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Memory Defrag

Reorganize memory files for clarity, efficiency, and relevance. Like filesystem defragmentation but for knowledge.

When to Run

• Periodic : Weekly or biweekly via cron (recommended)
• On demand : User asks to clean up, reorganize, or defrag memory
• Threshold : When MEMORY.md exceeds ~500 lines or daily notes accumulate without consolidation

Process

1. Audit Current State

Inventory all memory files:

MEMORY.md           — long-term memory
memory/             — daily notes, tasks, topical files
memory/tasks/       — active and completed tasks

For each file, note: line count, last modified, topic coverage, staleness.

2. Identify Problems

Look for these common issues:

3. Plan Changes

Before making edits, write a brief plan:

## Defrag Plan
- [ ] Split MEMORY.md "Key People" section → memory/people.md
- [ ] Remove completed tasks older than 30 days from memory/tasks/
- [ ] Merge memory/bm-marketing-ideas.md into memory/competitive/
- [ ] Update stale project status entries in MEMORY.md

4. Execute

Apply changes one at a time:

• Split : Extract sections from large files into focused topical files
• Merge : Combine related small files into coherent documents
• Prune : Remove information that is no longer relevant or accurate
• Restructure : Move files to appropriate directories, rename for clarity
• Update : Fix outdated facts, dates, statuses

5. Verify & Log

After changes:

• Verify no information was lost (compare before/after)

• Update any cross-references between files

• Log what was done in today's daily note:

  Memory Defrag (HH:MM)

  • Files reviewed: N
  • Split: [list]
  • Merged: [list]
  • Pruned: [list]
  • Net result: X files, Y total lines (was Z lines)

Guidelines

• Preserve raw daily notes. Don't delete or modify memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md files — they're the audit trail.
• Target 15-25 focused files. Too few means bloated files; too many means fragmentation. Aim for the sweet spot.
• File names should be scannable. Use descriptive names: people.md, project-status.md, competitive-landscape.md — not notes-2.md.
• Don't over-organize. One level of directories is usually enough. memory/tasks/ and memory/competitive/ are fine; memory/work/projects/active/basic-memory/notes/ is not.
• : Tasks with older than 14 days can be removed. Their insights should already be in MEMORY.md via reflection.

Weekly Installs

29

Repository

basicmachines-c…y-skills

GitHub Stars

4

First Seen

Feb 22, 2026

Security Audits

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Installed on

codex26

github-copilot24

kimi-cli24

gemini-cli24

cursor24

amp24