memory-defrag

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:

Problem	Signal	Fix
Bloated file	>300 lines, covers many topics	Split into focused files
Duplicate info	Same fact in multiple places	Consolidate to one location
Stale entries	References to completed work, old dates, resolved issues	Remove or archive
Orphan files	Files in memory/ never referenced or updated	Review, merge, or remove
Inconsistencies	Contradictory information across files	Resolve to ground truth
Poor organization	Related info scattered across files	Restructure by topic
Recursive nesting	memory/memory/memory/... directories	Delete nested dirs (indexer bug artifact)

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• Update: Fix outdated facts, dates, statuses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.
• Completed tasks: Tasks with status: done older than 14 days can be removed. Their insights should already be in MEMORY.md via reflection.
• Ask before destructive changes. If uncertain whether information is still relevant, keep it with a (review needed) tag rather than deleting.