mempalace-toolkit/SKILL.md

---
name: opencode-mempalace-bridge
description: Set up the producer side of MemPalace — feed opencode session history and project docs into the palace via the wrappers in the mempalace-toolkit repo. Use when provisioning a new machine, when the user asks how palace feeding works, when opencode sessions aren't showing up in searches, or when a project needs docs-only mining. Pairs with the `mempalace` skill (consumer side).
---

# Opencode ↔ MemPalace Bridge (producer side)

## Overview

The `mempalace` skill covers *using* the palace (search, diary, KG). This skill covers *feeding* it — specifically, how to wire opencode session history and project docs into the palace on a new machine or after a container recreate.

**Authoritative source:** `/workspace/mempalace-toolkit/ARCHITECTURE.md` (also at the root of the `mempalace-toolkit` repo on gitea). When in doubt, read that file — it's the canonical spec. This skill is the short-form checklist.

**Core idea:** two thin wrappers in `mempalace-toolkit/bin/` close gaps in the stock mempalace CLI:

| Gap                                                                                      | Wrapper              |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------- |
| `mempalace mine` floods the palace with source code we don't want                        | `mempalace-docs`     |
| `mempalace mine --mode convos` can't read opencode's SQLite DB                           | `mempalace-session`  |

Both follow the same **stage-to-cache-then-mine** idiom — they curate input into `~/.cache/…/<wing>/`, then delegate to `mempalace mine`.

## When to Load This Skill

- User asks "how does the palace get fed?" or mentions setting up mempalace on a new machine.
- Opencode conversations are missing from palace searches (`wing_conversations` is empty or stale).
- A project needs to be mined but you want *docs only, no source code*.
- User asks about `mempalace-docs` or `mempalace-session`.
- After a container recreate on a devbox — the wrappers need reinstall.
- Planning to retire either wrapper once upstream PRs merge (see §6 of ARCHITECTURE.md).

## Setup Recipe (new machine)

Prerequisites: `opencode` installed with an active DB at `~/.local/share/opencode/opencode.db`, `mempalace` CLI v3.3.3+, Python 3 (stdlib `sqlite3` only — no extra deps).

**If mempalace itself isn't installed yet**, suggest `uv tool install mempalace` (not `pip install mempalace` — it fights PEP 668 on modern distros and leaks deps into system site-packages). For a system-wide install on a container or shared box, set `UV_TOOL_DIR=/opt/uv-tools` + `UV_TOOL_BIN_DIR=/usr/local/bin` before `uv tool install`, and ship an MCP wrapper on `PATH` that exec's the venv's Python — otherwise MCP clients fail silently with `ModuleNotFoundError`. Full recipe in `mempalace-toolkit/README.md#installing-mempalace-itself-prerequisite`.

```bash
# 1. Clone mempalace-toolkit (holds the two wrappers in bin/)
git clone ssh://git@gitea.jordbo.se:2222/joakimp/mempalace-toolkit.git ~/mempalace-toolkit
cd ~/mempalace-toolkit

# 2. Install — symlinks bin/* into ~/.local/bin, adds loader to rc file
./install.sh

# 3. Verify ~/.local/bin is on PATH
which mempalace-session mempalace-docs

# 4. Mine opencode session history into wing_conversations
#    (No global init needed — the palace is created lazily on first write.
#     `mempalace init <dir>` is per-project and optional.)
mempalace-session --dry-run              # preview: which sessions qualify?
mempalace-session                        # do it (~20 min per 60 sessions)

# 5. Mine project docs per project (docs only — no source code)
#    Optional: `mempalace init --yes <dir>` first to customize wing/entities
mempalace-docs /workspace/my_project --dry-run
mempalace-docs /workspace/my_project

# 7. If a long-lived MCP session is open, reconnect it
#    (from inside the MCP client): mempalace_reconnect
```

### Containerized (devbox) specifics

Named Docker volumes preserve state across container recreate:

- `devbox-palace` → `~/.mempalace/palace`
- `devbox-data`   → `~/.local/share/opencode`

Bind mount `/workspace/mempalace-toolkit` from the host — code survives recreate, syncs via gitea.

**After container recreate:** `~/.local/bin` is ephemeral. Just re-run `./install.sh` (idempotent) — everything else already persists.

## Key Operational Rules

### Always dry-run first on a cold system

```bash
mempalace-session --dry-run       # shows qualifying sessions
mempalace-docs <dir> --dry-run    # shows files that would be mined
```

A docs-heavy repo should produce ~5–10 drawers per file. >15 drawers/file on average = code leaked in; investigate.

### Dedup is free — re-running is safe

- `mempalace-docs`: dedup keyed on `source_file` path + `mtime`. Unchanged files skipped.
- `mempalace-session`: dedup keyed on `source_file` path alone (no mtime check for convos). Staging filenames are deterministic per session (`<slug>_<id>.jsonl`), so re-runs skip already-filed sessions.

Second run immediately after first → 0 new drawers, only the post-mine `repair` step runs (~5 min on 5k drawers).

**`mempalace-session --dry-run` is dedup-aware.** Each session listed is tagged `[NEW]` (would be filed) or `[SKIP]` (already in the palace), and the summary reports the split:

```
Exported 62 session(s) to ~/.cache/...
  0 new   → will be filed on mine
  62 already filed → will be skipped (dedup by source_file)
```

So when a user asks "will it mine the same sessions again?" — point them at `mempalace-session --dry-run` and read the summary line. If `N new = 0`, nothing will be re-filed. The classification check is best-effort (falls back to "everything is new" if palace unreachable); the real mine step delegates to `mempalace mine --mode convos`, which is always the authoritative dedup source.

### Incremental catch-up

```bash
mempalace-session --since 2026-04-20          # only recent sessions
mempalace-session --session ses_abc123        # one specific session
```

### Force re-mine

```bash
rm -rf ~/.cache/mempalace-session/<wing>/     # nukes staging dir
mempalace-session                              # stages + mines fresh
```

Staging is ephemeral by design; the palace is the source of truth.

## Operational Routine (when to invoke)

Until upstream opencode session hooks land, **`mempalace-session` is the entire mechanism** that gets opencode conversations into the palace. If the user's opencode history isn't showing up in `mempalace_search`, the most likely cause is "`mempalace-session` hasn't been run recently".

### Agent-level triggers

Suggest invoking the tool when any of these apply:

- User asks *"why can't you find our conversation from earlier?"* / *"you should remember this from last week"* → the palace may not have the opencode session yet. Check `mempalace_list_wings` for `wing_conversations`; if the last drawer there is older than the referenced conversation, run `mempalace-session`.
- User mentions an upcoming **container recreate / system migration / OS reinstall** → suggest a full mine first as a backup checkpoint. The opencode DB normally survives via named volumes, but an explicit mine is cheap insurance.
- User has just **set up a new machine** and asks about mempalace → part of the recipe is the initial backfill. Run `mempalace-session --dry-run` first to show scope, then the real mine.
- User completed a **substantive session they want preserved past `/exit`** → offer a targeted `mempalace-session --session <id>` right then.
- User asks *"how do I keep this up to date?"* → point at [`contrib/`](../../contrib/) (systemd timer or cron recipes).

### Cadence guidance

| Situation | Suggested cadence |
|---|---|
| Active devbox, daily opencode use | Weekly automated (systemd timer or cron) |
| Occasional opencode user | Monthly manual or weekly automated |
| Fresh machine / first setup | One-shot full backfill, then schedule |
| "I'm about to rebuild the container" | Run now, as a checkpoint |
| Automated daily mines | Repair is now opt-in (`--repair`); **never** set it on an unattended schedule. Run `mempalace repair` by hand from a quiet session if HNSW genuinely needs rebuilding. |

Don't suggest running more often than daily — the post-mine HNSW repair (~5 min on 5k drawers) dominates cost, and session growth is slow enough that daily is already overkill.

### Relationship to the `mempalace` skill — and why diaries still matter

The consumer-side `mempalace` skill covers in-session habits (wake-up search, wind-down diary write). `mempalace-session` is **between-session maintenance** — automated, raw-turn capture. The two are complementary, not alternatives:

|  | `mempalace-session` (this tool) | Agent diary (`mempalace` skill) |
|---|---|---|
| Content | Every turn verbatim | Curated AAAK summary |
| Written by | Extraction from `opencode.db` | The agent, at wind-down |
| Answers | *"What did we say?"* | *"What did we decide / learn?"* |
| Retrieval | Semantic search | Recency scan |

**Common misconception agents fall into:** *"session mining runs weekly, so I don't need to write diary entries."* Wrong. Diary entries capture meta-observations that were never said during the session — "lesson learned", "pattern confirmed", "user caught a bug before ship", "pending next time". Mining raw turns can never surface those because the words don't exist verbatim; they're the agent's editorial judgment at wind-down.

If a user asks whether diaries are redundant given automated mining, point them at [`ARCHITECTURE.md` §5 → "Diary vs session mine: why keep both?"](../../ARCHITECTURE.md#diary-vs-session-mine-why-keep-both) for the full treatment. Short answer: release notes vs. git log — a repo keeps both, and so should the palace.

Both systems cover each other's failure modes too: a missed diary (agent `/exit`'d without writing) → session mine catches the raw content; a missed mine (cron behind schedule, new machine) → diary captures the essence. Belt and braces.

### Quick automation pitch

If the user has a devbox and hasn't set up automation, offer it. Pick the scheduler that matches the OS:

**Linux (systemd user timer):**

```bash
cd ~/mempalace-toolkit
mkdir -p ~/.config/systemd/user
cp contrib/systemd/*.{service,timer} ~/.config/systemd/user/
systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user enable --now mempalace-session.timer
sudo loginctl enable-linger "$USER"   # optional, for headless boxes
```

**macOS (launchd user agent):**

```bash
cd ~/mempalace-toolkit
sed "s|USER|$USER|g" contrib/launchd/se.jordbo.mempalace-session.plist \
  > ~/Library/LaunchAgents/se.jordbo.mempalace-session.plist
mkdir -p ~/Library/Logs
launchctl bootstrap "gui/$(id -u)" ~/Library/LaunchAgents/se.jordbo.mempalace-session.plist
launchctl enable "gui/$(id -u)/se.jordbo.mempalace-session"
```

**BSD or systemd-less Linux (cron):** see [`contrib/cron/`](../../contrib/cron/).

Full install/verify/uninstall recipes for all three are in [`contrib/README.md`](../../contrib/README.md). All three default to weekly runs on Monday 03:00 local time.

## Failure Modes & Fixes

| Symptom                                                    | Cause                                           | Fix                                                     |
| ---------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- |
| `mempalace-session: command not found`                     | `~/.local/bin` wiped (container recreate)       | `cd ~/mempalace-toolkit && ./install.sh --yes`         |
| Sessions missing from palace                               | Fewer messages than `--min-messages` (default 3)| Lower threshold or `--session <id>` explicitly          |
| "Error finding id" on search after mining                  | Stale HNSW index                                | `mempalace repair --yes` + `mempalace_reconnect`        |
| Drawers doubled for a project                              | Someone ran raw `mempalace mine` alongside wrapper, or renamed wing mid-flight | Inspect `embedding_metadata` in `chroma.sqlite3`, purge duplicates by source prefix, then `mempalace repair` |
| Post-mine ChromaDB search returns stale results in MCP     | MCP server caches old index                     | Call `mempalace_reconnect` from MCP                     |
| Opencode DB not at default path                            | Non-standard `XDG_DATA_HOME` or opencode config | `export OPENCODE_DB=/custom/path/opencode.db` or `--db` |

## What to File Under Which Wing

| Content type                        | Wing (convention)              | Room             | Tool                    |
| ----------------------------------- | ------------------------------ | ---------------- | ----------------------- |
| Opencode session transcripts        | `wing_conversations`           | auto (keyword)   | `mempalace-session`     |
| Project docs (md, yaml, Dockerfile) | `wing_<project-name>`          | auto             | `mempalace-docs`        |
| Per-agent session diaries           | `wing_<agent-name>`            | `diary`          | `mempalace_diary_write` (from the consumer-side `mempalace` skill) |
| Ad-hoc verbatim facts               | any                            | any              | `mempalace_add_drawer`  |

## Cost Profile (reference)

From a 10-day opencode corpus (140 sessions / 1491 msgs / 4656 parts):

- Dry run: seconds.
- Full mine: ~21 min wall / ~38 min user CPU → 2378 drawers from 62 qualifying sessions.
- Dedup re-run: mine instant, repair ~5 min.

Budget **~20 minutes per 60-session batch**. Scales roughly linearly with message count.

## Anti-Patterns

- **Don't run `mempalace mine` directly on a project.** Use `mempalace-docs` — otherwise source code floods the palace.
- **Don't try to point `mempalace mine --mode convos` at `opencode.db` directly.** The convos miner reads files (txt/md/json/jsonl) only — no SQLite support. Use `mempalace-session` to export first.
- **Don't delete staging dirs unnecessarily.** They're dedup anchors; deleting means a forced re-mine of everything in that wing.
- **Don't forget `mempalace_reconnect`** after a mine from inside a live MCP session — otherwise search hits the stale index.
- **Don't mine with `--min-messages 0` or `1`** — 78 out of 140 sessions in reference corpus were throwaway `/exit`'d sessions that would flood the palace with noise. Default 3 is sensible.

## Upstream Roadmap (when to retire these wrappers)

- **[MemPalace PR #1213](https://github.com/MemPalace/mempalace/pull/1213)** merges → `mempalace-docs` becomes redundant (exclude patterns in `mempalace.yaml`). Retire to thin shim or delete.
- **Opencode session-stopping hooks merge** ([PR #16598](https://github.com/anomalyco/opencode/pull/16598) et al.) **AND** `hooks_cli.py` gains `opencode` harness → live auto-save works; `mempalace-session` becomes a manual-only backfill tool (cron / historic import).
- **SQLite mode lands in `mempalace mine --mode convos`** → `mempalace-session` loses its reason to exist entirely.

Check `ARCHITECTURE.md` §6 in `mempalace-toolkit/` for current upstream status before doing any retirement work.

## See Also

- `<mempalace-toolkit>/ARCHITECTURE.md` — **canonical spec** (diagrams, implementation notes, full troubleshooting).
- `<mempalace-toolkit>/README.md` — per-tool usage reference.
- `~/.agents/skills/mempalace/SKILL.md` — consumer-side skill (search, diary, KG) — *pair this skill with that one*.