memory-doctor

Memory Doctor

bm doctor checks the user's local Basic Memory projects and reports what is wrong. Each problem comes with the command that fixes it, when one exists. Doctor's checks only read; they never change a project's notes or index. The fixes it suggests do change things, so run them only after the user agrees.

This skill needs a shell with the bm (or basic-memory) command.

When to Use

• Search misses a note the user knows exists, or returns the same note twice
• A note was saved but its file did not change, or the reverse
• The user asks whether Basic Memory is working, or to "check" or "fix" it
• After a crash, an interrupted import, or moving a project's folder

Run It

Start with the report alone. It is fast and has a stable JSON shape:

bm doctor --skip-self-test --json

Add --project NAME to check one project. Without --skip-self-test, doctor also runs a self-test: it writes, indexes and searches a note in a throwaway sandbox, which takes a few seconds and proves the install itself works. Run it when the report is clean but something still seems broken.

Read the Report

{
  "projects": [
    {
      "name": "work",
      "findings": [
        {
          "check": "search_index",
          "severity": "error",
          "summary": "1 search row does not match a current note, observation or relation.",
          "evidence": ["entity id=99, entity_id=99"],
          "action": {"kind": "reindex_search", "full": true},
          "command": "bm reindex --search --full --project work"
        }
      ],
      "has_errors": true
    }
  ],
  "skipped_cloud_projects": ["research"],
  "self_test": {"outcome": "skipped"},
  "has_errors": true
}

Severity	Meaning	What to do
error	Will not go away without a fix	Offer the command; if it is null, explain the evidence
warning	Needs attention, may recover on its own	Offer the command if there is one
info	Expected while work is in progress	Mention it; a running server finishes it, and the command finishes it now

Indexing catches up in the background. A duplicate, missing or extra search row is a warning while file indexing is still running, because the pass may clear it, and becomes an error once indexing has settled. If the report has only info findings, nothing is wrong. When no Basic Memory server is running, nothing indexes in the background, so offer the command on an info finding too.

Cloud projects are listed under skipped_cloud_projects: they are indexed on the server, and local commands cannot fix them.

Fix

1. Summarize the findings for the user in plain words: which project, what is wrong, and what the fix does. Group findings that share a command.
2. Show each command exactly as doctor printed it and ask before running it. bm reindex --search --full re-reads every file in the project and can take a while on a large one.
3. Run the commands the user approves.
4. Run bm doctor --skip-self-test --json again and confirm the findings are gone.

When a finding has no command, do not invent one. Say what the evidence shows (for example, which files changed on disk while a newer save was waiting) and let the user decide.

Exit Codes

bm doctor exits 0 when there are no errors and the self-test passed (or was skipped), and 1 otherwise. Warnings and info never fail it.