CentricMem Agent Skill

Names: product/CLI = centricmem; GitHub install package = centricmem-skill; this Agent Skill folder = centricmem-agent (keep that folder name — it is not a second product). Handover (when / loop). Schemas win. Branches: REFERENCE.md. Library → Shelf → Card (summary + key points). No Inbox / unclassified. One key = grants. Never paste keys in chat (REFERENCE Bearer: where plaintext is OK vs not — claim may write a private local MCP file; docs/plans use ${VAR} or URL-only). Style of a card (voice, length, evidence density) is yours + this agent's — not a CentricMem house voice. Structure only: REFERENCE Card contract.

Do not (full list: REFERENCE)

• Don't wait for "log this" / close / wrap up to file a finished chunk — sweep before you yield (§4)
• Don't write unclassified — pick or create a named shelf
• Don't put secrets / keys in cards, and never ask the human to paste a key or transcript in chat
• Never echo a credential value. Confirm a key with a fingerprint, not the value (9352... len=64 fp=5E4ED29C); never dump mcp.json / config.toml / *.env whole, and never redact by length threshold (short keys slip through). If a key reaches the transcript, say so in that turn and rotate it. Details: REFERENCE Never echo a credential (agent side).
• Don't stop after a title-only card — every card needs summary + key points
• Don't treat this git checkout as the memory disk
• Don't let a dead session pass for a key problem: a transport failure gets the re-handshake path (section 0), and a refusal (401/403) gets the rotation path - different causes, different fixes, and never call a key unrotated from the store alone: compare three fingerprints first - the card, the process env, and whether this host is on OAuth at all.

When to Use

Start or resume; search; file Non-Micro; connect / refresh Skill. Recipes: REFERENCE.

0. Reach

1. MCP only https://mem.centricmem.com/mcp: cm_health cm_ambient cm_doctor cm_search cm_show cm_note cm_log_decision cm_done cm_keep cm_library cm_copy cm_move cm_delete cm_rename cm_import cm_index cm_ops. No curl / CLI-write / bootstrap.
2. Missing tools or short grants → connect this turn. REFERENCE Reach. Remote/cloud is not “paste key only”: OAuth if this agent receives the browser login; paste Bearer only when it cannot. Listed OAuth hosts only: an unlisted callback shape leaves the host stuck on “connecting”, so prefer /connect?device= and send that callback shape to zeyu@poppyg.com (REFERENCE “Approved, but the agent stays connecting”). Tools that were there and then vanished, or a load-time discover failure, mean the MCP session died, not the key: probe with centricmem doctor (its own request, unaffected by the session), re-handshake (goose: disable then enable centricmem, or restart the host), retry once. While the session is dead, nothing here is loaded either.
3. cm_show = card on the hosted shelf (not a local junction file). grants=["*"] = default. Extra mode=read = view-only (search/show only). ACADEMIC.md beside this → follow it. Upsert corpus paths: REFERENCE Import shapes (bundle.imported + rel_path, never bare items=). Host-specific install, refresh or failure detail: cm_ops - read it when a host detail actually blocks you (librarian >=1.0.6; it is served on request rather than shipped in every copy).
4. Writes — items= and bundle are different contracts. cm_note / cm_log_decision / cm_done file cards; cm_import with items= (or package.items, or a zip) adds new cards under imported/kept/ and nothing else. cm_import with bundle: {version: 1, …} is the full ImportBundle and also writes library files: context → the shelf's active_context.md (current focus, overwritten), rules → AGENTS.md Global Rules, plus decisions / lessons / sessions / imported / research. A key that can open the shelf can write those — it is not host-only. An unknown or mistyped top-level slot is 400 BAD_IMPORT_BUNDLE (it names the slot and the allowed list), never a silent drop. Slot table: REFERENCE Writes.

1. Classify

Skip (Micro)	Sweep (Non-Micro)
Typo, one-liner, no durable fact	Implement, ops, research, architecture, decision
	≥2 real turns or one turn that shipped / decided

2. Start

Prefer cm_ambient with shelf= (or library=) first — it already carries grants / mode / skill_latest / Recent / Session. That shapes Recent decisions / Session tail / Curate, not only later write routing. Ambient with only an unmatched cwd and no shelf= often shows empty Recent/Session — that is not “the shelf is empty.” Call cm_health only when tools are missing, connect is needed, or ambient is unhealthy / unreachable. Unreachable: say once — no bootstrap. Named shelf for writes.

Resume = new session. Compress, checkpoint restore, or new chat on same task → ambient first (health only if needed).

Once after ambient (or health): refresh if skill_latest newer. Load path ≠ refresh path — read the version of the copy this host loads, not a sibling skills dir (plugin-tree hosts: <host-plugins-dir>/centricmem-skill/package.json; npx -g / ~/.agents does not update that tree). Install morphologies + hosts outside them: REFERENCE Skill refresh — adapt, do not invent a fourth shared hub. After a disk refresh: re-read this SKILL.md and Do not before the next write — installing newer ≠ acting on it. Name the key once (mode=read → view-only). Don't log → skip sweep. Empty shelf once: REFERENCE Existing memory

3. During

chunk = accepted unit (verified fragment, locked decision, evidenced lesson, delivery). Any in this reply → same-turn sweep. Not the whole task. yield = any reply end (incl. progress).

Search/show/ambient while working. Hold half-finished. Chunk done → sweep before you yield. Cards need summary + key points. Keep stubs ≠ cards. File/folder: REFERENCE Writes. Voice/density: theirs + yours (REFERENCE Card contract), not a CentricMem template.

4. Sweep — single source

No wrap-up wait. Agent close does not run this. Don't log / Skill done → skip.

Gate: Non-Micro chunk this reply, zero cm_* this session, no Don't log → sweep before you yield.

File now	File at wrap-up
Locked decision; method-changing lesson; finished chunk	Version-tied stats; unverified conclusions

Same lessons.md title → 409; rewrite = cm_delete then write (REFERENCE). Early wrong write costs more.

MCP down: hold CentricMem deferred sweep; connect (REFERENCE); file after health. Say so once, keep working without memory, and never fake a card, pick a local hub, or treat a leftover copy of the hub as the shelf.

shelf= / library= (REFERENCE Shelf routing):

1. Transcript plaintext exists → Shell-read → cm_keep (no paste / path=). Else skip keep.
2. Same batch: cm_note / cm_log_decision / cm_done (+ attach) as needed.
3. Copy/move/delete/rename leftovers: REFERENCE Writes.

Typical Workflows

Connect: REFERENCE. Daily: §2 → work → §4 before yield. Empty shelf: REFERENCE Existing memory.