Memory

Search first: /mnemonic:search {relevant_keywords} Capture after: /mnemonic:capture {namespace} "{title}"

Run /mnemonic:list --namespaces to see available namespaces from loaded ontologies.

Mnemonic Format Skill

MIF (Modeled Information Format) 1.4.2 Level 3 templates and formatting guidelines.

Concept frontmatter keys are camelCase (MIF 1.4.2 section 3.3). Older mnemonic memories may still carry snake_case keys (valid_from, source_type, compressed_at), relates_to relationship types, bare-UUID targets and [[uuid]] wiki-links. Those are still read, but always write the forms below. tools/mnemonic-migrate-mif upgrades old files on request.

Trigger Phrases

• "memory format", "MIF format", "frontmatter template", "memory template", "mnemonic schema"

Quick Start: Minimal Memory

Only 4 fields are required. Everything else is optional.

---
id: 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000
title: "Human-readable title"
type: semantic
created: 2026-01-23T10:30:00Z
---

# Title

Content here.

That's it. Add optional fields only when you need them.

File Naming

{slug}.memory.md

• slug: URL-safe title, lowercase, max 50 chars
• UUID is stored only in the frontmatter id: field
• If a file with the same slug already exists, content is merged
• MIF 1.4.2 names concept files {slug}.md and calls the .memory infix legacy. mnemonic keeps {slug}.memory.md because its search, hooks and tools all glob *.memory.md.

Full Optional Fields Reference

---
# REQUIRED (always include these 4)
id: 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000
title: "Human-readable title"
type: semantic
created: 2026-01-23T10:30:00Z

# COMMON
modified: 2026-01-23T14:22:00Z
namespace: _semantic/decisions/project
tags:
  - architecture
  - database

# BI-TEMPORAL TRACKING
temporal:
  validFrom: 2026-01-23T00:00:00Z
  validUntil: null
  recordedAt: 2026-01-23T10:30:00Z
  ttl: P90D
  decay:
    model: exponential
    halfLife: P7D
    strength: 0.85
  accessCount: 5
  lastAccessed: 2026-01-23T14:22:00Z

# PROVENANCE
provenance:
  sourceType: agent_inferred      # user_explicit | user_implicit | agent_inferred | external_import | system_generated
  sourceRef: file:///path/to/source.ts:42
  agent: claude-opus-4
  confidence: 0.95
  trustLevel: moderate_confidence # verified | user_stated | high_confidence | moderate_confidence | low_confidence | uncertain
  sessionId: abc123

# RELATIONSHIPS (authoritative; mirrored in the body, see below)
relationships:
  - type: relates-to
    target: urn:mif:7c9e6679-7425-40de-944b-e07fc1f90ae7
  - type: supersedes
    target: urn:mif:f47ac10b-58cc-4372-a567-0e02b2c3d479
    metadata:
      label: "Replaced after the 2026 review"

# CODE REFERENCES (mnemonic extension)
codeRefs:
  - file: src/auth/handler.ts
    line: 42
    symbol: authenticateUser
    type: function                # function | class | method | variable | type

# CITATIONS (MIF 1.4.2 section 5.4)
citations:
  - "@type": Citation
    citationType: documentation   # article | book | paper | website | documentation | repository | video | podcast | specification | dataset | tool | other
    citationRole: supports        # see MIF 1.4.2 section 5.4.4
    title: "Source Title"
    url: https://example.com/source
    author: "Author Name"
    date: 2026-01-23
    accessed: 2026-01-23
    relevance: 0.90
    note: "Brief description"

# COMPRESSION (auto-generated by gc --compress)
summary: "Concise 2-3 sentence summary (max 500 chars)"
compressedAt: 2026-01-24T10:00:00Z
---

# Memory Title

Content in markdown format.

## Relationships

- relates-to [Other Memory Title](urn:mif:7c9e6679-7425-40de-944b-e07fc1f90ae7)
- supersedes [Old Memory Title](urn:mif:f47ac10b-58cc-4372-a567-0e02b2c3d479)

Cognitive Memory Types

Relationship Syntax

Relationships are authoritative in the frontmatter relationships array and every entry is mirrored as a Markdown link in a ## Relationships section at the end of the body (MIF 1.4.2 section 5.3), one per line:

## Relationships

- {type} [{Target Title}](urn:mif:{target-uuid})

• {type} is a kebab-case token (relates-to, not relates_to or RelatesTo).
• The target is urn:mif:{uuid} of the target memory, the same string in frontmatter and body.
• An optional human note goes in metadata.label, not a top-level label.
• Do not use [[uuid]] wiki-links for relationships; they are legacy.

Quick Templates

Generate REAL values for ids and timestamps. Run uuidgen | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' and date -u +"%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ" before creating any memory. NEVER leave placeholders.

See Quick Start above for the minimal template. Below are additional templates for common memory types.

Decision Memory

---
id: <generate with: uuidgen | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]'>
type: semantic
namespace: _semantic/decisions/project
created: <generate with: date -u +"%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ">
title: "Decision: {what}"
tags: [architecture]
provenance:
  sourceType: user_explicit
  confidence: 0.95
---

# Decision: {What}

## Quick Answer
{What} was chosen for {primary reason}.

## Context
- **Alternatives:** {Option A}, {Option B}
- **Key drivers:** {Driver 1}, {Driver 2}
- **Trade-offs:** {What was sacrificed}