memory-ops

Memory Operations — Trace Skill

When to Use

Activate this skill when:

• User asks about coding memory, shared notes, or repo context
• User wants to store, retrieve, or update knowledge about the codebase
• User mentions handoffs, PR notes, architecture decisions, or team knowledge
• User asks about canonical memory, team memory, or user memory
• User wants to set up a memory backend (Redis or SQL)
• User asks about Trace or infynon trace
• .infynon/trace/config.toml is detected in the project

Critical Rules

1. Layer discipline. Always place notes in the correct layer:
   • Canonical — architecture decisions, API contracts, config invariants, security constraints, module facts, migration rules
   • Team — active caveats, branch notes, handoffs, PR summaries, risky areas, unresolved issues
   • User — personal reminders, local observations, unfinished thoughts, task context
2. Never auto-create canonical notes. Canonical notes are promoted, not auto-written.
3. Always resolve default user from infynon trace config when --author is not specified.
4. Every note should track provenance: source commit, status, confidence, updated_at.

Prerequisites

infynon --version

If not installed:

npm install -g infynon

Initialize Trace

# Initialize with repo identity
infynon trace init --repo <repo-name> --owner <team-name> --user <username>

# Add a SQL backend (recommended for canonical + team memory)
infynon trace source add-sql team-db \
  --engine sqlite \
  --url sqlite://.infynon/trace/trace.db \
  --user <username> \
  --default

# Or add Redis for fast session-style coordination
infynon trace source add-redis team-redis \
  --url redis://localhost:6379/0 \
  --namespace infynon \
  --user <username>

Command Reference by User Intent

"I want to store a note about the codebase"

# Team-level note (most common)
infynon trace note add <id> \
  --title "Description" \
  --body "Details" \
  --layer team \
  --scope repo

# Branch-specific handoff
infynon trace note add <id> \
  --title "Handoff note" \
  --body "What the next person needs to know" \
  --layer team \
  --scope branch \
  --target feature/my-branch \
  --tags handoff

# PR-linked note
infynon trace note add <id> \
  --title "PR context" \
  --body "Why this change was made" \
  --layer team \
  --scope pr \
  --target 142 \
  --related-pr 142

# File-scoped note
infynon trace note add <id> \
  --title "Watch out" \
  --body "This module has a known race condition" \
  --layer team \
  --scope file \
  --target src/auth.rs \
  --files src/auth.rs \
  --tags caveat,race-condition

# Package note (who introduced a risky dependency)
infynon trace note add <id> \
  --title "chrono added" \
  --body "Added for Trace sync timestamps. Low risk." \
  --layer user \
  --scope package \
  --target chrono

"I want to find relevant notes"

# All canonical memory
infynon trace retrieve --layer canonical

# Team notes for current branch
infynon trace retrieve --layer team --scope branch --target <branch-name>

# Notes about a specific file
infynon trace retrieve --scope file --target src/auth.rs

# Notes by a specific author
infynon trace retrieve --author alien

# Notes with a specific tag
infynon trace retrieve --tag handoff

# Package notes
infynon trace retrieve --scope package --target chrono

# PR-linked notes
infynon trace retrieve --scope pr --target 142

"I want to update or clean up notes"

# Mark a note as stale
infynon trace note update <id> --status stale

# Update note content
infynon trace note update <id> --title "New title" --body "Updated content"

# Remove a note
infynon trace note remove <id>

# Compact stale and session notes
infynon trace compact

"I want to sync with a remote backend"

# Push local notes to remote
infynon trace sync --direction push

# Pull remote notes locally
infynon trace sync --direction pull

# Bidirectional sync
infynon trace sync --direction both

# Sync with a specific backend
infynon trace sync --source team-db --direction both

"I want to promote a note to canonical"

Canonical notes are never auto-created. The promotion path:

1. Start as user or team note
2. Validate against current code state
3. Confirm the note has been stable (no contradictions across merges)
4. Create the canonical version

# Step 1: Flag for promotion
infynon trace note update my-note --tags promote,canonical-candidate

# Step 2: After review, create canonical note
infynon trace note add arch-<topic> \
  --title "Architectural decision: ..." \
  --body "Validated across PRs #x, #y. Stable since v0.x.x." \
  --layer canonical \
  --scope repo \
  --tags architecture

# Step 3: Archive the original team note
infynon trace note update my-note --status archived

"I want to set up backends"

# List current backends
infynon trace source list

# Add SQLite (local, good for canonical + team)
infynon trace source add-sql local-db \
  --engine sqlite \
  --url sqlite://.infynon/trace/trace.db \
  --user <username> \
  --default

# Add PostgreSQL (shared team database)
infynon trace source add-sql team-db \
  --engine postgres \
  --url postgres://user:pass@db.example.com:5432/infynon \
  --user <username>

# Add Redis (fast session state)
infynon trace source add-redis session-redis \
  --url redis://localhost:6379/0 \
  --namespace infynon \
  --user <username>

# Set default backend
infynon trace source default team-db

# Remove a backend
infynon trace source remove old-source

# View backend schema
infynon trace schema sql
infynon trace schema redis

Backend Selection Guide

Use Case	Backend	Why
Canonical memory	SQL (SQLite/Postgres)	Durable, auditable, structured queries
Team memory	SQL or Redis	SQL for history, Redis for live coordination
User memory	Local files or SQLite	Personal, low overhead
Session state	Redis	Fast, ephemeral, auto-expiring
CI/CD integration	SQL (Postgres)	Shared across runners, queryable
Multi-machine sync	Redis or Postgres	Network-accessible

Note Scopes

Scope	Use For	Example Target
repo	Repository-wide facts	current
branch	Branch-specific context	feature/auth-refresh
pr	PR-linked notes	142
file	File-specific caveats	src/auth.rs
user	User-specific notes	alien
session	Temporary session context	current
package	Dependency provenance	chrono

TUI

infynon trace tui

5 Tabs:

Key	Tab	Purpose
1	Overview	Trace status, config summary, layer counts
2	Sources	Backend list, connection status, default indicator
3	Notes	Browse all notes, filter by layer/scope/status
4	Packages	Package findings with installed_by attribution
5	EditLog	History of note changes

TUI Keys:

• Tab / Shift+Tab — navigate fields
• Enter — edit field
• q — quit
• Arrow keys — scroll and navigate

Tips

• Use --scope branch for handoffs so they auto-associate with the branch lifecycle
• Use --scope pr with --related-pr to link notes to pull requests
• Tag notes with promote when they're candidates for canonical promotion
• Run infynon trace compact regularly to clean session and stale notes
• Use --layer user for personal scratch notes that shouldn't clutter team memory
• Canonical memory should be the smallest layer — resist the urge to canonicalize everything