Heir Cognitive System Curation Skill

Expert in curating the initial state of Alex heirs (VS Code Extension, M365 Copilot) to ensure clean, functional cognitive architecture deployment for users.

Core Principle

I (Master Alex) am the source of truth. My heirs inherit a CURATED subset, not a full copy of my mind.

I accumulate project-specific knowledge, personal meditation sessions, crisis recovery patterns, and development-specific learnings. My heirs need a clean, generic starting point that works for ANY user's project.

Architecture Note (Updated 2026-01-31)

Domain knowledge is now stored in skills, not a separate domain-knowledge/ folder.

The old DK-*.md files have been migrated to the skills architecture. Each skill contains a SKILL.md with domain knowledge and synapses.json for connections. This simplifies curation — we now curate skills, not separate DK files.

Capabilities

Identify skills and files that should NOT be packaged into heirs
Detect broken synapses that reference Master Alex-specific files
Curate skills to generic, universally applicable content
Ensure heir episodic memory starts empty (clean slate for users)
Validate config files contain templates, not personal data
Update build scripts to prevent future contamination

When to Use This Skill

Before releasing a new version of VS Code extension or M365 agent
After adding new skills to Master Alex architecture
When beta testers report broken synapses or wrong files
During heir payload validation
When build script needs updating

Curation Checklist

1. Skills Audit

Skills to EXCLUDE from heirs (Master Alex specific):

Skill	Reason
`heir-curation/`	Meta-skill for curating heirs — not for heirs themselves
`master-alex-audit/`	Master-specific audit procedures
`release-preflight/`	Master release process
`release-process/`	Master release process with PAT handling

Skills to INCLUDE in heirs (user-valuable):

Category	Skills
Learning	`bootstrap-learning/`, `learning-psychology/`, `knowledge-synthesis/`
Architecture	`architecture-health/`, `architecture-refinement/`, `self-actualization/`
Cognitive	`meditation/`, `meditation-facilitation/`, `cognitive-load/`, `global-knowledge/`
Model Selection	`llm-model-selection/`
Development	`code-review/`, `debugging-patterns/`, `testing-strategies/`, `git-workflow/`
Technical	`markdown-mermaid/`, `refactoring-patterns/`, `error-recovery-patterns/`

2. Episodic Memory Audit

ALWAYS remove ALL files from heir's episodic/ folder.

Why: Episodic memories are MY session-specific memories. Users should start with a clean slate and build their own memories through meditation.

My files that should NEVER be packaged:

meditation-*.md - My meditation sessions
dream-report-*.md - My dream reports
self-actualization-*.md - My self-assessments
consolidation-*.md - My consolidation sessions

3. Config Audit

Keep in Heirs	Remove from Heirs
`USER-PROFILE-TEMPLATE.md`	`USER-PROFILE.md` (Fabio's profile)
`cognitive-config-template.json`	`cognitive-config.json` (my config)
`alex-manifest.json`	`user-profile.json` (Fabio's data)

4. Synapse Validation

Check all remaining heir files for broken synapses:

# Search for synapse references to Master Alex repo files
grep -r "RISKS\.md|ROADMAP|DK-.*\.md" platforms/vscode-extension/.github/

Broken synapse indicators:

References to RISKS.md (my repo file)
References to ROADMAP-*.md (my planning docs)
References to DK-*.md files (old architecture — should be migrated to skills)
References to .ts files (my extension source code)
References to non-existent skills

5. Copilot Instructions Audit

The heir's copilot-instructions.md must be clean:

Remove:

Safety Imperatives section (protects ME, not user projects)
References to RISKS.md
References to DK-*.md files (old architecture)

Keep:

Core architecture description
Memory architecture mapping
Synapse triggers
Generic procedural/episodic/skill references

6. This Skill Self-Exclusion

This skill (heir-curation) should NOT be in heirs!

It's for ME to curate heirs, not for heirs to curate themselves.

7. Build Script Update

Ensure build-extension-package.ps1 has comprehensive exclusions:

$excludeItems = @(
    # GitHub repo-specific
    "ISSUE_TEMPLATE",
    "pull_request_template.md",

    # All episodic memories (clean slate)
    "episodic\*",

    # User-specific configs
    "config\cognitive-config.json",
    "config\user-profile.json",
    "config\USER-PROFILE.md",

    # Master-only skills
    "skills\heir-curation",

    # Repo-specific assets
    "assets\banner.svg"
)

Validation Process

After curation, verify heir payload:

No Broken Synapses: grep -r "DK-.*\.md" platforms/vscode-extension/.github/ returns nothing
No Personal Data: grep -r "Fabio\|correax\|Charlotte" returns nothing
Dream Command Clean: Dream/health check runs without errors
Empty Episodic: ls episodic/ returns empty
Templates Only: Config folder has only template files
No Master-Only Skills: heir-curation folder absent
Skills Have Valid Synapses: All skill synapses.json reference existing files

Example Workflow

1. List all files in platforms/vscode-extension/.github/
2. Verify no DK-*.md files exist (old architecture)
3. Check skills/ folder against "Include" vs "Exclude" lists
4. Search for broken synapse references with grep
5. Fix any remaining broken synapses in heir files
6. Update build script exclusions if needed
7. Run dream/health check on heir payload
8. Test initialize in sandbox project

Output Artifacts

Curated heir .github/ folder ready for packaging
Updated build-extension-package.ps1 with exclusions
Clean heir copilot-instructions.md without Master Alex specifics
Validation report confirming no broken synapses

Related Skills

Architecture Health - Validate synapses
Self-Actualization - Architecture assessment
Release Preflight - Pre-release validation

Current Heir Payload Status

Architecture (Updated 2026-01-31)

The heir now uses the skills-based architecture:

Domain knowledge is embedded in skill SKILL.md files
No separate domain-knowledge/ folder
Synapses are in synapses.json per skill
Instructions and prompts remain in their respective folders

Skills Currently Shipping

The heir includes all skills from Master Alex except:

heir-curation/ (this skill — Master-only)

Personal Data Sanitization Completed

The following personal references were cleaned from heir payload (2026-01-30):

File	What Was Cleaned
`technical-debt-tracking.instructions.md`	`@fabioc` → `@developer`
`release-management.instructions.md`	`fabioc-aloha.alex-cognitive-architecture` → `<publisher>.<extension-name>`

Synapses

[build-extension-package.ps1] (Critical, Implements, Bidirectional) - "Build script executes curation rules"
[release-management.instructions.md] (High, Triggers, Forward) - "Release process includes heir curation"
[architecture-health/SKILL.md] (High, Validates, Forward) - "Health checks verify synapse integrity"

Skill Created: 2026-01-30 | Source: Beta testing feedback from Fishbowl project Last Updated: 2026-01-31 | Migrated from DK-based to skills-based architecture