Ralph Memories

Persistent learning system for accumulated wisdom across sessions. Storage: .agent/memories.md.

When to Search Memories

Search BEFORE starting work when:

Entering unfamiliar code area → ralph tools memory search "area-name"
Encountering an error → ralph tools memory search -t fix "error message"
Making architectural decisions → ralph tools memory search -t decision "topic"
Something feels familiar → there might be a memory about it

Search strategies:

Start broad, narrow with filters: search "api" → search -t pattern --tags api
Check fixes first for errors: search -t fix "ECONNREFUSED"
Review decisions before changing architecture: search -t decision

When to Create Memories

Create a memory when:

You discover how this codebase does things (pattern)
You make or learn why an architectural choice was made (decision)
You solve a problem that might recur (fix)
You learn project-specific knowledge others need (context)

Do NOT create memories for:

Session-specific state (use tasks instead)
Obvious/universal practices
Temporary workarounds

Memory Types

Type	Flag	Use For
pattern	`-t pattern`	"Uses barrel exports", "API routes use kebab-case"
decision	`-t decision`	"Chose Postgres over SQLite for concurrent writes"
fix	`-t fix`	"ECONNREFUSED on :5432 means run docker-compose up"
context	`-t context`	"ralph-core is shared lib, ralph-cli is binary"

Discover Available Tags

Before searching or adding, check what tags already exist:

# See all memories with their tags
ralph tools memory list

# Extract unique tags (grep the file directly)
grep -o 'tags: [^|]*' .agent/memories.md | sort -u

Reuse existing tags for consistency. Common tag patterns:

Component names: api, auth, database, cli
Concerns: testing, performance, error-handling
Tools: docker, postgres, redis

Quick Reference

# Add memory (creates file if needed)
ralph tools memory add "content" -t pattern --tags tag1,tag2

# Search (start broad, narrow with filters)
ralph tools memory search "query"
ralph tools memory search -t fix "error message"
ralph tools memory search --tags api,auth

# List and show
ralph tools memory list
ralph tools memory list -t fix --last 10
ralph tools memory show mem-1737372000-a1b2

# Delete
ralph tools memory delete mem-1737372000-a1b2

# Prime for context injection
ralph tools memory prime --budget 2000
ralph tools memory prime --tags api,auth    # Prime specific tags only
ralph tools memory prime --recent 7         # Only last 7 days

Best Practices

Be specific: "Uses barrel exports in each module" not "Has good patterns"
Include why: "Chose X because Y" not just "Uses X"
One concept per memory: Split complex learnings
Tag consistently: Reuse existing tags when possible

Examples

# Pattern: discovered codebase convention
ralph tools memory add "All API handlers return Result<Json<T>, AppError>" -t pattern --tags api,error-handling

# Decision: learned why something was chosen
ralph tools memory add "Chose JSONL over SQLite: simpler, git-friendly, append-only" -t decision --tags storage,architecture

# Fix: solved a recurring problem
ralph tools memory add "cargo test hangs: kill orphan postgres from previous run" -t fix --tags testing,postgres

# Context: project-specific knowledge
ralph tools memory add "The /legacy folder is deprecated, use /v2 endpoints" -t context --tags api,migration

ralph-memories