nemo-rl-session-memory

Session Memory

Keep a durable, human-readable record of the current working session so another agent can resume after a disconnect with minimal context loss.

When To Use

Use this skill when:

• The user asks to preserve, recover, checkpoint, or manage agent memory.
• Work is long-running, experimental, or likely to span disconnects.
• You are about to make nontrivial edits, run long jobs, switch branches, or pause for user input.
• You resume in a repo that already has ./session/ directories.

Session Directory

Create one directory per working session:

mkdir -p session
date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S
mkdir -p session/<session_date_time>

Use local time from the machine. Reuse the same session directory for all checkpoints in the same conversation unless the user explicitly starts a new session.

Expected files:

• session_state.md - overall goal, current subtask, loaded skills, status, plan, assumptions, blockers, and next actions.
• timeline.md - append-only log of major actions, commands, results, and decisions.
• files.md - files inspected, files changed, and why they matter.
• handoff.md - concise resume instructions for the next agent.

Add other files only when useful, such as experiments.tsv, review_notes.md, or copied command logs.

Start Or Resume

At the start of a session:

1. Check for existing session directories:

ls -dt

2. If the user is resuming work, read the latest relevant session_state.md, timeline.md, and handoff.md.
3. If no relevant session exists, create a new timestamped directory.
4. Write an initial session_state.md with the user's overall goal, current subtask, loaded skills, repo path, branch, and known constraints.

Do not treat session notes as the only source of truth. Verify important claims against git state, files, and command output before acting.

Checkpoint Rhythm

Write a checkpoint:

• After gathering enough context to form a plan.
• Before and after meaningful code edits.
• Before long-running commands, experiments, branch switches, or anything hard to reconstruct from chat.
• When the user changes direction.
• Before final response if the session has meaningful state worth resuming.
• At least every 30 minutes during active long-running work.

Prefer updating the same files rather than creating many small checkpoint files. Keep the record compact and scannable.

File Templates

session_state.md

timeline.md

files.md

handoff.md

Recovery Workflow

When resuming after a disconnect:

1. Find the likely latest session directory.
2. Read handoff.md first, then session_state.md, then recent timeline.md.
3. Run lightweight verification such as git status --short, git branch --show-current, and targeted file reads.
4. Continue from the latest verified next action.
5. Append a timeline entry noting the recovery and any mismatches found.

Quality Rules

• Keep notes factual and terse. Future agents need state, not a transcript.
• Record command outcomes that matter, especially failed tests or skipped verification.
• Mention uncommitted changes and whether they were made by the current agent or pre-existing.
• Do not store secrets, tokens, private credentials, or large logs in session files.
• If a session file becomes large, summarize old details and keep the latest next actions near the top of handoff.md.