Brainerd

Brainerd keeps repo memory in one place: brain/ plus one managed block in AGENTS.md.

Use when

• The user asks to initialize or repair a repo brain.
• The user asks to remember something durable for this repo.
• The user asks to mine older repo-scoped history for missed durable learnings.
• The user asks to apply or discard a staged rumination preview.

Do not use when

• The repo already has a brain/ and the task only needs an ambient read. Open brain/index.md and brain/principles.md directly and continue.
• The user wants todo state, secrets, or raw transcript stored.
• The user has not asked to touch repo memory at all.

One move at a time

Choose exactly one action before touching files:

• init
• reflect
• ruminate-preview
• ruminate-apply
• ruminate-discard

If the request is ambiguous between the three rumination actions, ask.

Fast path

1. If brain/index.md and brain/principles.md exist, read them first.
2. Make the smallest durable change that solves the request.
3. Edit only brain/ and the managed Brainerd block in AGENTS.md.
4. End every action with a visible Brainerd summary: block, even for previews and no-ops.

Action references

• init: references/init.md
• reflect: references/reflect.md
• ruminate-*: references/ruminate.md
• layout and hard rules: references/brain-layout.md, references/guardrails.md