chore: sync main hotfixes into release/3.2.0 (#763)

* fix: disambiguate hook block reasons to name MemPalace explicitly (#666)

Replace "your memory system" with explicit MemPalace references and
tool names (mempalace_diary_write, mempalace_add_drawer, mempalace_kg_add)
in stop and precompact hook block reasons. This prevents Claude Code from
misinterpreting the hook as a native auto-memory save instruction.

Updated in both Python (hooks_cli.py) and standalone shell scripts.

Also fix CONTRIBUTING.md Getting Started to show the fork-first workflow,
matching the PR Guidelines section.

* fix: remove chromadb <0.7 upper bound — blocks 1.x installs

The current constraint `chromadb>=0.5.0,<0.7` forces pip to install
chromadb 0.6.x, but palaces created with chromadb 1.x (which is what
the mempalace dev environment actually uses — 1.5.7 per uv.lock) have
an incompatible SQLite schema. Specifically, chromadb 0.6.x fails with
`KeyError: '_type'` when opening a collection written by 1.x.

This means a fresh `pip install mempalace` gives users a chromadb
version that cannot read palaces created in the maintainer's own
environment. The fix removes the upper bound so pip can resolve to the
current stable chromadb release.

Reproduction:
  python3 -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
  pip install mempalace          # installs chromadb 0.6.3
  # Try opening a palace created with chromadb 1.x:
  # -> _get_collection() returns None, tool_status() returns "No palace found"
  pip install chromadb==1.5.7    # force upgrade
  # -> tool_status() returns real data (26k drawers in our case)

---------

Co-authored-by: z3tz3r0 <kittipan.wang@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: AlyciaBHZ <50111876+AlyciaBHZ@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Ben Sigman <1872138+bensig@users.noreply.github.com>

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -5,8 +5,11 @@ Thanks for wanting to help. MemPalace is open source and we welcome contribution
 ## Getting Started
 
 ```bash
-git clone https://github.com/MemPalace/mempalace.git
+# Fork the repo on GitHub first, then clone your fork
+git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/mempalace.git
 cd mempalace
+git remote add upstream https://github.com/MemPalace/mempalace.git
+
 pip install -e ".[dev]"    # installs with dev dependencies (pytest, build, twine)
 ```
 

hooks/mempal_precompact_hook.sh

@@ -72,6 +72,6 @@ fi
 cat << 'HOOKJSON'
 {
   "decision": "block",
-  "reason": "COMPACTION IMMINENT. Save ALL topics, decisions, quotes, code, and important context from this session to your memory system. Be thorough — after compaction, detailed context will be lost. Organize into appropriate categories. Use verbatim quotes where possible. Save everything, then allow compaction to proceed."
+  "reason": "COMPACTION IMMINENT (MemPalace). Save ALL session content before context is lost:\n1. mempalace_diary_write — thorough AAAK-compressed session summary\n2. mempalace_add_drawer — ALL verbatim quotes, decisions, code, context\n3. mempalace_kg_add — entity relationships (optional)\nBe thorough — after compaction, detailed context will be lost. Do NOT write to Claude Code's native auto-memory (.md files). Save everything to MemPalace, then allow compaction to proceed."
 }
 HOOKJSON

hooks/mempal_save_hook.sh

@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ if [ "$SINCE_LAST" -ge "$SAVE_INTERVAL" ] && [ "$EXCHANGE_COUNT" -gt 0 ]; then
     cat << 'HOOKJSON'
 {
   "decision": "block",
-  "reason": "AUTO-SAVE checkpoint. Save key topics, decisions, quotes, and code from this session to your memory system. Organize into appropriate categories. Use verbatim quotes where possible. Continue conversation after saving."
+  "reason": "AUTO-SAVE checkpoint (MemPalace). Save this session's key content:\n1. mempalace_diary_write — AAAK-compressed session summary\n2. mempalace_add_drawer — verbatim quotes, decisions, code snippets\n3. mempalace_kg_add — entity relationships (optional)\nDo NOT write to Claude Code's native auto-memory (.md files). Continue conversation after saving."
 }
 HOOKJSON
 else

mempalace/hooks_cli.py

@@ -18,18 +18,22 @@ SAVE_INTERVAL = 15
 STATE_DIR = Path.home() / ".mempalace" / "hook_state"
 
 STOP_BLOCK_REASON = (
-    "AUTO-SAVE checkpoint. Save key topics, decisions, quotes, and code "
-    "from this session to your memory system. Organize into appropriate "
-    "categories. Use verbatim quotes where possible. Continue conversation "
-    "after saving."
+    "AUTO-SAVE checkpoint (MemPalace). Save this session's key content:\n"
+    "1. mempalace_diary_write — AAAK-compressed session summary\n"
+    "2. mempalace_add_drawer — verbatim quotes, decisions, code snippets\n"
+    "3. mempalace_kg_add — entity relationships (optional)\n"
+    "Do NOT write to Claude Code's native auto-memory (.md files). "
+    "Continue conversation after saving."
 )
 
 PRECOMPACT_BLOCK_REASON = (
-    "COMPACTION IMMINENT. Save ALL topics, decisions, quotes, code, and "
-    "important context from this session to your memory system. Be thorough "
-    "\u2014 after compaction, detailed context will be lost. Organize into "
-    "appropriate categories. Use verbatim quotes where possible. Save "
-    "everything, then allow compaction to proceed."
+    "COMPACTION IMMINENT (MemPalace). Save ALL session content before context is lost:\n"
+    "1. mempalace_diary_write — thorough AAAK-compressed session summary\n"
+    "2. mempalace_add_drawer — ALL verbatim quotes, decisions, code, context\n"
+    "3. mempalace_kg_add — entity relationships (optional)\n"
+    "Be thorough \u2014 after compaction, detailed context will be lost. "
+    "Do NOT write to Claude Code's native auto-memory (.md files). "
+    "Save everything to MemPalace, then allow compaction to proceed."
 )
 
 

pyproject.toml

@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ classifiers = [
     "Topic :: Utilities",
 ]
 dependencies = [
-    "chromadb>=0.5.0,<0.7",
+    "chromadb>=0.5.0",
     "pyyaml>=6.0,<7",
 ]