knowledge-base

Knowledge base

A session that researches well and forgets is a session that will research again. This skill adds the layer that makes learning cumulative: verified findings land in memory/knowledge/<topic>.md, and every new question checks there first.

Lookup before research — always

Before investigating any topic, read memory/knowledge/ for an entry that answers it. If a current entry exists, use it and cite it — re-researching a settled question wastes the work that settled it. If the entry is stale or only partially covers the question, research the gap, not the whole topic.

Drafts stay drafts

Findings made mid-task (a benchmark result, a library's actual behavior, an API's undocumented limit) are drafts. Label each with the verify-gate labels — confirmed / observed / assumed / hearsay / unknown — wherever the draft lives: session log, working notes, a comment in the task file. Drafts may inform the current task but must not be quoted later as established knowledge.

Promotion — the gate is the door

Only claims that pass the verify gate enter memory/knowledge/. One file per topic, entries shaped like:

## Connection pool exhausts under burst load — verified 2026-08-14

- Claim: the default pool (10) exhausts at ~40 concurrent requests; queue wait exceeds 2s.
- Sources: load test output (tests/load/pool.txt), library docs on pool sizing (both opened).
- Sample: 3 runs, same config. Limits: measured on the staging tier only; production tier untested.

Every entry carries: the claim, named primary sources, sample size, stated limits, and a verification date. An entry missing any of these is still a draft, whatever file it sits in.

The first time you create memory/knowledge/, add a row for it to the File map in memory/00-INDEX.md before writing the first entry — a folder missing from the map is a folder the next session never opens.

Check what the finding contradicts before filing it. Read the existing entries this finding touches. If it contradicts one, do not shelve the two beside each other: surface the conflict first, then either supersede the old entry — with a link back to it from the new one — or hold the new entry and register the question in OPEN-QUESTIONS.md. If the two rest on different layers of evidence (different scope, subject, or measurement), placing them side by side is as far as it goes; they do not get merged into one claim.