Continuity — Working Memory Protocol

Context persistence across sessions. Mistakes captured. Learnings applied. Inspired by Loki Mode's CONTINUITY.md protocol (Autonomi).

When to Use

ALWAYS — This is a background protocol, not an explicit invocation.

• Start of every session: Read .cm/CONTINUITY.md to orient yourself
• End of every session: Update .cm/CONTINUITY.md with progress
• On error: Record in Mistakes & Learnings section
• On key decision: Record in Key Decisions section

Setup

# Initialize working memory for current project
cm continuity init

# Check current state
cm continuity status

# View captured learnings
cm continuity learnings

The Protocol

AT THE START OF EVERY SESSION:

1. Read .cm/CONTINUITY.md to understand current state
2. Read "Mistakes & Learnings" to avoid past errors
3. Check "Next Actions" to determine what to do
4. Reference Active Goal throughout your work

DURING WORK:

PRE-ACT ATTENTION CHECK (before every significant action):
  - Re-read Active Goal
  - Ask: "Does my planned action serve this goal?"
  - Ask: "Am I solving the original problem, not a tangent?"
  - If DRIFT detected → log it → return to goal

AT THE END OF EVERY SESSION:

1. Update "Just Completed" with accomplishments
2. Update "Next Actions" with remaining work
3. Record any new "Mistakes & Learnings"
4. Record any "Key Decisions" made
5. Update "Files Modified" list
6. Set currentPhase and timestamp

ON ERROR (Self-Correction Loop):

ON_ERROR:
  1. Capture error details (stack trace, context)
  2. Analyze root cause (not just symptoms)
  3. Write learning to CONTINUITY.md "Mistakes & Learnings"
  4. Update approach based on learning
  5. Retry with corrected approach
  6. Max 3 retries per error pattern before ESCALATE

CONTINUITY.md Template

# CodyMaster Working Memory
Last Updated: [ISO timestamp]
Current Phase: [planning|executing|testing|deploying|reviewing]
Current Iteration: [number]
Project: [project name]

## Active Goal
[What we're currently trying to accomplish — 1-2 sentences max]

## Current Task
- ID: [task-id from dashboard]
- Title: [task title]
- Status: [in-progress|blocked|reviewing]
- Skill: [cm-skill being used]
- Started: [timestamp]

## Just Completed
- [Most recent accomplishment with file:line references]
- [Previous accomplishment]
- [etc — last 5 items]

## Next Actions (Priority Order)
1. [Immediate next step]
2. [Following step]
3. [etc]

## Active Blockers
- [Any current blockers or waiting items]

## Key Decisions This Session
- [Decision]: [Rationale] — [timestamp]

## Mistakes & Learnings

### Pattern: Error → Learning → Prevention
- **What Failed:** [Specific error that occurred]
- **Why It Failed:** [Root cause analysis]
- **How to Prevent:** [Concrete action to avoid this in future]
- **Timestamp:** [When learned]
- **Agent:** [Which agent]
- **Task:** [Which task ID]

## Working Context
[Critical information for current work — API keys paths,
architecture decisions, patterns being followed]

## Files Currently Being Modified
- [file path]: [what we're changing]

Memory Hierarchy

The memory systems complement each other:

1. CONTINUITY.md     = Working memory (current session state)
2. learnings.json    = Extracted error patterns (persists across sessions)
3. decisions.json    = Architecture decisions (persists across projects)
4. tasks.md/cm-tasks.json     = Task queue + RARV logs (Mode D integration)

CONTINUITY.md is the PRIMARY source of truth for "what am I doing right now?"

Integration

Skill	How it integrates
cm-execution	RARV Mode D reads CONTINUITY.md in REASON phase
cm-planning	Sets Active Goal and Next Actions
cm-debugging	Records errors in Mistakes & Learnings
cm-quality-gate	VERIFY phase updates CONTINUITY.md
cm-code-review	Records review feedback as learnings

Rules

✅ DO:
- Read CONTINUITY.md at session start (ALWAYS)
- Update CONTINUITY.md at session end (ALWAYS)
- Record EVERY error in Mistakes & Learnings
- Keep "Just Completed" to last 5 items
- Be specific: "Fixed auth bug in login.ts:42" not "Fixed stuff"

❌ DON'T:
- Skip reading CONTINUITY.md ("I remember what I was doing")
- Write vague learnings: "It didn't work" → WHY didn't it work?
- Ignore past learnings when they're relevant
- Let CONTINUITY.md grow beyond ~500 words (rotate old entries)
- Delete Mistakes & Learnings (archive to learnings.json instead)

The Bottom Line

Your memory is your superpower. Without it, you repeat every mistake forever.