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- #!/usr/bin/env python3
- # /// script
- # requires-python = ">=3.8"
- # ///
- """memlog — an append-only memory log: LLM-optimal working memory for a skill.
- A memlog is the dense, chronological record of everything that mattered in a piece of
- work — every item the user generated or accepted — kept minimal like human memory: only
- what's important, never bloated. It persists ACROSS sessions, so a fresh session can
- load it and continue. It is NOT a deliverable; downstream artifacts (a brief, a PRD, a
- deck, a report) are *derived* from it on demand. The host skill supplies the vocabulary
- by how it calls `append` — the tool stays neutral.
- It is a FLAT log: there are no sections or grouping. Every entry is one line, recorded
- at the END in the order it happened. The chronology itself is the structure — an event
- like "started technique X" is just another entry, same as an idea or an insight.
- Three invariants make it trustworthy:
- 1. Append-only, chronological. Entries land at the end, in the order they happen.
- Nothing is ever inserted backward, reordered, edited, or removed. There is no
- edit or delete subcommand by design; history is never rewritten.
- 2. Write-only / blind. Every command is an atomic, context-free write and echoes the
- new state as one line of JSON, so the caller never re-reads the file mid-session.
- The one time the file is read is on resume — and the caller reads it itself, not
- via this script.
- 3. No lifecycle status. A memory log has no "complete" flag. Whether the work is done,
- blocked, or paused is itself a fact that happened, so it is recorded as an entry
- (e.g. `append --type event --text "session complete"`), never as frontmatter the
- log would have to mutate. The chronology stays the single source of truth, and a
- resume learns the state by reading the last entries — the same way it learns
- everything else.
- Atomicity: every write goes to a temp file, is flushed and fsync'd, then atomically
- renamed over the target, so a crash never leaves a half-written entry.
- The file shape (.memlog.md):
- ---
- topic: Onboarding flow for a budgeting app
- goal: lift week-1 retention
- updated: 2026-06-07T14:22
- ---
- - (note) user picked techniques: SCAMPER, then Six Thinking Hats
- - (technique) started SCAMPER
- - (idea) skip the signup wall: let people try with sample data first
- - (idea) auto-import one bank account so the first screen shows real numbers
- - (question) is open-banking consent too heavy for step one?
- - (insight) the "scary numbers" risk and the "real numbers" idea are one lever: show real data, pre-categorized
- - (direction) optimize for the anxious first-timer, not the power user
- - (decision) lead with one pre-categorized account; defer multi-account import
- - (event) session complete
- Each entry may carry an optional `--type` — what KIND it is (idea, insight, question,
- decision, direction, assumption, gap, note, event, …) — and an optional `--by` naming
- who it came from (e.g. `user`, `coach`), for sessions where authorship matters. Both
- render into one short inline tag: `(idea)`, `(idea by user)`, `(by coach)`. Omit them
- for a plain note. The host skill names the vocabulary; the script does not enforce one.
- Commands:
- init (--workspace DIR | --path FILE) [--field k=v ...] create the memlog (errors if it exists)
- append (--workspace DIR | --path FILE) --text STR [--type T] [--by W] append one entry at the end
- set (--workspace DIR | --path FILE) --key K --value V set/replace a descriptive frontmatter field
- Addressing: `--workspace` is the run folder, and the memlog is always {workspace}/.memlog.md.
- `--path` points straight at the memlog file instead, for callers that already hold the path.
- """
- from __future__ import annotations # keep type-hint syntax lazy so the script runs on 3.8+
- import argparse
- import json
- import os
- import sys
- from datetime import datetime
- from pathlib import Path
- MEMLOG = ".memlog.md"
- def now() -> str:
- return datetime.now().strftime("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M")
- def resolve(args) -> Path:
- """The memlog file, from either addressing mode: {workspace}/.memlog.md or an explicit --path."""
- return Path(args.path) if args.path else Path(args.workspace) / MEMLOG
- def split(text: str) -> tuple[dict, str]:
- """Return (frontmatter dict in source order, body str). Frontmatter is plain key: value.
- The closing fence is the first line that is *exactly* `---`, so a `---` inside a
- field value (topic/goal are free user text) never truncates the frontmatter.
- """
- lines = text.splitlines()
- if not lines or lines[0] != "---":
- raise ValueError(".memlog.md has no frontmatter")
- end = next((i for i in range(1, len(lines)) if lines[i] == "---"), None)
- if end is None:
- raise ValueError(".memlog.md frontmatter is not terminated")
- meta: dict[str, str] = {}
- for line in lines[1:end]:
- if ":" in line:
- k, v = line.split(":", 1)
- meta[k.strip()] = v.strip()
- return meta, "\n".join(lines[end + 1:]).lstrip("\n")
- def render(meta: dict, body: str) -> str:
- # Neutralize newlines in values so a multi-line field can't break the fence on re-read.
- fm = "\n".join(f"{k}: {' '.join(str(v).splitlines())}" for k, v in meta.items())
- return "---\n" + fm + "\n---\n\n" + body.rstrip("\n") + "\n"
- def touch(meta: dict) -> None:
- """Stamp `updated` and keep it last so the field order stays predictable."""
- meta.pop("updated", None)
- meta["updated"] = now()
- def write_atomic(path: Path, text: str) -> None:
- """Temp + flush + fsync + atomic rename, so a crash never half-writes an entry."""
- tmp = path.with_suffix(path.suffix + ".tmp")
- with open(tmp, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
- f.write(text)
- f.flush()
- os.fsync(f.fileno())
- os.replace(tmp, path)
- def entry_count(body: str) -> int:
- return sum(1 for ln in body.splitlines() if ln.startswith("- "))
- def ack(path: Path, body: str) -> None:
- """Echo new state so the caller never re-reads the file to know where it stands."""
- print(json.dumps({
- "ok": True,
- "memlog": str(path),
- "entries": entry_count(body),
- }))
- def cmd_init(args) -> int:
- path = resolve(args)
- if path.exists():
- print(f"error: {path} already exists; use append/set to update it", file=sys.stderr)
- return 2
- path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
- meta: dict[str, str] = {}
- for pair in args.field or []:
- if "=" not in pair:
- print(f"error: --field expects key=value, got {pair!r}", file=sys.stderr)
- return 2
- k, v = pair.split("=", 1)
- meta[k.strip()] = v.strip()
- touch(meta)
- write_atomic(path, render(meta, ""))
- ack(path, "")
- return 0
- def cmd_append(args) -> int:
- path = resolve(args)
- meta, body = split(path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
- text = " ".join(args.text.split()) # collapse newlines/runs → one-line entry, no prose bloat
- label = args.type or ""
- if args.by:
- label = f"{label} by {args.by}".strip() # attribution: "(idea by user)" / "(by coach)"
- tag = f"({label}) " if label else ""
- entry = f"- {tag}{text}"
- body = (body.rstrip("\n") + "\n" + entry) if body.strip() else entry # always at the end
- touch(meta)
- write_atomic(path, render(meta, body))
- ack(path, body)
- return 0
- def cmd_set(args) -> int:
- path = resolve(args)
- meta, body = split(path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
- meta[args.key] = args.value
- touch(meta)
- write_atomic(path, render(meta, body))
- ack(path, body)
- return 0
- def add_target(sp) -> None:
- """Every command addresses the memlog the same way: a run folder or an explicit path."""
- g = sp.add_mutually_exclusive_group(required=True)
- g.add_argument("--workspace", help="run folder; the memlog is {workspace}/.memlog.md")
- g.add_argument("--path", help="explicit memlog file path (alternative to --workspace)")
- def main(argv: list[str] | None = None) -> int:
- p = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=__doc__, formatter_class=argparse.RawDescriptionHelpFormatter)
- sub = p.add_subparsers(dest="cmd", required=True)
- pi = sub.add_parser("init", help="create the memlog")
- add_target(pi)
- pi.add_argument("--field", action="append", metavar="KEY=VALUE", help="frontmatter field (repeatable)")
- pi.set_defaults(func=cmd_init)
- pa = sub.add_parser("append", help="append one entry at the end")
- add_target(pa)
- pa.add_argument("--text", required=True)
- pa.add_argument("--type", help="entry kind, rendered as an inline tag")
- pa.add_argument("--by", help="who the entry came from (e.g. user, coach); rendered into the tag")
- pa.set_defaults(func=cmd_append)
- pset = sub.add_parser("set", help="set a descriptive frontmatter field")
- add_target(pset)
- pset.add_argument("--key", required=True)
- pset.add_argument("--value", required=True)
- pset.set_defaults(func=cmd_set)
- args = p.parse_args(argv)
- return args.func(args)
- if __name__ == "__main__":
- sys.exit(main())
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