cortex-explore-memory

Explore Memory — Diagnostics, Gaps, and Coverage

Keywords

memory stats, diagnostics, coverage, gaps, what am I missing, memory health, knowledge gaps, weak areas, isolated entities, sparse domains, how much do I know, memory overview, system status, knowledge assessment

Overview

Understand the state of your memory system — what's stored, what's missing, what's decaying, and where knowledge is strong or weak. This skill combines multiple diagnostic tools to give you a complete picture.

Use this skill when: Starting a new project phase, after a long break, or when you want to understand what Cortex knows and doesn't know about a topic.

Workflow

Step 1: Quick Health Check

Get system-level diagnostics:

cortex:memory_stats({})

Returns: total memories, heat distribution, store type breakdown (episodic vs semantic), entity count, relationship count, average confidence, and decay statistics.

Step 2: Assess Knowledge Coverage

Score how well a topic or project is covered:

cortex:assess_coverage({
  "domain": "<project or topic>",
  "query": "<specific area to assess>"
})

Returns a 0-100 coverage score with specific recommendations on what to document or remember next.

Step 3: Detect Knowledge Gaps

Find isolated entities, sparse domains, and temporal drift:

cortex:detect_gaps({
  "domain": "<optional domain filter>"
})

Returns:

• Isolated entities — entities mentioned but not connected to memories
• Sparse domains — project areas with few memories
• Temporal gaps — periods with no memory activity (potential knowledge loss)
• Orphan clusters — groups of memories disconnected from the main knowledge graph

Step 4: Validate Against Filesystem

Check if memories reference files/paths that still exist:

cortex:validate_memory({
  "directory": "<project root>"
})

Flags stale memories that reference deleted files, moved modules, or renamed functions — keeping the knowledge base accurate.

Step 5: Review Memory Quality

Get a narrative summary of what's stored:

cortex:narrative({
  "domain": "<project>",
  "style": "diagnostic"
})

Or get a period-based project story:

cortex:get_project_story({
  "domain": "<project>",
  "period": "last_30_days"
})

Tips

• Run after backfill: After cortex:backfill_memories, run diagnostics to see what was captured and what's still missing
• Coverage before deep work: Before a major feature or refactor, assess coverage to know if you have enough context stored
• Validate periodically: Run validate_memory after major refactors to catch stale references