memory-clean

Audit memory for structural rot and staleness, report with evidence, fix only on user confirmation.

Scope

Audits and fixes existing memory files. Does not create new memories from session signals (that is memory-update). Does not redact PII or credentials (that is memory-sanitize, which memory-clean will recommend when it detects suspected credentials at critical severity).

Path resolution

Scripts live under this skill's own scripts/ directory. Resolve the skill root from $HOME (the conventional install path is $HOME/.claude/claude/skills/memory-clean/):

SKILL_SCRIPTS="${MEMORY_CLEAN_SKILL_SCRIPTS:-$HOME/.claude/claude/skills/memory-clean/scripts}"
MEMORY_DIR=$("$SKILL_SCRIPTS/resolve-paths.sh" memory_dir)
SESSION_HISTORY_GLOB=$("$SKILL_SCRIPTS/resolve-paths.sh" session_history_glob)

Set MEMORY_CLEAN_SKILL_SCRIPTS to override when the skill is installed outside $HOME/.claude. Abort on non-zero exit from the resolver. Overrides via MEMORY_DIR / SESSION_HISTORY_GLOB env vars.

Workflow

1. Resolve paths (above)

2. Snapshot before any fix

cp -r "$MEMORY_DIR" /tmp/memory-snapshot-$(date +%s)

Never mutate originals without a snapshot.

3. Run structural audit

./scripts/audit-memory.sh "$MEMORY_DIR" "$SESSION_HISTORY_GLOB" > /tmp/memory-audit-$(date +%s).json

The script emits JSON with these arrays:

| Field | What it detects | |---|---| | orphans | Files in dir with no MEMORY.md entry | | dangling | MEMORY.md entries pointing to missing files | | near_duplicates | File pairs with >70% content overlap | | structural | Missing frontmatter, missing Why:/How to apply:, index line > 150 chars, MEMORY.md > 200 lines, type-mismatch, fix-recipe content | | staleness | Memories whose stated rule conflicts with recent session evidence |

Read references/AUDIT-CHECKLIST.md for full detection rules per category.

4. Render report grouped by severity

CRITICAL (N)
  [cred-scan] feedback_no-html-comments.md — suspected credential on line 7
  → Recommend: run memory-sanitize first

WARN (N)
  [near-dup] feedback_consistent-config.md ↔ feedback_no-html-comments.md (82% overlap)
  [stale] feedback_bump-minor-versions.md — rule contradicted in 4 recent sessions
    Evidence: turns uuid-aaa, uuid-bbb, uuid-ccc, uuid-ddd

INFO (N)
  [orphan] user_role_data_scientist.md — not in MEMORY.md index
  [index-long] project_auth-rewrite.md — index entry is 163 chars (limit 150)

For staleness items, always show the specific turn IDs and a snippet of the contradicting evidence.

5. Wait for confirmation per group

Present each fix group with a diff preview. Wait for explicit user confirmation before applying. Never auto-fix.

6. Apply confirmed fixes

• Orphan: append entry to MEMORY.md.
• Dangling: remove line from MEMORY.md.
• Near-duplicate: present merged draft; write merged file + remove the superseded one; update MEMORY.md.
• Structural: targeted in-place edit via Edit tool.
• Stale: present options — update the rule, archive the file, or delete it.

7. Re-run audit; confirm zero critical issues

./scripts/audit-memory.sh "$MEMORY_DIR" "$SESSION_HISTORY_GLOB"

Report residual warn/info items; leave them for the user to act on separately if desired.

Anti-patterns (never do)

• Auto-fix without user confirmation.
• Mutate originals without the /tmp/ snapshot.
• Delete a file without showing the user its content first.
• Attempt credential redaction (surface critical flag, recommend memory-sanitize).