can-you-assist/MemoryVision.md

# Memory Vision for can-you-assist (cya)

**Status:** Initial vision (post CYA-WP-0001)  
**Date:** 2026-05-26  
**Related Work:** CYA-WP-0001 T05 (minimal ports), phase-memory architecture, INTENT.md

## Guiding Principle

> The user’s working memory must belong to the user — not to any assistant interface, vendor, or opaque system.

`cya` must never become a memory silo. All memory, history, preferences, and adaptation behavior must flow through explicit, inspectable ports provided by `phase-memory`.

## Relationship to phase-memory

`phase-memory` is the **profile-driven memory operating layer** for the broader ecosystem. It is responsible for:

- Interpreting **Markitect memory profiles** as executable runtime plans.
- Modeling memory in distinct **phases**:
  - `ephemeral` — short-lived, high-turnover (e.g., current conversation window)
  - `fluid` — recent but still malleable context
  - `stabilized` — reviewed and relatively durable knowledge/preferences
  - `rigid` — high-confidence, long-term, rarely changing (core identity, strong conventions)
- Planning and executing (or dry-running) **lifecycle actions**:
  - Retention
  - Refresh
  - Compaction
  - Stabilization
  - Activation (under token/item budgets)
- Policy, audit, and review gates around memory changes.

`cya` is a **consumer** of this layer. It does **not** own memory semantics, storage, or lifecycle policy.

## How cya Will Use Memory

`cya` will treat memory as a first-class, explainable input to every assistance cycle, while keeping ownership and control firmly with the user (via phase-memory).

### Primary Memory Kinds Relevant to cya

- **Conversation / Interaction History** — primarily fluid/ephemeral
- **Learned Preferences & Conventions** — stabilized over time (command style, safety tolerance, explanation depth, shell aliases, etc.)
- **Project / Directory Memory** — stabilized or rigid context specific to a working directory or repository
- **Workflow Recipes & Patterns** — stabilized reusable sequences the user has approved or refined
- **Safety & Trust Signals** — rigid or stabilized (user-defined risk thresholds, trusted command patterns)
- **Source Provenance** — metadata about where knowledge came from (files, git history, previous sessions)

### Integration Model (Building on T05 Ports)

The four explicit ports defined in T05 (`cya/memory/__init__.py`) are the permanent integration surface:

- `remember_preference(key, value, scope)`
- `recall_preferences(scope, task_class)`
- `forget(scope, keys)`
- `export_memory(scope)`

Over time these will be wired to real `phase-memory` capabilities. `cya` will additionally:

1. **Produce structured memory events** (conversation turns, accepted suggestions, explicit user feedback, safety decisions) that phase-memory can ingest as fluid memory.
2. **Request context packages** via phase-memory’s activation planning (respecting user-defined profiles and token budgets).
3. **Surface memory influence** in responses — users should be able to see “this suggestion was shaped by your saved preference for concise git output + recent project conventions.”
4. **Honor user-initiated lifecycle actions** (export, reset, compact, stabilize) exposed through the ports or dedicated `cya memory ...` subcommands in the future.

### Profile-Driven Behavior

In the longer term, users (or the system) will be able to supply or generate **Markitect-compatible memory profiles** that tell phase-memory how `cya` should behave regarding their memory. Examples of profile intent that matter to cya:

- “Keep my last 30 days of shell interactions fluid, but stabilize any workflow I have used more than 5 times.”
- “Treat everything in `~/notes/projects/` as stabilized by default, but require review before anything becomes rigid.”
- “Aggressively compact conversational memory after 48 hours unless I mark it important.”
- “Never let total activated context for a single `cya` request exceed 8k tokens without explicit approval.”

`cya` will request activation plans and context packages that respect these profiles.

## Safety and Explainability Requirements

Because memory directly influences suggestions:

- Every response that used non-ephemeral memory must be able to explain **which** memory items influenced it and why.
- Memory-driven suggestions must still pass through the T03 risk classifier.
- Users must be able to temporarily or permanently disable memory influence for a session or scope (`cya --no-memory ...` or equivalent).
- Export and inspection of memory must be first-class and low-friction.

## Current State (Post MVP)

As of the end of CYA-WP-0001:

- Only the four thin no-op ports exist (T05).
- No actual memory is persisted or recalled by `cya`.
- The orchestrator and safety layer are ready to consume memory signals when they become available.
- The architecture deliberately avoids any hidden or local-JSON fallback memory (per explicit operator direction).

This is the correct starting point. Real integration will be done as a subsequent slice, using the ports as the stable contract.

## Open Questions & Future Work

- How will `cya` generate or help users author memory profiles?
- What is the right granularity for “project memory” vs global memory?
- How should safety decisions and user overrides themselves become first-class memory citizens?
- Can/should `cya` participate in compaction and stabilization planning, or should it only consume the results?
- What observability (cost, token usage, memory influence) should be exposed at the CLI level?

## Success Criteria (Longer Term)

`cya` + `phase-memory` together are successful when a user can say:

- “This assistant actually knows my preferences and project conventions, but I can see exactly what it knows and change it whenever I want.”
- “I switched LLM providers and my assistant still feels like *mine*.”
- “I asked it to forget everything about project X last month, and it actually did.”

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This document is distinct from the Intent-vs-Scope gap analysis. It is the forward-looking vision for how memory will evolve in `cya` once real `phase-memory` integration begins. It should be updated as integration work progresses and as phase-memory itself matures.