midmem-pattern-capture

Pattern capture — record what builds prove

Capture packs make MidMem domain-extensible as data: a pack registers entry types (with a persistence tier + memory function + graph edge), categorizer rules and an edge vocabulary. The shipped coding-patterns pack covers: pattern, scaffold, anti-pattern, recipe (all procedural-function, memory-tier).

When to capture

• At the moment of proof, not from memory: a card/QA gate just passed using an approach worth reusing → record it NOW with its evidence link (commit hash, repo, card id).
• A debugging approach failed for a reproducible reason → anti-pattern with the failure as evidence. Dead ends prevent repeats; that is their entire value.
• The same scaffold got copied into a second project → scaffold, evidence both repos.

How

midmem pattern --type pattern --title "<short name>" \
  --context "<where this applies>" --problem "<what it solves>" \
  --solution "<the approach>" --evidence "<repo@hash;card-id>" [--scope shared]

(MCP: record_pattern; list registered types with midmem packs.)

Rules

• Evidence is required in spirit: a pattern without a commit/repo/run reference is an opinion. Link the proof.
• Never hand-promote. Patterns start at memory tier; retrieval renewals during later builds are what earn wisdom. A "best practice" nobody re-uses should decay.
• Anti-patterns are captures, not shame: record the failure mode plainly; the dead-end demotion in retrieval surfaces them as warnings automatically.
• New domains = new pack JSON (entry types + rules + edges), registered via MIDMEM_CAPTURE_PACKS — never a core code change. Packs cannot redefine core types.