memory-continuity/memory/2026-03-13.md

# 2026-03-13

- Memory-continuity project reached a solid Phase 1 checkpoint.
- Verified subagent continuity can work after fixing Telegram resident agents' tool permissions; root cause was agent config inheriting `tools.profile = messaging` without `tools.alsoAllow`, so subagents lacked `read`. Added `group:fs`, `group:runtime`, `group:memory`, `sessions_spawn`, and `subagents` to key resident agents (`tech_geek`, `travel_assistant`, `finance_assistant`, `interpreter`) and restart made the change effective.
- Confirmed Telegram resident agent continuity failure was not just stale state; after tool fix, `tech_geek` successfully recovered a test fact from `CURRENT_STATE.md` after `/new`.
- Determined OpenClaw `contextEngine` is an exclusive slot, so memory-continuity should not use ContextEngine as the primary v1 architecture because it would conflict with ecosystem plugins like `lossless-claw`.
- Design direction finalized: `memory-continuity` is a structured working-state checkpoint layer that complements native OpenClaw memory/compaction, not a replacement. Primary path is now `SKILL.md + standard lifecycle plugin`; ContextEngine is a future option only.
- Added and pushed design docs to GitHub repo `dtzp555-max/memory-continuity`:
  - `references/scope.md`
  - `references/plugin-design.md`
- Updated and pushed skill docs aligned to lifecycle-plugin direction:
  - `SKILL.md`
  - `README.md`
  - `references/template.md`
  - `references/doctor-spec.md`
- Added Phase 2 development artifacts to skill repo:
  - `plugin/lifecycle-prototype.ts`
  - `references/phase2-hook-validation.md`
- Lifecycle plugin prototype now targets ordinary hooks instead of ContextEngine. Current key validated evidence from local SDK/docs: standard plugins can use prompt-injection hooks, especially `before_prompt_build` (preferred) and `before_agent_start` (fallback), plus `command:new`, `agent_end`, and compaction-related hooks.
- Prototype bugfixes completed before next live testing phase:
  - fixed JS section parser regex in `extractSection`
  - aligned archive filenames to `YYYY-MM-DD_HH-MM.md`
  - added compaction probe marker/log so Experiment C is observable
- Latest local checkpoint before next phase: ready to mount plugin and run real experiments, prioritizing:
  1. Experiment A — verify `before_prompt_build` startup continuity injection is actually visible to the agent
  2. Experiment C — verify compaction hook behavior is synchronous/reliable enough for checkpoint safety
- User preference/process note: for future GitHub pushes on this skill, include a release/version identifier.
- Phase 2 runtime probe status:
  - Experiment A passed on `tech_geek`: the resident subagent answered correctly from plugin-injected startup continuity state without using `read`.
  - After upgrade, `travel_assistant` initially failed as a sample because it had historical pollution from an old wrong workspace path (`~/.openclaw/workspace-travel_assistant`) and its `AGENTS.md` startup sequence did not read `memory/CURRENT_STATE.md`.
  - After removing the old wrong workspace and fixing `travel_assistant`'s `AGENTS.md` to read `memory/CURRENT_STATE.md` on startup, `travel_assistant` also passed the startup-injection smoke test without using `read`.
  - Therefore Experiment A is now confirmed on multiple resident subagent samples, including post-upgrade validation.
  - Experiment C is still pending, not failed: the attempted pressure test on `tech_geek` never actually entered compaction (`13%` context, `0` compactions), so compaction-hook behavior remains unproven.
  - Conservative decision taken: do not force compaction on the main live session. Run compaction testing later in a disposable/sacrificial test session instead.
  - Additional boundary discovered after fresh Discord testing: Discord main/channel/thread sessions are not currently in the supported continuity set for `v0.3.0-probe`. Even with fresh `/new`, new thread, and new channel tests, Discord main failed to preserve short facts or restore concrete working-state details across sessions. Treat resident subagents as the validated support surface; treat Discord main continuity as unsupported for this alpha.
- New fallback-path finding: during a main-session fallback/new-session event, `memory-continuity-probe`'s `before_prompt_build` hook did run but logged `workspaceDir=<missing> statePath=<missing>`, so startup recovery could not resolve `CURRENT_STATE.md`. Opened upstream issue `openclaw/openclaw#44746` and currently suspect an OpenClaw lifecycle/runtime contract gap rather than a pure plugin logic bug.
- ACP capability clarified: this machine does have ACPX installed and enabled; a Codex ACP smoke test successfully started and inherited workspace context. Current safe operational model is therefore `main -> ACP worker -> main`, not free-form stable agent↔agent ACP communication.