remembering-conversations

The full skill.

Original instructions from the publisher’s SKILL.md

# Remembering Conversations

**Core principle:** Search before reinventing. Searching costs nothing; reinventing or repeating mistakes costs everything.

## Mandatory: Search Historical Memory

**YOU MUST search historical memory for any historical search.**

Announce: "Searching past conversations for [topic]."

### Claude Code

Use the Task tool with `subagent_type: "search-conversations"`:

```
Task tool:
  description: "Search past conversations for [topic]"
  prompt: "Search for [specific query or topic]. Focus on [what you're looking for - e.g., decisions, patterns, gotchas, code examples]."
  subagent_type: "search-conversations"
```

### Codex

If a `search-conversations` agent is available, dispatch it with the same prompt. If not, use the MCP tools directly:

1. Search with the episodic-memory `search` tool
2. Read the top 2-5 results with the episodic-memory `read` tool
3. Synthesize findings in your response
4. Include source pointers so the user can inspect the original conversations

The search workflow will:
1. Search with the `search` tool
2. Read top 2-5 results with the `read` tool
3. Synthesize findings (200-1000 words)
4. Return actionable insights + sources

**Saves 50-100x context vs. loading raw conversations.**

### opencode

Use the MCP tools directly unless a local search agent is available:

1. Search with the episodic-memory `search` tool
2. Read the top 2-5 results with the episodic-memory `read` tool
3. Synthesize findings in your response
4. Include source pointers so the user can inspect the original conversations

## When to Use

Use this whenever the current task would benefit from information you may have learned before, even if the user did not explicitly ask you to search.

**When past experience may help:**
- You need to recall decisions, rationale, patterns, solutions, pitfalls, or project context from earlier work
- A task resembles something you've solved, debugged, reviewed, released, or planned before
- You need to repeat a workflow or process that may have prior gotchas or established steps

**When you're stuck:**
- You've investigated a problem and can't find the solution
- Facing a complex problem without obvious solution in current code
- Need to follow an unfamiliar workflow or process

**When historical signals are present:**
- User says "last time", "before", "we discussed", "you implemented"
- User asks "why did we...", "what was the reason..."
- User says "do you remember...", "what do we know about..."

**Before answering from uncertainty:**
- Before guessing from memory or saying "I don't know" about something that may have been learned in a past conversation, search memory unless the current conversation already answers it

**Don't search first:**
- For current codebase structure (use Grep/Read to explore first)
- For info in current conversation
- Before understanding what you're being asked to do

## Direct MCP Tool Access

Use these directly when a search agent is unavailable or the current harness does not support agent dispatch:
- `mcp__plugin_episodic-memory_episodic-memory__search`
- `mcp__plugin_episodic-memory_episodic-memory__read`

When using MCP tools directly, keep context small: search first, then read only the top 2-5 relevant conversations or line ranges.

See MCP-TOOLS.md for complete API reference if needed for advanced usage.