EGC: Instructions file for Claude Code

EGC: Session Memory Protocol

This project has persistent cross-session memory via the egc-memory MCP server.

At the start of every session

Call get_state with no arguments: it uses the current working directory automatically:

get_state({})

If the AI is running from outside the project directory, pass the path explicitly:

get_state({ project_path: "/absolute/path/to/this/project" })

Read the returned Markdown. It contains the decisions already made, what failed, coding preferences, and what to pick up next. Do not ask the user to re-explain any of that.

At the end of every session

COMPACTION RULE: On /compact, call update_state to persist session state. Do not create compaction-summary files anywhere — not in the project, not in any external vault or notebook. update_state updates the existing project state file and may initialize it if it does not yet exist.

---

Call update_state with a summary of this session:

update_state({
  project_path: "/absolute/path/to/project",
  context: "One sentence: what this project is and its current phase.",
  decisions: [
    { what: "What was decided", why: "Why" }
  ],
  avoid: [
    { what: "What failed or was rejected", why: "Why to skip it next time" }
  ],
  preferences: [
    "Coding style or workflow preference discovered this session"
  ],
  next: [
    "First thing to pick up in the next session"
  ]
})

update_state merges with existing state: it does not erase previous memory. Only include fields that changed this session. Leave out fields with nothing new.

Pass scope: "global" to write to the user-wide memory shared across all projects; use it only for transversal preferences and lessons, never for project-specific state. get_state appends that global memory automatically, with project and branch entries taking precedence.

Parallel sessions

When more than one session works on this project at the same time, coordinate through the session bus: call session_announce at start (registers presence and territory, doubles as heartbeat), check session_peers before picking work, and claim_path before editing shared files. A refused claim means another live session holds that path: coordinate or work elsewhere, never retry in a loop.