Persistent memory for Claude / CoWork sessions via the **ECHO** Obsidian vault, driven over the [Obsidian Local REST API](https://github.com/coddingtonbear/obsidian-local-rest-api). No MCP server — the skill makes direct REST calls, now through a bundled validated client (`scripts/echo.sh`).
Built for **Jason Stedwell** (Director of Technical Services / Systems Engineer, MPM / ALABAMA wISP), who is both the **operator** and the **architect** of this vault. This is a personal plugin, not for distribution.
This repository (`jason/echo-v.05`) holds the plugin **source** (tracked tree at `echo-memory.plugin.src/`), the built `echo-memory.plugin` package artifact (rebuilt on each version bump), and a credential-free A/B `eval/` harness.
**0.7 in one line:** the prose-and-raw-curl skill grew an executable spine — a status-checking API client, a machine-readable routing manifest the linter enforces, deterministic bootstrap/migrate scripts, an advisory multi-writer lock, four slash commands, and an eval harness. See the [0.7.0 version-history entry](#version-history) for the full list.
## Core design principle — the plugin is the single source of truth
Everything that defines how ECHO behaves — bootstrap/repair logic, the operating contract, the taxonomy, frontmatter conventions, the routing map, and the canonical note templates — ships **inside the plugin** under `skills/echo-memory/`.
The vault itself holds **data only**. There are no `CLAUDE.md` / `BOOTSTRAP.md` / `STRUCTURE.md` / `index.md` control docs in it. The single in-vault control artifact is a one-line marker, `_agent/echo-vault.md`, that records the schema version.
Three consequences follow:
- **Self-bootstrapping** — point the REST API at an empty Obsidian vault and the plugin stands up the full folder tree, templates, anchors, and marker from its bundled `scaffold/`.
- **Easy to update** — change behavior by updating the plugin, not by editing files scattered through the vault.
- **Portable** — the same plugin brings any empty vault online identically; nothing essential depends on files pre-existing in the vault.
---
## Configuration
The plugin is hardcoded for a single personal endpoint:
- **Server:** `https://echoapi.alwisp.com` (reverse proxy → backend Obsidian Local REST API). This is the **only** valid endpoint — never use LAN addresses (`10.x`, `192.168.x`, `:27124`); those belong to retired memory systems. Override per-run with `ECHO_BASE`.
- **Auth:** a bearer token stored in the skill / `references` and injected by `scripts/echo.sh`. The key lives only in the plugin — **never inside a vault note** (per the vault's own safety rules). Override with `ECHO_KEY`.
Vault paths are addressed **at the root** (e.g. `GET /vault/_agent/context/current-context.md`). Prefer `scripts/echo.sh` over raw `curl`: it injects auth, checks HTTP status (a failed write exits non-zero instead of looking like success), retries transient 5xx, verifies PUTs, and does idempotent appends.
**Division of responsibility:**`SKILL.md` owns day-to-day *procedure* (loading order, search-first, triage, scope switching, PATCH rules) and points at the bundled tooling. `references/operating-contract.md` owns the durable, client-independent *principles, safety rules, and concurrency model*. `scripts/routing.json` is the machine-readable source of truth for routing; `references/routing-map.md` is its human-readable authority. The other references are the canonical layout, API, and bootstrap specs.
---
## Bundled tooling (0.7)
Executable logic ships under `skills/echo-memory/scripts/`; the agent prefers it over hand-built curl.
| Tool | Purpose |
|------|---------|
| `echo.sh` | The validated API client. `get/ls/map/search/put/post/append/patch/fm/bump/delete/lock/unlock`. Injects auth, **checks HTTP status** (non-zero exit on ≥400 — a failed write can't masquerade as success), one bounded retry on transient 5xx/connection errors, read-back verify on PUT, idempotent `append` (read-before-POST), correct `::` heading targets. |
| `routing.json` | The **canonical machine-readable** route manifest — one regex pattern per valid destination plus retired paths. The single source of truth for "what may be written where"; `vault-lint.sh` enforces it. |
| `vault-lint.sh` | Read-only invariant checker (Vault Health). Real YAML parsing, clock injected via `ECHO_TODAY`, exits `3` if the vault isn't bootstrapped (instead of falsely reporting "clean"). |
| `bootstrap.sh` | Deterministic, idempotent, probe-before-write vault setup/repair (`--dry-run` to preview). Resolves the scaffold relative to itself, so it works from any CWD. |
| `migrate.sh` | Deterministic schema migration. Dry-run by default; destructive steps gated behind `--apply` and printed first. |
### Slash commands
`/echo-load` (cold-start read), `/echo-save <text>` (route + persist), `/echo-triage` (drain the inbox), `/echo-health` (run the linter) — explicit, reproducible entry points to the procedures below.
### Concurrency (shared vault)
ECHO is read/written by multiple clients (Claude Code **and** CoWork). Single-line files (`heartbeat/last-session.md`, `current-context.md::Scope`) and append targets (`inbox.md`, `## Agent Log`) assume one writer at a time. Before an overlapping burst of writes, take the cooperative advisory lock (`echo.sh lock <id>` → `_agent/locks/vault.lock`, TTL-reclaimable) and release it at session end. Idempotent append and status-checked writes are the second line of defense.
Load memory at the start of any substantive conversation (anything beyond a single quick factual question). The cold-start reads are **issued in parallel** (one batch of 5–6 GETs):
1.`_agent/echo-vault.md` — the bootstrap marker. `404` → vault not set up (run bootstrap); `200` → check `schema_version` and migrate if older than the plugin's.
4.`_agent/heartbeat/last-session.md` then `_agent/sessions/` — read the heartbeat pointer first (O(1) jump to the latest log); fall back to the listing's ~5 most recent by reverse lexical sort.
6.`inbox/captures/inbox.md` — inbox-depth probe for the load-time reconcile.
After the batch, **reconcile**: if the inbox holds captures older than ~7 days, surface the count and offer to triage (so triage self-fires rather than waiting to be invoked); and if the active scope diverges from what Jason just asked for, run Scope Switching.
If a specific project is in play, follow up with a `search/simple/` across **all** lifecycle subfolders, querying **both the slug and any human title** used in conversation, then read the match at `projects/<lifecycle>/<slug>.md`. Loading is not narrated to the operator.
### Inbox triage
`inbox/captures/inbox.md` is the catch-all. At session start, GET it; if it holds lines older than ~7 days that were never routed, surface a count once and offer to triage. Accepted items route to their proper home (preference → operator-preferences; project idea → `projects/incubating/`; durable fact → semantic; person fact → `resources/people/`), with the move recorded one-line in `inbox/processing-log/YYYY-MM-DD.md` as an audit trail. Originals aren't deleted unless explicitly asked.
### Project lifecycle
Projects move through four folders; the folder name and the `status:` frontmatter field **MUST agree** — they are two views of one state. A file in `projects/active/` with `status: on-hold` is broken state.
| Folder | `status:` | Meaning |
|--------|-----------|---------|
| `incubating/` | `incubating` | Idea captured; not actively worked |
| `active/` | `active` | Current work (default for anything in motion) |
| `on-hold/` | `on-hold` | Paused but still tracked; resumable |
| `archived/` | `archived` | Done, abandoned, or rolled up — not deleted |
Promotion = move the file **and** update `status:` in the same change.
### Scope switching
`_agent/context/current-context.md` tracks one active scope. When scope changes: (1) PATCH-prepend a dated bullet capturing the **prior** scope to `## Scope History`; (2) PATCH-replace `## Scope` with the new scope; (3) bump the frontmatter `updated:`. Scope History is trimmed to the last ~10 entries.
### Daily note — Agent Log
After substantive activity, append a one-line entry to today's daily note's `## Agent Log`. The procedure is resilient: GET the note → if `404`, PUT it from the template → if `200` but the heading is missing, POST the heading. **Heading detection greps the raw markdown for an anchored `^## Agent Log`** — not the document-map JSON, whose headings are `::`-delimited paths (a bug fixed in 0.4.1 that previously appended duplicate headings).
### Session logging
At the end of substantive conversations (those producing decisions, artifacts, or commitments), write a session log to `_agent/sessions/YYYY-MM-DD-HHMM-<slug>.md`. **The four-digit HHMM component is canonical, not optional** — it makes filenames lex-sort in true chronological order, which cold-start loading depends on. New writes are validated against `^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}-\d{4}-[a-z0-9-]+\.md$`.
The journal is one append-only time-series stream; rollups are coarser-grained entries on the same timeline, so they live under `journal/` — there is no separate `reviews/` tree.
Agent self-maintenance (not a journal entry), written to `_agent/health/YYYY-MM-vault-health.md`. Run `scripts/vault-lint.sh` (or `/echo-health`) with `ECHO_TODAY` = the conversation's date so stale/aging math uses one clock. It mechanically asserts: folder↔status mismatch, duplicate slugs across lifecycle folders, wikilinks in frontmatter (swept across all folders), duplicate `## Agent Log` headings, stale active projects (`updated:` > 30 days), aging inbox items (> 14 days), **paths matching no route in `routing.json` or sitting at a retired path**, and **frontmatter integrity** (missing required fields, `updated` < `created`, future dates, wikilinks leaking into `source_notes`). Exit codes: `0` clean · `1` violations · `2` unreachable · `3` not bootstrapped. Findings are reported, not auto-fixed.
- **Search first (mandatory for new notes).** Before creating any slug-addressed note, `POST /search/simple/?query=<slug>` across the **whole** vault (and search the human title too) — listing one folder misses duplicates elsewhere. On a match: promote/merge from a non-active subfolder, update-in-place in the same folder, or ask which is canonical if elsewhere.
- **Read before append (idempotency).** `POST` is not idempotent — a retry duplicates lines. Before any POST that adds an entry (inbox, Agent Log, an Observations/Log heading), GET the target and skip if the exact line is already present. (Does not apply to PUT or PATCH-replace.)
- **Bump `updated:` on substance.** PATCH the frontmatter `updated:` to today after a meaningful content change (status update, decision, scope switch). Skip it for routine log appends — bump on substance, not heartbeat.
- **Preserve `created:`.** It is the earliest known date the entity was tracked anywhere — never reset it to "today" when merging.
- **No `[[wikilinks]]` in frontmatter** — YAML parses them as nested lists and they break. Cross-references go in a `## Related` body section. `source_notes` holds plain relative-path strings (backward links to inputs only).
- **Check the HTTP status (or use `echo.sh`).** A `PATCH` to a missing heading returns `400 invalid-target` (40080) and the write is *silently lost*; a transient `503` or an accepted-but-unpersisted `PUT` can do the same. `echo.sh` enforces this (exit ≠ 0, retry, read-back verify); raw `curl` must branch on `-w "%{http_code}"`. Treat ≥ 400 as a failed op — surface it, don't continue.
| Delete | `DELETE /vault/<path>` | Only on explicit operator request |
**PATCH heading targets must be the full `::`-delimited path from the top-level heading** (e.g. `Operator Preferences::Fact / Pattern`) — a bare subheading name returns `400 invalid-target` (errorCode 40080). GET the document map first when unsure of the exact path, and copy the heading string verbatim.
The plugin carries everything needed to stand up a vault in `scaffold/`; there is no dependency on any in-vault control doc. In 0.7 these are scripts (`scripts/bootstrap.sh`, `scripts/migrate.sh`), not hand-run curl loops — the prose in `references/bootstrap.md` documents what they do and serves as the fallback.
- **Fresh bootstrap** (`bootstrap.sh`; idempotent, additive — never overwrites): create the folder tree (a one-line README seeds each leaf since Obsidian/git ignore empty dirs) → PUT the 8 templates to their mirrored vault paths → PUT the 3 anchor seeds only if absent (the operator-preferences seed is deliberately empty — no fabricated facts) → PUT the thin vault README → PUT the marker **last** (so the vault is only flagged "set up" once everything is in place) → write a first-run trace (daily note + session log). `--dry-run` previews.
- **Repair** — `bootstrap.sh` again: GET-probes each path and creates only what's missing; malformed files are flagged, never replaced.
- **Migrations** — `migrate.sh` reads the marker's `schema_version`, applies each intervening migration (dry-run by default; `--apply` to perform moves/deletes), and stamps the marker. `0 → 1` removed the old in-vault control docs (`CLAUDE.md` / `BOOTSTRAP.md` / `STRUCTURE.md` / `index.md`); `1 → 2` folded `reviews/` into `journal/` + `_agent/health/`.
| `echo-memory` | "remember that", "save to memory", "what do you know about me", "load my profile", "check my notes", "log this decision", "add to my inbox" — and proactively at the start of substantive conversations |
---
## Safety rules (operating contract)
- Do not fabricate facts, relationships, or prior decisions.
- Do not mass-restructure the vault unless explicitly asked.
- Do not delete notes unless deletion is explicitly requested and clearly safe.
- Never store secrets or API keys inside a vault note.
- Default to additive updates and explicit status changes over destructive edits.
- Write in **third person** about Jason ("Jason prefers X"). Do not cross-write with other vaults (Bryan's `goldbrain` is separate).
If the API returns a connection error, timeout, or `502` (usually Obsidian / the REST plugin not running), tell Jason once that the vault is unreachable and proceed without memory — don't retry repeatedly.
---
## Version history
| Version | Highlights |
|---------|-----------|
| **0.3.0** | Source promoted from zip-only to a tracked tree (`echo-memory.plugin.src/`); `.plugin` becomes a build artifact. All 7 skill-improvement items applied: search-first before writes, resilient daily Agent Log, `created:` semantics, project lifecycle + folder↔status rule, canonical HHMM session filenames, read-most-recent-N sessions, `source_notes` defined as backward links. |
| **0.4.1** | Bugfix: daily-note Agent Log heading detection now greps raw markdown for `^## Agent Log` instead of the `::`-delimited doc-map JSON (which never matched and appended duplicate headings). Added Scope Switching cold-start test harness. |
| **0.5.0** | Self-bootstrap + control-logic-in-plugin. Plugin becomes the single source of truth: bundled `scaffold/` (8 templates, 3 anchor seeds, thin vault README, marker) bootstraps an empty vault with no external/local-path dependency. New `operating-contract.md` (principles + safety from the old in-vault `CLAUDE.md`); `bootstrap.md` rewritten as a portable bootstrap/repair/migrate manifest. Cold-start probe moved from `/vault/BOOTSTRAP.md` to `_agent/echo-vault.md` (carries `schema_version`). Live vault migrated to data-only. |
| **0.5.1** | Routing-doc consistency pass: decision-mirror heading unified to `## Key Decisions`; stale `Current status` PATCH examples corrected to `Status`; vault-layout inline project example refreshed to the real template. All 17 `projects/active/` notes normalized losslessly to the canonical template heading set; `android-mqtt-shell` moved to `incubating/` (was broken `status: upcoming` in active). Plugin repackaged (21 files). |
| **0.6.0** | Schema 2. **#8 Inbox auto-fire:** the Loading procedure adds an inbox-depth GET and a load-time *Reconcile* step (inbox triage + scope-drift), so triage self-fires. **#10 Routing:** `reviews/` retired — weekly/monthly/quarterly/annual rollups fold into `journal/{weekly,monthly,quarterly,annual}/`, vault-health moves to `_agent/health/`; new `references/routing-map.md` is the complete audited endpoint→logic map. **Recs:** heartbeat pointer operationalized (read first at load, written at session end); new `scripts/vault-lint.sh` mechanically checks vault invariants. Dead refs pruned (`archive/`, `_agent/outputs/`, `resources/source-material`). Migration `1 → 2` in `bootstrap.md`. |
| **0.7.1** | **Scope-drift fix.** Scope is the most churn-prone state (several sessions/day) and had no freshness signal, so sessions silently ran under stale scope (same failure class as #8). Added a `scope_updated:` frontmatter timestamp (maintained automatically), an `echo.sh scope show` / `scope set` command (atomic switch: archive prior → replace → stamp), and a `vault-lint.sh`**drift check** (flags when ≥ `SCOPE_STALE_SESSIONS`, default 3, session logs are dated after `scope_updated`) — making drift mechanically *evaluable* via `/echo-health`. Tightened the SKILL load-reconcile to *state and confirm* scope every session and switch before working. (Also fixed a bash nested-quote parse bug found while building `scope`, where `show` could fall through into `set`.) |
