#!/usr/bin/env python3 # /// script # requires-python = ">=3.8" # /// """memlog — an append-only memory log: LLM-optimal working memory for a skill. A memlog is the dense, chronological record of everything that mattered in a piece of work — every item the user generated or accepted — kept minimal like human memory: only what's important, never bloated. It persists ACROSS sessions, so a fresh session can load it and continue. It is NOT a deliverable; downstream artifacts (a brief, a PRD, a deck, a report) are *derived* from it on demand. The host skill supplies the vocabulary by how it calls `append` — the tool stays neutral. It is a FLAT log: there are no sections or grouping. Every entry is one line, recorded at the END in the order it happened. The chronology itself is the structure — an event like "started technique X" is just another entry, same as an idea or an insight. Three invariants make it trustworthy: 1. Append-only, chronological. Entries land at the end, in the order they happen. Nothing is ever inserted backward, reordered, edited, or removed. There is no edit or delete subcommand by design; history is never rewritten. 2. Write-only / blind. Every command is an atomic, context-free write and echoes the new state as one line of JSON, so the caller never re-reads the file mid-session. The one time the file is read is on resume — and the caller reads it itself, not via this script. 3. No lifecycle status. A memory log has no "complete" flag. Whether the work is done, blocked, or paused is itself a fact that happened, so it is recorded as an entry (e.g. `append --type event --text "session complete"`), never as frontmatter the log would have to mutate. The chronology stays the single source of truth, and a resume learns the state by reading the last entries — the same way it learns everything else. Atomicity: every write goes to a temp file, is flushed and fsync'd, then atomically renamed over the target, so a crash never leaves a half-written entry. The file shape (.memlog.md): --- topic: Onboarding flow for a budgeting app goal: lift week-1 retention updated: 2026-06-07T14:22 --- - (note) user picked techniques: SCAMPER, then Six Thinking Hats - (technique) started SCAMPER - (idea) skip the signup wall: let people try with sample data first - (idea) auto-import one bank account so the first screen shows real numbers - (question) is open-banking consent too heavy for step one? - (insight) the "scary numbers" risk and the "real numbers" idea are one lever: show real data, pre-categorized - (direction) optimize for the anxious first-timer, not the power user - (decision) lead with one pre-categorized account; defer multi-account import - (event) session complete Each entry may carry an optional `--type` — what KIND it is (idea, insight, question, decision, direction, assumption, gap, note, event, …) — and an optional `--by` naming who it came from (e.g. `user`, `coach`), for sessions where authorship matters. Both render into one short inline tag: `(idea)`, `(idea by user)`, `(by coach)`. Omit them for a plain note. The host skill names the vocabulary; the script does not enforce one. Commands: init (--workspace DIR | --path FILE) [--field k=v ...] create the memlog (errors if it exists) append (--workspace DIR | --path FILE) --text STR [--type T] [--by W] append one entry at the end set (--workspace DIR | --path FILE) --key K --value V set/replace a descriptive frontmatter field Addressing: `--workspace` is the run folder, and the memlog is always {workspace}/.memlog.md. `--path` points straight at the memlog file instead, for callers that already hold the path. """ from __future__ import annotations # keep type-hint syntax lazy so the script runs on 3.8+ import argparse import json import os import sys from datetime import datetime from pathlib import Path MEMLOG = ".memlog.md" def now() -> str: return datetime.now().strftime("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M") def resolve(args) -> Path: """The memlog file, from either addressing mode: {workspace}/.memlog.md or an explicit --path.""" return Path(args.path) if args.path else Path(args.workspace) / MEMLOG def split(text: str) -> tuple[dict, str]: """Return (frontmatter dict in source order, body str). Frontmatter is plain key: value. The closing fence is the first line that is *exactly* `---`, so a `---` inside a field value (topic/goal are free user text) never truncates the frontmatter. """ lines = text.splitlines() if not lines or lines[0] != "---": raise ValueError(".memlog.md has no frontmatter") end = next((i for i in range(1, len(lines)) if lines[i] == "---"), None) if end is None: raise ValueError(".memlog.md frontmatter is not terminated") meta: dict[str, str] = {} for line in lines[1:end]: if ":" in line: k, v = line.split(":", 1) meta[k.strip()] = v.strip() return meta, "\n".join(lines[end + 1:]).lstrip("\n") def render(meta: dict, body: str) -> str: # Neutralize newlines in values so a multi-line field can't break the fence on re-read. fm = "\n".join(f"{k}: {' '.join(str(v).splitlines())}" for k, v in meta.items()) return "---\n" + fm + "\n---\n\n" + body.rstrip("\n") + "\n" def touch(meta: dict) -> None: """Stamp `updated` and keep it last so the field order stays predictable.""" meta.pop("updated", None) meta["updated"] = now() def write_atomic(path: Path, text: str) -> None: """Temp + flush + fsync + atomic rename, so a crash never half-writes an entry.""" tmp = path.with_suffix(path.suffix + ".tmp") with open(tmp, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f: f.write(text) f.flush() os.fsync(f.fileno()) os.replace(tmp, path) def entry_count(body: str) -> int: return sum(1 for ln in body.splitlines() if ln.startswith("- ")) def ack(path: Path, body: str) -> None: """Echo new state so the caller never re-reads the file to know where it stands.""" print(json.dumps({ "ok": True, "memlog": str(path), "entries": entry_count(body), })) def cmd_init(args) -> int: path = resolve(args) if path.exists(): print(f"error: {path} already exists; use append/set to update it", file=sys.stderr) return 2 path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True) meta: dict[str, str] = {} for pair in args.field or []: if "=" not in pair: print(f"error: --field expects key=value, got {pair!r}", file=sys.stderr) return 2 k, v = pair.split("=", 1) meta[k.strip()] = v.strip() touch(meta) write_atomic(path, render(meta, "")) ack(path, "") return 0 def cmd_append(args) -> int: path = resolve(args) meta, body = split(path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) text = " ".join(args.text.split()) # collapse newlines/runs → one-line entry, no prose bloat label = args.type or "" if args.by: label = f"{label} by {args.by}".strip() # attribution: "(idea by user)" / "(by coach)" tag = f"({label}) " if label else "" entry = f"- {tag}{text}" body = (body.rstrip("\n") + "\n" + entry) if body.strip() else entry # always at the end touch(meta) write_atomic(path, render(meta, body)) ack(path, body) return 0 def cmd_set(args) -> int: path = resolve(args) meta, body = split(path.read_text(encoding="utf-8")) meta[args.key] = args.value touch(meta) write_atomic(path, render(meta, body)) ack(path, body) return 0 def add_target(sp) -> None: """Every command addresses the memlog the same way: a run folder or an explicit path.""" g = sp.add_mutually_exclusive_group(required=True) g.add_argument("--workspace", help="run folder; the memlog is {workspace}/.memlog.md") g.add_argument("--path", help="explicit memlog file path (alternative to --workspace)") def main(argv: list[str] | None = None) -> int: p = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=__doc__, formatter_class=argparse.RawDescriptionHelpFormatter) sub = p.add_subparsers(dest="cmd", required=True) pi = sub.add_parser("init", help="create the memlog") add_target(pi) pi.add_argument("--field", action="append", metavar="KEY=VALUE", help="frontmatter field (repeatable)") pi.set_defaults(func=cmd_init) pa = sub.add_parser("append", help="append one entry at the end") add_target(pa) pa.add_argument("--text", required=True) pa.add_argument("--type", help="entry kind, rendered as an inline tag") pa.add_argument("--by", help="who the entry came from (e.g. user, coach); rendered into the tag") pa.set_defaults(func=cmd_append) pset = sub.add_parser("set", help="set a descriptive frontmatter field") add_target(pset) pset.add_argument("--key", required=True) pset.add_argument("--value", required=True) pset.set_defaults(func=cmd_set) args = p.parse_args(argv) return args.func(args) if __name__ == "__main__": sys.exit(main())