Scaling Patterns

Volume Thresholds

| Scale | Entries | Strategy | |-------|---------|----------| | Small | <100 | Single memory.md, no namespacing | | Medium | 100-500 | Split into domains/, basic indexing | | Large | 500-2000 | Full namespace hierarchy, aggressive compaction | | Massive | >2000 | Archive yearly, summary-only HOT tier |

When to Split

Create new namespace file when:

Single file exceeds 200 lines

Topic has 10+ distinct corrections

User explicitly separates contexts ("for work...", "in this project...")

Compaction Rules

Merge Similar Corrections

``` BEFORE (3 entries):

[02-01] Use tabs not spaces

[02-03] Indent with tabs

[02-05] Tab indentation please

AFTER (1 entry):

Indentation: tabs (confirmed 3x, 02-01 to 02-05)

```

Summarize Verbose Patterns

``` BEFORE:

When writing emails to Marcus, use bullet points, keep under 5 items,

no jargon, bottom-line first, he prefers morning sends

AFTER:

Marcus emails: bullets ≤5, no jargon, BLUF, AM preferred

```

Archive with Context

When moving to COLD: ```

Archived 2026-02

Project: old-app (inactive since 2025-08)

Used Vue 2 patterns

Preferred Vuex over Pinia

CI on Jenkins (deprecated)

Reason: Project completed, patterns unlikely to apply ```

Index Maintenance

`index.md` tracks all namespaces: ```markdown

Memory Index

HOT (always loaded)

memory.md: 87 lines, updated 2026-02-15

WARM (load on match)

projects/current-app.md: 45 lines

projects/side-project.md: 23 lines

domains/code.md: 112 lines

domains/writing.md: 34 lines

COLD (archive)

archive/2025.md: 234 lines

archive/2024.md: 189 lines

Last compaction: 2026-02-01 Next scheduled: 2026-03-01 ```

Multi-Project Patterns

Inheritance Chain

``` global (memory.md) └── domain (domains/code.md) └── project (projects/app.md) ```

Override Syntax

In project file: ```markdown

Overrides

indentation: spaces (overrides global tabs)

Reason: Project eslint config requires spaces

```

Conflict Detection

When loading, check for conflicts: 1. Build inheritance chain 2. Detect contradictions 3. Most specific wins 4. Log conflict for later review

User Type Adaptations

| User Type | Memory Strategy | |-----------|-----------------| | Power user | Aggressive learning, minimal confirmation | | Casual | Conservative learning, frequent confirmation | | Team shared | Per-user namespaces, shared project space | | Privacy-focused | Local-only, explicit consent per category |

Recovery Patterns

Context Lost

If agent loses context mid-session: 1. Re-read memory.md 2. Check index.md for relevant namespaces 3. Load active project namespace 4. Continue with restored patterns

Corruption Recovery

If memory file corrupted: 1. Check archive/ for recent backup 2. Rebuild from corrections.md 3. Ask user to re-confirm critical preferences 4. Log incident for debugging