Memory

Use the exposed Memory MCP tools rather than reading or editing the server's database, cache or state files directly.

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Choose the language for explanations and summaries in this order:

1. the user's explicit language preference;
2. the language of the current request;
3. a reliable client or system locale;
4. English.

Keep category names, tool names, JSON fields, paths and quoted source text unchanged unless the user explicitly asks to translate them.

Understand the model

• A category is a named JSON document. memory_read takes a category, not a nested key.
• Reads may be broadly available while writes are scoped by the server's device or actor ACL.
• Every write is versioned; inspect memory_history when provenance matters.
• Treat recalled state as a snapshot. Verify live files, flags and services before acting on drift-prone facts.

Warm up narrowly

1. Call memory_list to discover available categories.
2. Read only relevant categories with memory_read, or load a bounded set with memory_context.
3. Use memory_search when the category is unknown.

Do not load every category by default.

Write safely

memory_write {category, data} replaces the category by default, where data is the JSON object to store.

• Set merge:true for a top-level patch: supplied keys are inserted or overwritten, JSON null deletes a key, and untouched keys remain.
• Pass expected_hash from the prior read/list result for read-modify-write workflows so concurrent updates fail instead of being overwritten.
• Never write another device's namespace unless the server ACL and the user's request explicitly authorize it.

Separate state from journals

Use memory_append for a bounded append-only log category. The server stamps entries and prunes them according to retention.

• Do not simulate a journal by adding ever-growing dated keys to a normal memory category.
• Do not use memory_write on a log category.
• Do not use memory_append on a normal memory category.

A useful convention is:

• <name>_state: lean declarative state, updated with memory_write;
• <name>_log: bounded event journal, updated with memory_append.

Facts that must never be pruned belong in normal durable state or an external document store, not in a bounded log.

Search and inspect

• Use memory_search for BM25 full-text retrieval across categories.
• Use memory_search_semantic only when the server exposes and supports it.
• Use memory_history to inspect versions before restoring or explaining a change.
• Report writes only after the tool confirms them.

If no Memory MCP tool is available and this skill is packaged with NexusCrew, the optional companion is documented in ../../MCP_COMPANIONS.md. Explain the missing capability and ask before installing or configuring anything.

Dependencies

Bundled: nothing — this skill is documentation only.

External (you must provide):

Without the companion this skill is not usable in that session: say so and suggest the companion once (see the packaged mcp-companions.json catalog) instead of approximating with file reads.