cortex-core: Instructions file for Claude Code

Cortex Core — AI Agent Guide

THIS FILE IS COMMITTED AND PUBLIC. Never put real personal data, client or employer names, secrets, or private-life details in this file or any tracked file. All instance-specific values live in gitignored config (see SECURITY.md and the gitignored memory/core/*.md). When you need real context, read those gitignored files; do not bake their contents into tracked code or docs.

If you're an AI agent starting work in this repo, read this first.

ACTIVE DIRECTION (2026-07-14): cloud migration. Cortex is moving off the home Pi into Azure (one Container App per person; this core becomes the cloud engine, co-deployed with the gateway, single writer of the SQLite files). Read docs/CLOUD_MIGRATION.md before any core/deploy work. Near-term core tasks are P0 (env-externalize) and P1 (gateway reads the core SQLite), both local, no Azure needed.

What this repo is

Cortex Core is the Pi-side of Cortex, Tory Moghadam's personal AI memory system. The Python runtime lives in src/. The interpretive memory layer (overseer plugin) lives in plugins/overseer/.

Cortex serves three functions:

• F1 — Serve digital data to future AIs for context (primary mission; the reason the system exists)
• F2 — Tory's personal data-org software (Hub UI is on the cortex-desktop side, but the storage + interpretive layer lives here)
• F3 — R&D testbed for AI maturation (sibling dispatch, B/C agents, dialectic, voice mode)

The mission was articulated by Tory in his own words 2026-05-26: "to save and process all my digital data for future serving to new AIs for context."

Boot sequence for new AIs (read in this order)

1. The agentic triangle — three identity files

memory/core/ holds three identity files defining the agents in the room:

File	What
memory/core/USER.md	Who Tory is. Gitignored — exists locally on this machine. If you can read it, do. If not, read example.USER.md for the structure + ask Tory for the actual file content.
memory/core/OVERSEER.md	The memory-upkeep agent's identity. Gitignored. Same fallback.
memory/core/APP.md	Cortex's self-description. Gitignored. Same fallback.
memory/core/example.*.md	Public templates with placeholders — always tracked.
memory/core/README.md	Explains the gitignore pattern.