output, private hook-trust state, an
operator path, or real transcript text. Do not promote rollout JSONL parsing to
the primary harvest path even if its current shape happens to remain unchanged.
Primary contracts: [Codex hooks](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/hooks),
[Codex MCP](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/extend/mcp), and
[UUIDv7](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9562.html#section-5.7).
---
# Console
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/reference/console/
The console is the owner's window onto a system whose actual clients are agents.
It is `html/template` plus vanilla JS plus SSE, served by `internal/console` from
the same binary as everything else - no node, no npm, no React, no build step. It
is not how Seamless is driven; it is how you watch it.
## What the console can change
The console is **read-mostly**. That is a design claim, so here is the whole list
- every write it is capable of, taken from the `POST` routes in
`internal/console/console.go`. There are no others.
| Action | Route | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Archive a memory | `POST /console/memories/{id}/archive` | Routes through `lifecycle.Archive`: the memory is stamped invalid and leaves every index, its file stays on disk with a tombstone. |
| Force-release a task claim | `POST /console/tasks/{id}/release` | The owner override: releases a claimed task's lock regardless of who holds it, reopening it for any agent. Not reachable from the agent MCP tools. |
| Approve a captured plan | `POST /console/plans/{slug}/approve` | The escape hatch for a Claude Code approval whose `PostToolUse` never fired: flips the `cc-plan` note to `plan-status:approved` and creates the tracking task, exactly as the hook would have. Only applies to a CC capture. |
| Star / unstar an entity | `POST /console/favorites/{kind}/{id}` | Toggles the same starred flag the `favorite_set` MCP tool sets: a starred memory pins into briefings and gets a post-fusion recall boost. For memories and notes the star lives in frontmatter; it never bumps `updated`. |
| Ask the gardener for proposals | `POST /console/gardener/request` | Interprets a natural-language maintenance request into **pending proposals**. It never mutates a memory. |
| Plan a project split | `POST /console/gardener/split` | Interprets a split request into a plan batch of **pending proposals** (one split setup plus one reproject per memory). Also never mutates a memory. |
| Apply one proposal | `POST /console/gardener/{id}/apply` | Carries out that proposal's effect. |
| Dismiss a proposal | `POST /console/gardener/{id}/dismiss` | Drops it without acting. The pattern is raised again if new evidence for it arrives after the decision. |
| Hide a proposal forever | `POST /console/gardener/{id}/hide` | Drops it without acting and blocks the pattern permanently - no recurrence re-raises it. Listed under **Hidden forever**. |
| Unhide a pattern | `POST /console/gardener/{id}/unhide` | Lifts a forever block. The proposal stays resolved; the gardener may propose the pattern again the next time it recurs. |
| Retarget a reproject proposal | `POST /console/gardener/{id}/retarget` | Rewrites a **pending** reproject's destination project before it is applied. Reproject proposals only. |
| Apply a whole plan batch | `POST /console/gardener/plan/{slug}/apply` | Applies every pending proposal in a plan, split setup first so the child projects exist before the memories move. Best-effort: it applies what it can, reports how many landed, and leaves the rest pending. |
| Dismiss a whole rail group | `POST /console/gardener/group/dismiss` | Dismisses every pending proposal in one rail section or split plan, one at a time, so each keeps its own event and stays individually undoable. Only Dismiss is offered in bulk. |
| Undo a decision | `POST /console/gardener/{id}/undo` | Returns a resolved proposal to the queue from **Recently decided**, inverting whatever its apply did, for the kinds whose apply can be inverted. |
| Set a project's isolation | `POST /console/projects/{slug}/isolation` | Changes how far a project's knowledge travels. A tightening that would cut existing context first renders a confirmation step; nothing is written until it is confirmed. |
| Save briefing settings | `POST /console/settings/briefing` | Writes the briefing knobs as a runtime **override row** in the DB. It never writes the config file. |
| Reset briefing settings | `POST /console/settings/briefing/reset` | Clears the override row, reverting to the file/env configuration. |
| Force utility ranking for a scope | `POST /console/settings/utility` | Sets or clears the owner's per-scope force: `on` and `off` win over the gardener's readiness latch, `auto` defers to it again. |
| Switch embeddings off or back on | `POST /console/settings/embeddings/mode` | Stores or clears the embedder off switch. It is read at serve start, so the change applies from the next restart - the page says so. |
| Re-embed everything | `POST /console/settings/embeddings/reembed` | Starts a background pass that re-embeds every memory and note with the active model. It changes vectors, never content. |
| Choose the console level | `POST /console/settings/level` | Stores the [experience level](#choose-how-much-you-see) as a row that wins over file and env. Presentation only: nothing an agent receives changes. |
| Reset the console level | `POST /console/settings/level/reset` | Clears that row, back to the file/env level. |
| Dismiss the welcome card | `POST /console/settings/level/welcome` | Records that the Home welcome card was seen, without choosing a level. |
| Save optional features | `POST /console/settings/features` | Writes the feature switches as a stored **override row** in the DB. It changes what is exposed - console screens and the matching agent tools - and deletes nothing. |
| Reset optional features | `POST /console/settings/features/reset` | Clears the override row, reverting to the file/env configuration - which, unless you set the keys there, means every optional feature is off again. Still deletes nothing. |
| Save a project family | `POST /console/settings/families/save` | Creates a family or replaces one family's name and member set - the same `project_families` setting `seamlessd family` manages. Members come from a closed picker of registered projects, so a typo cannot create an inert member. |
| Delete a project family | `POST /console/settings/families/delete` | Removes the whole family. Its projects lose the sibling-findings channel; nothing else about them changes. |
| Sign in / sign out | `POST /console/login`, `POST /console/logout` | Sets or clears the console cookie. Touches no data. |
Read the shape of that list. There is no "create memory", no "edit note", no
"delete", no "add task", no "start session". The direct writes to knowledge
state are **archive a memory**, **approve a captured plan**, and the **star**
flag; the rest either manage gardener proposals - which are themselves
proposals, reviewed before they do anything - or free a lock, or set a
configuration knob (briefing overrides, feature switches, project families) that
shapes future briefings, or what is exposed, without touching any memory's
content. The console level is presentation state of the same kind: it changes
what this console shows you and nothing else.
This is deliberate, and it is the same principle as
[the gardener's](/concepts/gardener/) propose-only contract. The store is written
by agents doing work, with provenance attached. A console that could quietly edit
a memory would produce knowledge that came from nowhere, attributable to no
session, explaining nothing.
Every write action redirects back with a flash message (`?notice=` for success,
`?error=` for failure) rather than rendering a result page in place, so a reload
never repeats the action. With script, a success notice surfaces as a toast and
both parameters are stripped from the address bar, so a later live refresh never
replays a message about an action that already happened; an error also stays on
the page as a banner.
## Signing in
There is one credential in the whole system: the static bearer key
(`mcp.api_key`). It guards `/api/mcp`, the hook endpoints, and the console alike.
Two ways to present it:
- **A browser** trades the key for a cookie at `/console/login`. The cookie value
is a SHA-256 hash of the key, not the key - so the raw credential never sits in
the browser's cookie jar. It is `HttpOnly`, `SameSite=Lax`, and scoped to
`/console`.
- **The `seam` CLI** sends the key as a bearer token on the `Authorization`
header, and asks for JSON.
Unauthenticated browsers are redirected to the login page with a `?next=` that is
validated against an open-redirect (an off-site or absolute candidate becomes
`/console/`). Unauthenticated JSON callers get a 401.
Public routes are the login page and the static assets (`console.css`,
`interactions.js`, `search.js`, `favicon.svg`). Everything else requires the key.
### `make console`
```bash
make console # open in the default browser, already signed in
make console-chrome # same, but force Google Chrome
```
This builds, then runs `seamlessd console-open`, which renders a one-shot
self-submitting login page to a `0600` temp file and opens it. The page POSTs the
key to `/console/login`, which sets the cookie and 303s into the console - so you
land on an authenticated page with nothing to paste. It refuses to run if
`mcp.api_key` is empty or the server is not answering `/healthz`.
`make console-chrome` exists for agents: they drive Chrome, so this hands the auth
cookie to the browser they can actually see. (`--browser` is macOS-only.)
## Getting around
The sidebar groups the screens by the job they serve rather than by table:
| Group | Screens |
|---|---|
| **Live** | Overview, Now, Interactions |
| **Knowledge** | Memories, Notes, Retrieval, Gardener |
| **Work** | Projects, Plans, Tasks, Sessions |
| **Research** | Labs, Trials (only while that [optional feature](#optional-features) is on) |
That is the full list, at the Advanced [level](#choose-how-much-you-see); a
lower level shows a subset, in the same order and under the same names.
Settings closes the list. Above the groups, a **Search or jump to** field opens
the command palette. The sidebar collapses to an icon rail (the header button, or
`[`) and remembers that per browser; under 720px it becomes a drawer behind the
menu button, with every section's label and count.
Every screen title carries an (i) button that says, in one line, what the screen
is for.
### The command palette
`Cmd/Ctrl+K`, the sidebar's search field, or `/` on a screen with no filter of
its own opens the palette. With nothing typed it offers **Recent** (the entities
you last opened in this browser), **Jump to** (every section the sidebar offers,
with its shortcut, plus Search, Context, and each Settings section the level
shows), and **Actions** (switch theme, collapse the sidebar, the shortcut sheet,
change the experience level). Typing matches sections and actions instantly;
from two characters on it also searches memories, notes, tasks, plans, trials,
projects, and sessions through the same route as [Search](#search), showing the
groups the level offers.
### Keyboard
| Keys | Does |
|---|---|
| `Cmd/Ctrl+K` | Search or jump to a section |
| `/` | Focus this screen's filter; open the palette where there is none |
| `g` then a key | Go to a section: `o` Overview, `n` Now, `i` Interactions, `m` Memories, `e` Notes, `r` Retrieval, `g` Gardener, `w` Projects, `p` Plans, `t` Tasks, `s` Sessions, `l` Labs, `x` Trials, `,` Settings |
| `j` / `k` | Next / previous item in a library rail |
| `[` | Collapse or expand the sidebar |
| `?` | The shortcut sheet |
| `Esc` | Close the palette, a menu, the sheet, or the drawer |
The `g` map is read from the sidebar itself, so a section switched off in
Settings - or one the [level](#choose-how-much-you-see) leaves out of the
sidebar - takes its shortcut with it, and brings it back when it returns.
Moving between screens keeps the sidebar in place and settles the new content
in (cross-document view transitions, where the browser supports them), and
hovering a console link prefetches its page. Neither runs any code of the
destination page early; both degrade to a plain navigation.
### Ambient signals
The console shows activity without asking to be read. The line along the
sidebar's edge - the Seam - carries each event from the live stream as a spark
that travels to the section it belongs to and lights that section's icon:
cyan for context reaching an agent, green for knowledge written, coral for
something wrong, indigo for everything else. The sky behind the pages and the
daemon's dot in the sidebar brighten and breathe faster with the recent event
rate, and settle when the fleet is idle. Headline numbers count up when a page
opens; agents working right now carry a slow orbit of light on the Now screen.
All of it is decoration over data the page already states: nothing here changes
a number, and `prefers-reduced-motion` stills every part of it (the Seam sends no
sparks, numbers render at their value).
## Choose how much you see
The console has three **experience levels**. They change what the console shows
you and nothing else: your agents get the same briefing, the same MCP tools, the
same hooks, the same recall, and the same gardener at every level. The level is
presentation, stored for this installation's owner rather than per browser, so
your phone and your laptop agree.
**Basic** is the essentials, for someone who installed Seamless because they use
Claude Code or Codex and wants to know it works: what the agents remember
(Memories, Notes), what they did (Sessions), cleanup suggestions to accept or
decline (Gardener), and a Home that opens on a health strip - which agent clients
are working here, whether semantic recall is on, when the last briefing went
out, and the version.
**Standard** adds following the work: Now, Projects, Plans, and Tasks (and Labs
and Trials when that feature is on), the Overview's window, vitals, and
workspaces, the Briefing and Workspaces settings, and the finer controls on the
screens Basic already had.
**Advanced** is every screen and every knob: Interactions (the tool-call
transport), Retrieval (the analytics), Context, the Knowledge engine settings,
and raw event payloads.
A fresh installation starts at **Basic**, and Home carries a one-time welcome
card offering all three - pick one, or dismiss it; either way it does not come
back, on any device. The sidebar's account row names the level you are on and
links to **Settings > Experience**, where the three levels sit side by side with
the list of what each one shows. The palette's **Change experience level** action
goes there too.
**Hidden, not locked.** A level removes screens from the sidebar, the palette,
and the shortcut map; it never locks them. A link to a screen above your level -
from these docs, an agent's finding, a briefing, a bookmark - still opens it,
under a note saying it is not in your sidebar, with a button to switch. JSON
callers (`?format=json`, and so the `seam` CLI, `seam doctor` included) get the
same answer at every level.
**Upgrading keeps every screen.** An installation that already recorded sessions
before levels existed is set to Advanced by a one-time upgrade step, so nothing
you were using disappears; Settings > Experience says the level was set by the
upgrade, and the welcome card appears once to announce the choice.
Levels and [optional features](#optional-features) compose: a screen shows when
its feature is on **and** the level includes it. Features change what exists -
for the console and for agents alike; the level only changes how much of it you
see. The level can also come from the config file or environment (`console.level`,
`SEAMLESS_CONSOLE_LEVEL`) - a choice made in the console wins until you reset it
there. See [Configuration](/reference/configuration/).
What each level shows, generated from the console's own registries:
### Screens
| | Basic | Standard | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Overview** | shown | shown | shown |
| **Now** | - | shown | shown |
| **Interactions** | - | - | shown |
| **Memories** | shown | shown | shown |
| **Notes** | shown | shown | shown |
| **Retrieval** | - | - | shown |
| **Gardener** | shown | shown | shown |
| **Projects** | - | shown | shown |
| **Plans** | - | shown | shown |
| **Tasks** | - | shown | shown |
| **Sessions** | shown | shown | shown |
| **Labs** - while the research feature is on | - | shown | shown |
| **Trials** - while the research feature is on | - | shown | shown |
| **Settings** | shown | shown | shown |
| **Search** - no sidebar entry: the palette and links reach it | shown | shown | shown |
| **Context** - no sidebar entry: the palette and links reach it | - | - | shown |
### Settings sections
| | Basic | Standard | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Experience** - How much of the console you see, and how it looks | shown | shown | shown |
| **Features** - Optional features, for the console and agents alike | shown | shown | shown |
| **Your setup** - Version, files, and what is connected | shown | shown | shown |
| **Briefing** - What every new agent session starts with | - | shown | shown |
| **Workspaces** - Projects, repo routes, and families | - | shown | shown |
| **Knowledge engine** - Semantic index, ranking, storage, and policy | - | - | shown |
### Within screens
| | Basic | Standard | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Overview: the observation window** | - | shown | shown |
| **Overview: the vitals** | - | shown | shown |
| **Overview: the workspaces table and the knowledge rail** | - | shown | shown |
| **Memories: the Reach and Utility sorts** | - | shown | shown |
| **Memories: how often each memory surfaced** | - | shown | shown |
| **Memories: the utility score in the reader** | - | shown | shown |
| **Gardener: the Type and Source filters** | - | shown | shown |
| **Gardener: the project-split example** | - | shown | shown |
| **Gardener: the Hidden forever list** | - | shown | shown |
| **Gardener: Retarget on a proposal** | - | shown | shown |
| **Gardener: Hide forever on a proposal** | - | shown | shown |
| **Sessions: the Retained filter** | - | shown | shown |
| **Sessions: the Sort menu** | - | shown | shown |
| **Sessions: a session's review signals** | - | shown | shown |
| **Search: the Updated window** | - | shown | shown |
| **Search: the Sort control** | - | shown | shown |
| **Settings › Features: the precedence line** | - | shown | shown |
| **Settings › Features: the agent tool names** | - | shown | shown |
| **Settings › Workspaces: each repo route's host** | - | - | shown |
| **Settings › Workspaces: the unbound repo routes** | - | - | shown |
| **Event pages: the decoded payload fields** | - | - | shown |
| **Event pages: the raw payload** | - | - | shown |
## Three ways to render a page
Every route answers in the shape the caller asked for:
- **HTML** by default - the full page, layout and all.
- **JSON** when the caller sets `?format=json` or an `Accept` header that wants
JSON and not HTML. This is how `seam` reads the console's data.
- **An HTML fragment** for entity details when the caller passes `?peek=1` - the
detail pane loads it without a page navigation - or `?reader=1`, the richer
reader fragment the library screens (memories, notes, tasks, plans, labs,
trials) swap in place.
The event page composes its full page from the same `detail-body` block its
peek fragment renders, so the two cannot drift. Session and project
deliberately do not: their fragments are compact summaries of much richer
bespoke pages. Memory, note, task, plan, lab, and trial detail URLs render
their library screen with that entity open in the reader.
Strictly-validated query params (`?sort`, `?scope`, `?tab`, `?w`) return a 400
naming the bad param and listing the valid values, rather than silently falling
back to a default - so an agent driving the console by URL sees the fix.
`GET /console/events` is the SSE stream: every recorded event as one JSON `data:`
frame, with a ping every 25 seconds. A `retrieval.injected` frame also lists the
memories it surfaced as `itemIds` (capped at 48), which is what lets a page point
at exactly what reached an agent. `?feed=interactions` opts into the richer
transport-level rows the Interactions screen consumes.
## Overview
`/console/`
The landing page and the health check. It carries:
- **Counts** - active memories (broken down by kind), notes, sessions, and tasks
by status.
- **Retrieval health** over a selectable window (`?w=24h|7d|30d|all`): injection
volume, a trend chart, the **reach rate** (distinct active memories that
actually surfaced, over all active memories), sessions reached, and the
most-injected memories.
- **Coverage** - the share of in-window sessions that retained anything, with a
per-channel breakdown (findings, memories, notes, trials) and a windowed trend.
The channels overlap, so the shares need not sum to 100%.
- **Projects at a glance** - the top projects by recent activity, drawn from the
same batched query the Projects board uses, so a row here reconciles with a row
there exactly.
- **Agent-reported mishaps** - recent incidents agents explicitly supplied to
`session_end`, attributed through the reporting session's harness and model.
Warning tones appear only when reports exist; an empty rail is a positive
"No mishaps reported" state.
- **Knowledge sky** - a star chart of every active memory, with no cap. Each
project scope (global included) owns a wedge sized by its share of memories,
largest first. Distance from the centre is when the memory last surfaced to an
agent: the core holds the last 24 hours, rings mark 7 and 45 days (the same
fresh and stale lines the memory reader and the "going stale" card use), and
the rim belt holds memories that have never surfaced. Colour is kind; size is
demand (the query-gated utility score, so a big star is one agents pull, not
one the briefing merely shows). Hollow stars have never surfaced, a ring marks
a starred memory, spikes mark one written today, and today's stars twinkle.
Beside the chart, a readout states the same picture as text: each ring's
count, the going-stale count (always equal to the attention card's), and every
scope with its ring mix as a bar. Point at a star for its name and description
(the pointer snaps to the nearest star); click it for a card with its facts and
a link to open it; double-click to open it directly. Type in **Find a memory**
to light only the matches (name, description, tag, scope, or kind) and list
them, with the arrow keys and Enter to step through; click a ring, the going-
stale line, a scope, or a kind chip to filter the same way, and point at one
to preview it. When an injection or a read lands on the live stream, each
memory it names sends a beam into the core, and the refresh that follows
glides the star to its new ring; a newly written memory appears with a flare.
A star keeps its place while its scope and ring are unchanged, so a refresh
moves only what changed, and search, filters, and the selection survive it.
It is HTML only - the JSON answer carries no sky.
- **Recent activity** - the last twelve events, each linking to its detail page.
The four judged vitals at the top (memory reach, knowledge continuity, context
injections, sessions reached) are drill-down links carrying the selected
window: reach, injections, and sessions reached land on the Retrieval screen
whose hero and delivery funnel are the same numbers over the same report, and
continuity lands on the Sessions list filtered to `?retained=no` - the
sessions that kept nothing. An empty-state card stays linked, because the
destination explains why there is nothing.
Live sessions are counted TTL-aware (active *and* heartbeated within the idle
threshold), so the headline matches the Sessions screen rather than the raw
`active` count that an idle session inflates until the reaper runs.
### Since you were last here
When you come back to the Overview after at least five minutes away, a line
above everything else answers the check-in question -- what changed while I was
gone? -- with linked counts: memories written, sessions started, tasks closed,
notes written, gardener proposals raised, and mishaps reported since you last
looked ("Quiet since you were last here 3h ago" when nothing was recorded).
"Last looked" is a per-browser stamp, set whenever a console tab is hidden or
left; the counts come from `GET /console/since?t=<unix ms>`, which answers JSON
only and refuses a missing, malformed, future, or older-than-90-days `t` with a
400 rather than substituting a window.
## Now
`/console/now`
The exploded live view: what every agent is doing right now, across every
project and plan at once. Where the project workspace is task-centric, Now is
agent-centric - the unit is the live session, and everything it holds rides its
card. The sidebar entry's badge is the live agent count, and the page refreshes
on **every** event kind (tool calls included - here they are the signal, not
noise), morphing in place like every other screen.
Top to bottom:
- **The titlebar** - live agent count and the fleet-wide pulse: an events-per-
five-minutes sparkline over the last hour, all kinds, deliberately unfiltered
by scope.
- **A scope strip** - one chip per project with a live agent (`?scope=<slug>`;
the empty project scope filters as `global`). Filtering narrows every zone
except the pulse.
- **On duty** - one card per live session: harness+model pill, project, last
heartbeat (cards are toned hot/warm/quiet by heartbeat age), session wall
clock, cumulative tokens, a star toggle, every claim it holds with a live
lease countdown, and a short trail of what it just produced. A live agent
holding nothing says so: "no claim held - roaming".
- **Loose ends** - `in_progress` tasks no live agent is carrying: a lapsed
lease, a claimless start (`tasks_update status=in_progress` without a
claim), or a holder that went quiet mid-lease. A lapsed claim offers
**release claim** with no confirmation - the lease is already dead, so there
is no live holder to interrupt, only a stale lock to clear.
- **Plans in motion** - a horizontally scrolling rail of every incomplete plan
across every project, done/in-flight progress bars and ready counts, cards
dimmed once a plan has rested for 24h. Each links to its project's Plans &
tasks tab.
- **Up next** - the cross-project ready queue: claimable this instant, plan
steps included, each naming what closing it would unblock.
- **The wire** - the freshest business events, scope-filtered.
Everything links onward - sessions, tasks, plans, projects, events - and the
lease countdowns tick client-side between refreshes. With the
[gamification](#optional-features) feature on, the page also carries the day
tape, the personal-records rail, the hot-streak pulse, and celebration moments;
off (the default), none of that renders.
## Interactions
`/console/interactions`
The clean live feed of what agents are actually doing: MCP tool calls, hook
injections, recall-miss prompts, session lifecycle, and the plan-mode capture
stream. A fresh page starts empty and listens from that moment forward; merely
visiting never restores old rows.
History is explicit and additive. Choose a recent window and select **Add** when
earlier context is useful; live rows stay in place, and **Load older events**
paginates only inside that chosen window. Filters operate over the rows already
in memory, by event category and session lane. Pausing buffers new arrivals
rather than discarding them.
Each compact row expands just enough to expose its request/result or injected
text. Selecting the inspector keeps that context beside the stream and links to
the full event page. A recall via the MCP tool records both a
`retrieval.injected` and a `tool.call`; the injected twin is dropped here because
the tool call carries the same content plus its arguments. Session lifecycle
twins are kept on purpose, as feed markers.
## Search
`/console/search`
One query across every entity the console can link to. Memories and notes come
through the same fused FTS + semantic retrieval that [recall](/concepts/recall/)
uses, with snippets; tasks, plans, trials, projects, and sessions have no FTS
mirror and match by `LIKE`.
Stable references get their own lookup lane. An exact memory name or note slug
ranks ahead of token-overlap matches and is shown beside the result's display
title. A full memory, note, task, session, or trial ULID works
case-insensitively; an 8-character-or-longer ULID prefix finds every match of
those kinds without
letting a short prefix such as `01` flood the page. Identifier matches keep the
canonical ID-based detail link and are labeled separately from keyword and
semantic matches.
The command palette (⌘K, available on every page) fetches this same route with
`?format=json&fast=1`, which drops the semantic leg - a query per keystroke must
never cost a remote embedding round-trip.
The semantic leg is nearest-neighbor: there is always a "nearest" memory,
however far, so a semantic-only hit must clear `search.semantic_floor` (cosine
similarity, default 0.3) to appear - without the floor any query, including
nonsense, would fill the page to its limit. A hit the keyword leg also matched
is exempt. Every hit the semantic leg found shows its similarity as a
percentage, so you can see where relevance falls off; keyword-only hits show a
highlighted snippet instead. Agent-facing recall applies no floor - an agent
can judge a weak hit for itself.
Coverage is deliberately partial in one place: events are excluded because the
telemetry stream has its own Interactions surface and would flood results.
## Projects
`/console/projects`
The board: one row per project, with live sessions, total sessions, open and
blocked tasks, memory count, inherited memories, reach rate, and last activity.
Grouped by family (`?group=family|flat`) and sortable (`?sort=recent|coverage|name`).
The global (`""`) scope appears as a row but is not a project and has no detail
link.
Selecting a project opens the **project workspace** - a seven-tab page over that
project alone:
| Tab | Shows |
|---|---|
| Overview | The project's metrics, memory kinds, injection trend, recent events. |
| Plans & tasks | Per-plan step timelines with each step's status, claiming session, lease countdown, and blocking dependency; plus the ready queue. |
| Sessions | The project's sessions, with the tasks each currently holds. |
| Memories | The project's memories with a lineage cell - provenance session, or a supersession pointer - plus the memories it *inherits* from a parent that a strict per-slug count excludes. |
| Notes | The project's notes. |
| Interactions | The project-scoped slice of the feed. |
| Context | The effective SessionStart flow into and out of the project: global and parent memory pools, sibling-family channels, and split lineage. |
A retired project still renders, with its banner - kept for provenance. Only an
unknown slug is a 404.
## Sessions
`/console/sessions`, `/console/sessions/{id}`
The list separates **active** (live: active and heartbeated within the idle TTL)
from **idle** (active but gone quiet past it, awaiting the reaper) from
**completed** and **expired**. Filterable by status, searchable, windowed, and
filterable by retention (`?retained=yes|no`): whether the session left a
durable artifact behind - non-empty findings, or a written memory, note, or
recorded trial, the same covered-ness test the coverage numbers apply. The
Overview's continuity vital links straight to `?retained=no`, so its click
answers "which sessions dropped knowledge".
The list defaults to the last 24 hours. When that leaves most sessions out, the
list ends by saying so ("3 of 212 sessions were active in the last 24h") and
offers the wider windows in place, so a quiet day never reads as an empty
system. A row names its host only when the session ran on a different machine
from the console's, and its source only when it was not a normal startup.
A session's page is the workspace: its findings (rendered), its full event
timeline as interaction rows, per-session counts (tool calls, memory reads and
writes, items injected, and read-after-inject), the tasks it currently claims with
their lease countdowns, and the memories it produced.
## Memories
`/console/memories`, `/console/memories/{id}`
A two-pane library: a rail of memories grouped by project (global first, kinds
in canonical order, each dot colored by kind) beside a full-height reader.
Sortable by name, recency, reach, utility, or starred; filterable by a substring
of name, description, kind, or tag. Inactive memories collapse into an
archived-and-superseded group at the rail's end, each carrying its status and,
when superseded, what replaced it.
The reader renders the body uncapped (through the markdown layer, with raw HTML
disabled and a sanitizer on the output), the metadata - kind, project, tags,
timestamps, the session that produced it - its reach counts, its
[utility score](/concepts/recall/#the-utility-nudge) with the per-signal
demand breakdown behind it, the `vscode://` link straight to the file, and its
supersession neighbors in **both** directions: what replaced it, and what it
replaced. The actions here are
**star** - the flag that pins it into briefings and boosts recall - and
**archive**.
Opening `/console/memories` auto-opens the most recently updated match; a
memory's own URL opens the same screen with it selected. Clicking rail items
swaps the reader in place (real URLs, browser Back works), and `j` / `k` step
through the rail.
## Notes
`/console/notes`, `/console/notes/{id}`
The same library shape for notes: a project-grouped rail (global `""` first),
sortable by recency, title, or starred, filterable by title, description, or
tag. The
reader renders the note as a document - uncapped body in a measured reading
column, description, tags, word count, source URL, and the file path with an
editor link.
## Tasks
`/console/tasks`, `/console/tasks/{id}`
The same library shape, with the rail grouped into four buckets: **ready** (no
unfinished blocker), **in progress**, **blocked**, and **closed** (done and
dropped merged, newest first, capped at 25 with a count of the rest, collapsed
by default). The reader carries the task's body, claim and lease state, and
both dependency directions; **force-release** is the action, and it is the
owner override - it takes the lock from whoever holds it.
## Plans
`/console/plans`, `/console/plans/{slug}`
The same library shape, with the rail grouped by phase (**in progress**,
**ready**, **done**) and scoped by the window selector in the rail's tools
(24h by default). Both kinds of plan share the rail:
- **captures** - Claude Code plan-mode captures (`cc-plan` notes), with their
lifecycle status, iteration count, and cached subagent runs.
- **composed** - plain [plans-as-composition](/concepts/tasks-and-plans/) plans (a
note tagged `plan:<slug>` plus its tasks), which have none of the capture-only
fields.
When the window hides plans, the rail ends with how many last moved before it
and the wider windows to switch to.
A capture owns its slug; composed plans fill only the rest. The reader shows
the rendered plan body, the step tasks, and the notes attached to the
composition (supporting notes and agent caches). **Approve** appears here, for
captures only.
Each plan also carries a **model tokens** rollup - the cumulative transcript
tokens of every session attributed to the plan (any session that moved a step,
or captured the plan) - compact in the rail (`~483k tok`) and qualified in the
reader (`~483k model tokens · 3 sessions (1 unreported)`). Attribution is
whole-session on purpose: tokens are only ever known per session, so a
session's full burn counts toward each plan it touched, counted once however
many steps it moved. Claude Code reports tokens at session end, so a live
session stays *unreported* until it finishes; a session that touched more than
one plan is disclosed as *shared* rather than split by guesswork - which is
also why plan totals must never be summed across plans.
## Labs
`/console/labs`, `/console/labs/{name}`
The research-lab surface (the console twin of `lab_open` / `trial_record` /
`trial_query`). Labs and Trials are one [optional feature](#optional-features)
and ship off; while it is off both screens answer with a short "switched off"
page and neither appears in the nav.
A lab is not a stored entity - it is the label its trials carry, a stable name
for one line of investigation - so this screen is an aggregation over the trials
table and there is nothing to write.
The same library shape: a rail of labs, most recently active first, each with
its trial count and pass/fail tallies. The reader shows one lab's whole
identity - outcome tallies (pass, fail, partial, inconclusive, and *other* for
free-form or empty outcomes), the projects and sessions its trials touched,
first and last activity - and its trial history, newest first, each entry
linking into the Trials screen. Long histories cap at 100 with a pointer to the
uncapped, filterable view.
## Trials
`/console/trials`, `/console/trials/{id}`
The flat, filterable view over every recorded trial - the console twin of the
`trial_query` MCP tool, and part of the same
[optional feature](#optional-features) as [Labs](#labs). The rail groups trials
by lab (a group sits where its newest trial does) and filters by `?lab=` and
`?outcome=`. Outcomes are
free-form by design, so `?outcome=` is an exact-match filter rather than a
validated enum; the seg offers the conventional values (`pass`, `fail`,
`partial`, `inconclusive`).
The reader shows one trial's full record: what changed, **expected vs actual**
side by side (the actual pane tinted by outcome), the structured metrics
`trial_record` captured, and its provenance - lab, project, and the recording
session, each linked. Trial hits also surface in [search](#search) and the
command palette, and a session's page lists the trials it recorded.
## Context
`/console/context`
The briefing topology that the plans board does not show: which knowledge pools
are eligible at SessionStart, which configured edges are currently enabled by
the effective briefing settings, and where project splits moved durable memory.
It covers global memory, one-way parent-memory inheritance, bidirectional sibling
families (findings and the opt-in memory channel), unregistered-scope warnings,
and retired-project split lineage reconstructed from the memory-move event log.
`?scope=all` renders every known project scope, with global memory shown as the
shared source pool; `?scope=project&project=<slug>` focuses the same topology on
one project. The legacy `/console/relations` route permanently redirects here
and preserves its query string.
Reachable from the Projects board.
## Retrieval
`/console/retrieval`
The circulation report: is stored knowledge actually reaching agents, and at
what cost? The hero pairs the **reach ring** (distinct active memories that
surfaced, over all active memories) with the window's volume and cost -
injections, sessions reached, and **estimated tokens injected**. Everything
follows the selectable observation window except where a panel says otherwise.
Five zones below it:
1. **Delivery path** - the funnel as a flow: injections → distinct memories →
sessions reached, ending in the knowledge-base coverage meter (how many
active memories are still waiting to surface).
2. **Circulation pattern** - the injection trend chart and the traffic-by-kind
mix.
3. **Scope coverage** - reach per project scope (global first), each row with
its own reach rate and injection count.
4. **Knowledge pressure** - the most-injected memories against **quiet
knowledge**: active memories not updated, injected, or read in 90 days,
mirroring the gardener's default staleness horizon. Unlike everything else
on the page, the stale list is all-time, not windowed.
5. **Loop health** - push versus pull: is what briefings push also what agents
pull? **Demand rate** is the share of briefed memories that were also pulled
by a query; **waste share** is the share of injected tokens spent on memories
with no query-gated demand, judged against a fixed trailing 30 days whatever
the window. Two miss stats sit side by side and measure different paths:
the **recall-miss rate** is ambient - prompts that matched no memory on the
[`<seam-recall>` path](/concepts/recall/#the-recall-triad) - while **agent
search misses** are deliberate `recall` calls that found nothing; recurring
ones feed the gardener's
[memory-wanted pass](/concepts/gardener/#what-it-looks-for). **Funnel by
surface** splits the read-after-inject funnel by injection surface -
session-start briefings versus subagent-start child injections - each with
its injections, distinct memories, and the share pulled by a query-gated
read within the following 24 hours. The zone closes
with the **dead weight** panel: memories briefings kept injecting without a
single recall hit, prompt match, or read in 30 days (constraints and stages
exempt as pinned-by-design) - the evidence behind the gardener's dead-weight
archive proposals.
Reachable from the Overview's retrieval-health card.
## Gardener
`/console/gardener`
The review queue. Each pending proposal renders as a card showing exactly what it
would do - the memory to archive and why (whether staleness, a dead stage, or
dead weight flagged it), the pair to merge with their similarity score, the
digest or consolidated memory with its body rendered, the reproject's source and
destination, the rekind's from and to kinds, the split's children and shared
parent, and the **knowledge gap**
card with the queries agents kept searching for in vain - applying that one
opens a task; nothing is written until someone writes the memory.
Split batches are grouped by plan and reviewed together, setup card first, with an
apply-the-whole-plan action.
The actions are **apply**, **dismiss**, **hide forever**, **retarget**
(reproject cards only), and **apply plan**. Dismissing answers the evidence in
front of you - the pattern comes back if it recurs; hiding answers the pattern
itself. Everything you decide lands in **Recently decided** with an Undo, and a
hide is additionally listed under **Hidden forever**, where **Unhide** lifts the
block without returning the proposal to the queue. Above them sits a single
ask-in-words box, and it only ever
produces more proposals for this same queue. A request recognized as a project
split is planned as a split directly - the plan batch appears below like any
other. When the split's source project cannot be matched, an inline follow-up
asks you to pick the project and plans the split from there; nothing is retyped.
See [The gardener](/concepts/gardener/) for what each proposal type means.
## Settings
`/console/settings?s=<section>`
Settings is one section at a time, each shaped by what you came to do rather
than by subsystem. A sub-nav on the left (a row of chips on a phone) switches
sections in place, without reloading the page. `/console/settings` alone opens
**Experience**; an unknown `?s=` is a 400 that names the valid sections. Which
sections a level offers is in the [matrix above](#choose-how-much-you-see); a
section above your level still opens from a link, under the same note a hidden
screen gets. Old `/console/settings#...` bookmarks land on the matching section.
The editable sections share two habits. A one-line note at the top says where
the values come from - **Following file + env**, or an override in force, with
**Reset to file + env** beside it. And a save bar appears at the bottom once a
form has unsaved changes, with **Save** and **Discard** (which puts the form back
exactly as the page loaded it); without JavaScript the bar is simply always
there. `GET /console/settings?format=json` returns the whole payload whatever
`?s=` says, plus `consoleLevel`, `consoleLevelOverridden`, and
`consoleLevelSource`.
### Experience
`/console/settings?s=experience`
The three [levels](#choose-how-much-you-see) side by side - Basic, Standard,
Advanced - the current one marked, each with a one-line pitch and a list of what
it shows, generated from the same registries the sidebar and the page gates
read, so the list cannot promise something the level does not do. Choosing one
applies at once: the sidebar and the page update in place, and if the new level
hides the screen you were on you land on Home with a note. The note at the top
says whether the level was **chosen in the console** or **set by the upgrade**,
and **Reset to file + env** hands the choice back to `console.level`. The same
section holds the theme and a button for the shortcut sheet. The theme is
**System**, **Light**, or **Dark**, kept per browser. System is what a browser
starts on: it follows your computer's light or dark appearance, and follows it
live when it changes. Light and Dark pin one theme. The sidebar's sun and moon
switch the same setting: under System they pin the theme opposite the one on
screen, and picking System here goes back to following the computer.
### Optional features
`/console/settings?s=features`
Optional features are the parts of Seamless you can switch on and off, and they
ship **off**: a fresh install exposes none of them until you turn one on. The
section renders one card per feature - a toggle, an Enabled/Disabled pill, what the
feature is, a generated line naming exactly what switching it off hides, and a
live count of the data it holds either way ("Data kept: 12 trials across 3
labs").
There are three today:
**Research labs & trials** owns the [Labs](#labs) and [Trials](#trials)
screens, the trials search scope, and the `lab_open`, `trial_record`, and
`trial_query` MCP tools. Screens and tools move together on purpose, so an
agent never sees a tool for a screen you switched off.
**Momentum** is gentle progress cues woven into existing screens -- plan finish
lines, capture streaks, knowledge payoffs, and project growth -- judged from
real activity, never invented. It owns no screens or tools of its own; turning
it on adds seven surfaces where you already look:
- **Plan finish-line cards** on the Overview attention strip: any plan at least
80% done gets one positive card naming the exact remaining steps ("seambench
-- one step from shipped"), linking to the plan, with a thin progress bar
drawn to the plan's exact done/total percent. The agent briefing's plan
line carries the same emphasis, so agents are nudged to close it too.
- **The capture calendar** on Sessions: a year of daily activity, cell
intensity from sessions per day, a distinct dot on days that captured
knowledge (a session left findings, a memory, a note, or a trial), and two
quiet numbers -- the current capture streak and the longest ever. The streak
counts covered days, so it rewards capture, not raw usage; a streak of seven
covered days or more earns a small flame beside the number, and the number
itself stays verbatim. The grid is an instrument, not wallpaper: hovering a
cell reads out its day, clicking one focuses the session map on exactly that
day (a clearable chip names the focus; picking a time window widens back
out), and the grid is keyboard-walkable -- arrows move a day or a week,
Enter focuses, all without a page reload.
- **Knowledge payoff moments**: the first time a memory is read by a session
other than the one that wrote it, the moment lands in the activity ledger
("gotcha chroma-boot-race just paid off for the first time") -- once per
memory, ever -- and the Overview rail gains a **Memory of the month** panel
naming the last 30 days' top-utility memory with the counts behind the claim.
- **Maturity stages** on the project board and detail header: each project
earns a latched stage -- seedling, sprouting, established, deep-rooted --
from real thresholds over age, memories, event volume, and reach. Stages
never regress, and the pill's tooltip states exactly what the next stage
asks for.
- **The plan-shipped settle** on Plans: the task transition that closes a
plan's last step -- wherever it lands, an agent shipping over MCP included --
mints a once-ever plan.shipped moment. The plan's row settles with a single
wash when it happens while you are watching, the ledger renders it under its
own flag icon, and the Plans header counts the local month: "Plans shipped
this month: N".
- **Milestone moments** in the activity ledger: a short latched set of honest
firsts and counts -- a project's 100th/500th/1000th memory, its 1000th
answered recall, its first supersession, its first shipped plan, and its
birthdays -- each minted once ever and rendered under an award glyph with
the exact claim ("100 memories written in seamless"). Milestones accumulate
in the ledger only; there is no trophy screen.
- **Witnessed unlocks** on Settings: the utility-activation table's armed
note upgrades to the date each stage unlocked, so a latch that used to flip
silently is witnessed.
Motion keeps one register: every animation plays once -- on a live arrival or
on first render -- and nothing loops except the existing pulse idioms. A moment
already on screen when the page loads renders plain; only a new arrival over
the live feed animates. `prefers-reduced-motion` stills all of it, and the
shipped-plan settle is the ceiling: no confetti and no toasts, which belong to
gamification's arcade on Now.
Momentum keeps the console's judged-numbers ethos: every number is real and
verifiable, empty states say so honestly, and there are no punishment mechanics
-- an inactive day is an empty cell, never a warning, and nothing nags or
expires. Off (the default), none of it renders and none of it is computed: no
latch moves and no moment is minted. Moments minted while it was on stay in
the event history (nothing is ever deleted), though milestone rows leave the
activity feeds until it returns.
**Gamification** is the arcade layer of the [Now](#now) screen. Where momentum
asks "is this knowledge practice building on itself?", gamification plays back
"how hard is the fleet running right now?" - and an owner who enjoys one
framing may find the other noisy, so they toggle separately. It owns no screens
or tools of its own; turning it on adds four surfaces to Now:
- **The day tape**: today's judged output - tasks closed, memories and notes
written, plans touched, sessions started - each cell against its trailing
7-day daily average.
- **The personal-records rail**: latched bests (most tasks closed in a day,
most memories written in a day, most agents live at once). Records only ever
move forward, like maturity stages; an unset record reads "today could be
the day".
- **The hot-streak pulse**: the last ten minutes' event count beside the
titlebar pulse, catching fire past a fixed floor. The count is shown
verbatim either way, so the claim stays verifiable.
- **Celebration moments**: a record falling or a plan shipping its last step
today renders a moment chip - and when one lands while you are watching, a
toast and a brief confetti burst (skipped under reduced motion). A record
crossing is minted into the event ledger at most once per record per day.
The same guardrails as momentum apply: every number is judged from recorded
activity, never invented, and there are no punishment mechanics - a quiet day
is an empty tape, never a warning. Off (the default), none of it is computed,
no record latch is written, and the Now page carries zero trace of it.
**Nothing is ever deleted.** Switching a feature off gates exposure and nothing
else: the trials stay in the database, its screens answer with a short "switched
off" page that links back here (a JSON caller gets a 403), and switching it back
on restores every surface exactly as it was. That is what the data-kept line on
each card is for - it reports the feature's own rows whether it is on or off.
**When the change lands** has four different answers:
| Surface | When |
|---|---|
| The console | Immediately - nav entries, screens, the search scope, and the overview tiles appear or disappear on the next render. |
| A tool call | Immediately - a disabled feature's tool is refused as an unknown tool, whatever list the caller is holding. |
| The agent briefing | The next session start - momentum's finish-line emphasis reads the same stored override the console gates on. |
| A client's tool list | The next time it lists tools, in practice its next session. Seamless declares `listChanged: false` and sends no tool-list notification, so a connected client keeps the list it already has. |
| The client-side skill | The next `seamlessd install-hooks` run. The daemon does not reach into `~/.claude/skills` on a toggle, so `seamlessd doctor` raises an **info** line while a skill for a disabled feature is still sitting in a client's skill home. |
Saving writes a **stored override** row in the database - the same layer the
briefing form uses. It wins over file and env, never touches your config file,
and holds until **Reset to file + env** clears it; reset means back to the
file/env configuration, which unless you set `features:` there is off.
One override can be in force without you having set it. Upgrading an
installation that already holds trial data seeds the override with research on,
so a feature that now ships off does not disappear from under data you were
already using. That is why the section states that a stored override is in force
rather than crediting you with the choice - and reset clears it like any other.
At Basic the section keeps the cards, what each hides, and the data-kept line,
and leaves out the agent tool names and the precedence line.
### Your setup
`/console/settings?s=setup`
Read-only facts in plain words: the version, the machine the daemon runs on, the
config file (with a link that opens it in your editor, or a note that the daemon
runs on defaults and environment variables), the data folder, the database file
and its size, which agent clients have recorded sessions and when each was last
active, whether semantic recall is on - and when it is off, what to do about it -
whether the gardener is running and how often, and links to these docs. No
budgets or policy numbers: those live in Knowledge engine.
### Briefing
`/console/settings?s=briefing`
What every new agent session starts with. Three **presets** lead the section -
**Lean** (a short briefing: the binding rules, the freshest memories, little
else), **Balanced** (exactly the defaults), and **Rich** (more rules in full,
more recent work, and family memories) - each card showing the numbers that set
it apart. Picking one fills the form; nothing is saved until you save. Below
them, **Customize** holds every knob, grouped by what it shapes - the memory
index, recent work, the planning horizon, the project family, utility ranking,
and the safety ceiling - with each knob's "0 means" note under it. Customize is
open by default at Advanced. The section marks the preset your saved values
equal, or **Custom** when they match none, and re-marks it as you edit.
Saving writes a runtime override row in the DB. It layers over the file/env
values and wins until reset, and it applies from the next session start - no
daemon restart. It never touches your config file, so `seamless.yaml` stays the
thing you wrote. The token budget (`budgets.max_briefing_tokens`) is not a
briefing knob and no preset moves it. The form validates: a non-numeric knob or a
value that fails `Briefing.Validate()` comes back as an error flash, not a
silently-dropped save.
The **preview** shows the `<seam-briefing>` a new session in one project would
start with, under the values the form holds right now, saved or not. It sits
between the presets and Customize, or beside the form when the section is wide
enough. Pick a preset or change a knob and it follows within a moment. It
also shows the token estimate against `budgets.max_briefing_tokens` and the hard
cap, and flags a briefing that runs over the budget (only constraints, pinned
stages, and starred rows can put it there) or would be cut at the cap. The project picker
lists the registered projects and opens on the one your agents worked in last.
A preview is a read: it saves nothing, records no event, and no agent receives
it, so it never counts toward retrieval stats or utility. Values the save would
refuse, it refuses with the same message. For scripts,
`GET /console/settings/briefing/preview?project=<slug>&format=json` previews the
saved values. `POST` to the same path, with the form's fields plus `project`,
previews unsaved ones. It is the one POST in the console that writes nothing,
which is why it is not in the table of write routes above.
The **utility ranking** group holds `utility_weight` (utility's share of the
briefing sort key; 0 restores pure recency) and `utility_mode` (`auto` arms each
project as its demand history matures, `on` everywhere now, `off` never). Where
each scope stands against the readiness gates is in Knowledge engine. See
[Sessions & briefings](/concepts/sessions/#the-budget-and-what-survives-it) for
how the blended order behaves once active.
### Workspaces
`/console/settings?s=workspaces`
How repositories resolve to project scopes, and which projects share context.
**Project families** are editable here: create, rename, edit, or delete the named
groupings that [`seamlessd family`](/reference/cli-seamlessd/#seamlessd_family)
manages from the CLI - the same `project_families` setting, so a change on either
surface shows up on the other. Members are chosen from a closed picker of
registered projects; the CLI is the route for pre-registering a slug that does
not exist yet. Below it, one bounded directory lists every scope with its repo
routes and family tags. At Advanced each route also names the machine it lives
on, and repo paths that resolve to no project are listed as unbound.
### Knowledge engine
`/console/settings?s=engine`
The machinery, in three groups.
**Recall** - the embedder card shows the active provider and model, and when
embeddings are off, the exact cause, with distinct copy for the owner off switch,
the no-key lexical fallback, and a config error. The off/auto switch is a
settings row read once at serve start, so the page flags a pending restart
whenever the stored switch disagrees with the running process. Beside it, the
stored-vector counts: totals, the not-yet-embedded backlog, and a per-model
table that badges models the running embedder no longer writes as stale -
**re-embed everything** rewrites the corpus with the active model in the
background.
**Ranking** - the **utility activation by scope** table lists every scope with
each readiness gate against its threshold (demand events, memories touched,
history age - met gates turn green) and, for scopes still building, spells out
exactly what remains before auto arms ("needs 7 more events, 3d more history").
A per-scope **force** overrides the latch in either direction; when the global
mode is `on` or `off`, the table says the per-scope state is dormant until auto
returns.
**Storage & policy** - read-only: the data folder, the context budgets, the
database (path, size on disk including the WAL, schema version), and the
gardener's cadence and policy. Change these through the config file or
environment, then restart.
See [Configuration](/reference/configuration/) for what each knob does, and
[Sessions & briefings](/concepts/sessions/) for what they tune.
## Event detail
`/console/events/{id}`
What a Recent-activity or timeline row links to: a compact event review workspace
with the event's agent/session attribution, verbatim injected or transport
content, surfaced memories resolved to their live index entries (or flagged
missing), remaining payload fields, and raw JSON (the last two at the Advanced
level; `?format=json` always carries them). The Interactions inspector
uses the same content model in a side pane; opening the full page adds context
without changing the underlying event.
## Errors
A bad or stale URL renders a styled, layout-wrapped error page with a way back,
rather than dropping you on a bare `404 page not found` -- including any
`/console/` path no route claims, which gets a search box and links to the
common destinations. A 404 names the missing
entity and a 400 names the bad parameter and its valid values. A 500 stays
generic in the browser - the detail is in the log, not the response. Fragment
fetches (`?peek=1`) get a fragment-shaped error, since a full page injected into
the detail pane would nest the whole console inside itself.
---
# Storage and file formats
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/reference/storage/
Seamless splits its state in two. Markdown files under the data directory are the
**source of truth** for durable knowledge. SQLite is the **record** for
high-churn state and a **rebuildable index** of the files.
Knowing which half a given piece of state lives in tells you whether you can edit
it by hand, and what happens if you delete it.
## The tree
`data_dir` defaults to `~/.seamless`:
```text
On-disk layout
~/.seamless/ Owner-only local data directory
seam.db Indexes, sessions, tasks, trials, events, and embeddings
memory/ Durable memory tree
_global/{name}.md Machine-wide memories
{project}/{name}.md One project memory per file
notes/ Durable note tree
_global/{slug}.md Machine-wide notes
{project}/{slug}.md One project note per file
Markdown is durable knowledge; the database combines rebuildable indexes with high-churn operational state.
```
A memory's project is its directory. An empty `project` field means global, and
the file lands in `memory/_global/`. Notes work the same way, under
`notes/_global/`. A memory's filename is its `name`; a note's is its `slug`.
## Memory frontmatter
One memory per file, YAML frontmatter plus a markdown body:
```yaml
---
id: 01K...
kind: gotcha
name: chroma-boot-race
description: one line, <=150 chars -- the ONLY text shown in indexes
project: seam
created: 2026-07-10T18:00:00Z
updated: 2026-07-10T18:00:00Z
valid_from: 2026-07-10T18:00:00Z
invalid_at: null
superseded_by: null
source_session: cc/019f7291-7ccbc0d8f16e51a4
model: claude-fable-5
tags: [x, y]
---
body markdown
```
Field by field:
| Field | Set by | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| `id` | system | ULID. Never a UUID. The identity every other reference points at. |
| `kind` | author | One of the nine kinds below. Kinds are pinned and filtered differently during briefing assembly. |
| `name` | author | The filename stem, and how agents address the memory. Unique per project only among active memories - a superseded memory coexists with a replacement that reuses its name. |
| `description` | author | One line, ≤150 chars. **The only text shown in indexes** - write it for an agent deciding whether to read the body. Longer text is **silently truncated** by `memory_write`, not rejected, so write to the limit deliberately. |
| `project` | author | Project slug. Empty means global, and the file lives under `memory/_global/`. Omitted from the frontmatter when empty. |
| `created` | system | RFC3339. First write. |
| `updated` | system | RFC3339. Last write. |
| `valid_from` | system | RFC3339. Start of the validity window. |
| `invalid_at` | **system only** | RFC3339 or `null`. `null` means active. Set on supersession or archive; a memory with it set leaves every active index. |
| `superseded_by` | **system only** | ULID of the replacement, or `null`. |
| `source_session` | system | Provenance - an ambient session name such as `cc/019f7291-7ccbc0d8f16e51a4`, or the ULID of a bound explicit session. Consumers resolve both; treat names as opaque. |
| `model` | system | The model that produced the content, verbatim as the provider names it (`claude-fable-5`, `gpt-5.5`). Stamped from the writing session; a rewrite by a known model re-attributes, an unknown one preserves the prior value. Omitted when unknown. |
| `favorite` | author | `true` when starred (console, `seam fav`, or `favorite_set`). A starred memory is pinned into every briefing and boosted in recall. Omitted when false; hand-editing it works - the watcher reindexes. Starring never bumps `updated`. |
| `tags` | author | Flow-style list. Omitted when empty. Also the `plan:<slug>` composition key. |
Timestamps are RFC3339 strings on disk. Any key not in that set is preserved
verbatim through a parse/render round-trip (Obsidian plugin fields and the like
survive), but is not mirrored to the index.
### The nine kinds
| Kind | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `constraint` | A hard rule that must hold on any task. |
| `convention` | A project-local choice or layout fact. |
| `runbook` | A procedure to follow. |
| `protocol` | An interaction or coordination contract. |
| `gotcha` | A surprising pitfall. |
| `decision` | A choice and its rationale. |
| `refuted` | A claim investigated and found false. |
| `reference` | A durable pointer or fact. |
| `stage` | A gated stage with status and gate lines. |
### Validity
`invalid_at` is the whole lifecycle in one field. `nil` means active. Anything
else means the memory has left the briefing, prompt, and recall indexes - while
staying on disk and readable, as provenance.
A superseded memory is never deleted. It is stamped `invalid_at` and
`superseded_by`, and keeps a tombstone line in its file body, so the on-disk
truth stays honest about what replaced what. Its file keeps occupying
`memory/{project}/{name}.md`; a new memory cannot silently overwrite it (that
would destroy readable supersession history) and must free the name or pick
another.
## Note frontmatter
A note is a work artifact - research finding, decision record, meeting summary.
Unlike a memory it has **no lifecycle and no validity window**:
```yaml
---
id: 01K...
title: Human-facing title
slug: human-facing-title
description: one line
project: seam
created: 2026-07-10T18:00:00Z
updated: 2026-07-10T18:00:00Z
source_url: https://example.com/page
model: claude-fable-5
tags: [research, plan:my-feature]
---
body markdown
```
`id`, `title`, `created`, and `updated` are always emitted. `slug`,
`description`, `project`, `source_url`, `model`, `favorite`, and `tags` are
omitted when empty (or, for `favorite`, false). `source_url` is set when the
note came from `capture_url`; `model` is the producing model, stamped exactly
as for memories; `favorite` marks a starred note, exactly as for memories.
Empty `project` means `notes/_global/`. Unknown keys round-trip losslessly,
same as memories.
## What lives only in SQLite
`seam.db` holds two categories of data with very different recovery stories.
**Rebuildable mirrors of the files.** Delete these and they come back:
- `memories_index` - frontmatter mirror, plus `content_hash` and `file_path`.
- `notes_index` - the same for notes.
- `fts` - the FTS5 virtual table over both, indexing title, name, description,
and body. Self-contained, managed directly by the files layer.
- `embeddings` - one float32 BLOB vector per item (little-endian), with its model
and dims. Brute-force cosine; there is no vector database.
**DB-of-record state that exists nowhere else.** These have no file behind them,
so losing `seam.db` loses them:
- `sessions` - ambient and explicit sessions, findings, cwd, status.
- `tasks` and `task_deps` - the ready-queue, plan slugs, claims, and leases.
- `trials` - research lab records with queryable JSON metrics.
- `events` - the append-only log behind telemetry, the console feed, and
retrieval stats.
- `retrieval_stats` - inject/read counters plus the per-memory time-decayed
utility score with its per-signal demand breakdown, rebuilt from events.
- `projects` - slugs, parent topology, retirement.
- `gardener_proposals` - pending proposals, one row per kind-and-key
(merge, consolidate, archive, digest, reproject, rekind, split, abandon-plan,
memory-wanted, tool-error).
- `settings` - `repo_project_map`, project families, the runtime briefing
overrides the console writes, the per-scope utility-activation latch, and the
embedder on/off switch.
- `jobs` - the small queue for embeds and LLM digests.
The split is deliberate: durable knowledge is yours in plain markdown, and
high-churn state that would be miserable as files stays in the database.
WAL mode means `seam.db` is normally accompanied by `seam.db-wal` and
`seam.db-shm`. They are part of the database; copy all three or none - a `cp` of
just `seam.db` under a live writer is a torn snapshot, not a backup. The way not
to think about any of that is
[`seamlessd export`](/reference/cli-seamlessd/#seamlessd_export), which takes the
snapshot with SQLite's `VACUUM INTO` inside a read transaction and is safe to run
against a running daemon.
### Reconciliation
At startup the files layer walks both trees and reconciles them against the
index: changed and new files are re-indexed, and index rows whose file has been
deleted are dropped. A watcher then keeps up with out-of-band edits, debounced
(editors emit several writes per save) and with the application's own writes
suppressed so there is no re-index loop.
This is why the index is genuinely rebuildable, and why editing a memory in your
editor works without telling Seamless about it.
## Hand-editing rules
Files are the source of truth, so **hand-editing is allowed and expected**. Open
a memory in your editor, fix the body, save. The watcher picks it up and
re-indexes it. Adding tags, tightening a description, correcting a fact - all
fine.
Two fields are the exception.
**Never hand-stamp `invalid_at` or `superseded_by`.**
These are the lifecycle, and the supersede path enforces invariants a text editor
cannot:
- `invalid_at` is stamped exactly once. Re-stamping an already-invalid memory
rewrites supersession history and is rejected.
- A `superseded_by` edge must point at an **active** memory. Pointing at an
inactive one can form a cycle or a dangling chain, and is rejected.
- A memory cannot supersede itself.
Use the supersede path instead - `memory_write` with `supersedes` - which stamps
both fields on the old memory, writes the tombstone line, and points the edge at
the replacement, atomically and with the invariants checked. Archival goes
through the same path.
Hand-stamping these fields does not produce an error. It produces a store that
disagrees with itself: a memory out of the indexes with no valid replacement, or
a supersession chain that loops. Both are quiet, and both are exactly the kind of
thing a future agent will trust anyway.
The rest of the rules are mechanical:
- **`id` is identity.** Changing it makes a new memory and orphans every
reference to the old one.
- **`name` and `slug` are filenames.** Rename the file and the field together, or
the watcher will treat it as a delete plus an add.
- **`project` is the directory.** Move the file and change the field together.
## Related
- [Configuration](/reference/configuration/) - `data_dir` and the rest of the key
set.
- [MCP API overview](/reference/mcp/) - the tools that write these files,
including `memory_write`'s `supersedes`.
- [MCP: tasks](/reference/mcp/tasks/) - the ready-queue whose state lives only in
`seam.db`.
---
# Glossary
URL: https://thereisnospoon.org/docs/reference/glossary/
Terms are listed alphabetically. The ones worth reading even if you think you
know them are the four **disambiguation** entries at the end: each is a pair
people routinely use interchangeably, and each pair means genuinely different
things.
## A–Z
**Ambient session** - a Seamless session opened automatically by a Claude Code
or Codex SessionStart hook, without the agent asking, displayed with an opaque
`cc/...` or `cx/...` handle. Lifecycle identity uses the full external session
ID plus client, not the display handle. Contrast *explicit session*.
**Archive** - marking a Seamless memory invalid because it is no longer
relevant: it leaves the indexes and stays readable. Proposed by the gardener's
staleness pass, never done to a `constraint` or a pinned `stage`.
**Binding** - the association between an MCP connection and a Seamless session,
set by `session_start`; everything on that connection inherits the bound
session's project.
**Briefing** - the `<seam-briefing>` context block Seamless injects into an
agent at session start - constraints, pinned stages, plan rollups, the memory
index, recent findings - assembled inside a token budget. See [Sessions &
briefings](/concepts/sessions/).
**Claim** - an atomic, leased hold on a Seamless task, taken with `tasks_claim`;
exactly one agent can hold a live claim.
**Console** - Seamless's read-mostly web UI at `/console`, an observability
surface for the human owner; agents use MCP.
**Constraint** - the Seamless memory kind for a rule the project cannot
violate; pinned into every briefing, never dropped for budget, never
staleness-archived.
**Description** - the one-line summary in a Seamless memory's frontmatter, the
**only** text shown in any index and therefore the entire retrieval surface.
See [Write memories that get recalled](/guides/write-good-memories/).
**Digest** - a note summarizing a Seamless project's recent activity, proposed
by the gardener.
**Explicit session** - a Seamless session opened by calling `session_start`; it
adopts the ambient session for the same working directory rather than opening a
second one.
**Family** - a set of Seamless projects related by parent/child, so a child's
briefing can carry the parent's memories and a sibling's recent findings.
**Fail closed** - the Seamless rule that a durable write with no resolvable
scope is rejected rather than defaulted to global. See [Projects &
scope](/concepts/projects/).
**Fail open** - the Seamless rule that a hook never blocks an agent: an
internal error still returns success. The cost is that failure is silent.
**Finding** - what a Seamless session learned, passed to `session_end` and
surfaced in later briefings. Not a memory: a finding is what *happened*, a
memory is what is *true*.
**FTS5** - SQLite's built-in full-text search engine, the keyword half of
Seamless recall.
**Gardener** - the Seamless background pass that finds duplicates, staleness,
and drift and **proposes** fixes; it never acts on its own. See [The
gardener](/concepts/gardener/).
**Global** - the Seamless scope with no project, visible to every agent in
every repo; reached only by passing `project: global` deliberately.
**Kind** - a Seamless memory's type: `constraint`, `convention`, `runbook`,
`protocol`, `gotcha`, `decision`, `refuted`, `reference`, or `stage`. See
[Memory & notes](/concepts/memory/).
**Lab** - a shared Seamless workspace for a systematic investigation, holding
trials; opened with `lab_open`.
**Lease** - the expiry on a Seamless task claim (default 900 seconds).
Re-claiming refreshes it; an expired lease is reclaimable, so a crashed agent
does not strand a task.
**Memory** - in Seamless, a markdown file with YAML frontmatter holding one
durable piece of knowledge; the unit that reaches briefings.
**Note** - in Seamless, a markdown file holding a work artifact - research
findings, a meeting summary, a design record; found via recall, never injected
into a briefing.
**Plan** - in Seamless, not a primitive but a composition keyed by
`plan:<slug>`: a narrative note, supporting notes, and step tasks. See [Tasks &
plans](/concepts/tasks-and-plans/).
**Project** - the scope a Seamless memory, note, task, or session belongs to;
resolved from an explicit argument, a bound session, or the agent's cwd.
**Proposal** - the Seamless gardener's output: a suggestion for the owner to
review, applied only with `gardener_apply`.
**Provenance** - the Seamless record of where knowledge came from and what
replaced it: `source_session`, `superseded_by`, `invalid_at`.
**Ready** - a Seamless task with no unfinished blocker; `tasks_ready` returns
exactly those.
**Recall** - Seamless's single search entry point, fusing FTS5 keyword matching
and vector similarity with RRF. Also, loosely, the `<seam-recall>` block
injected on prompt match - see the disambiguation below.
**Reproject** - moving a Seamless memory to a different project that **already
exists**; moving it to one that does not is a *split*.
**RRF (reciprocal rank fusion)** - the method Seamless recall uses to combine
the keyword and vector rankings so neither retriever gets a veto.
**Session** - one agent's stretch of work in Seamless. Sessions heartbeat; an
idle one is reaped and marked `expired`.
**Split** - dividing one Seamless project into new child projects, creating
them and a shared parent; planned as a unit by `gardener_split`.
**Stage** - the Seamless memory kind recording where multi-session work stands;
pinned into briefings like a constraint.
**Supersede** - replacing an outdated Seamless memory with a new one: the old
is marked invalid, leaves the indexes, and stays readable pointing at its
replacement.
**Trial** - one attempt recorded in a Seamless lab: what was tried, what was
expected, what happened.
**ULID** - the id format Seamless uses everywhere, sortable by creation time.
Never UUID.
## Four distinctions worth getting right
**Memory vs. note vs. finding.** A *memory* is what is true (injected into
briefings). A *note* is what you produced (found by searching). A *finding* is
what a session learned (surfaced as recent activity). The test for the first
two: would a future agent need this injected before it starts? Then it is a
memory.
**Briefing vs. recall injection vs. recall call.** All three end with the agent
knowing something, which is why they blur. The *briefing* fires at session start
and is unconditional. A *recall injection* fires on prompt match, mid-turn, still
without the agent asking. A *recall call* is the agent choosing to search. The
first two are ambient; only the third is a decision. See
[Recall](/concepts/recall/).
**Ambient vs. explicit session.** *AmDiscussion
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