thecede

# Cortex — Graph Memory Skill You have access to **Cortex**, a self-organizing knowledge graph for persistent memory. Use it to remember facts, decisions, goals, patterns, and observations across sessions. Knowledge is stored as nodes in a graph that auto-links, decays stale information, detects contradictions, and computes trust from topology. ## When to Use Cortex - **Start of session**: Call `cortex_briefing` to load context from previous sessions. - **Learning something important**: Call `cortex_store` to persist facts, decisions, goals, events, patterns, or observations. - **Answering questions about past work**: Call `cortex_search` or `cortex_recall` to find relevant knowledge. - **Understanding relationships**: Call `cortex_traverse` to explore how concepts connect. - **Connecting ideas**: Call `cortex_relate` to explicitly link related nodes. ## Tools Reference ### cortex_store — Remember something Store a knowledge node. Cortex auto-generates embeddings and the auto-linker discovers connections in the background. ``` cortex_store( title: string, # Required. Short summary (used for search and dedup). kind: string, # "fact" | "decision" | "goal" | "event" | "pattern" | "observation" | "preference". Default: "fact" body: string, # Full content. Can be long. Include details here. tags: string[], # Optional tags for filtering. importance: number # 0.0–1.0. Higher = retained longer, weighted more. Default: 0.5 ) ``` Returns: `{ id, message }`. **Guidelines:** - Use `importance >= 0.7` for architectural decisions, credentials, project goals, user preferences. - Use `importance 0.4–0.6` for routine facts, observations, intermediate findings. - Use `importance <= 0.3` for ephemeral notes, temporary context. - Write titles as self-contained statements: "API uses JWT authentication" not "Auth info". - Put details, reasoning, and evidence in `body`. - Use accurate `kind` values — they affect briefing structure and filtering. - Tag with project name, domain, or agent role for scoped retrieval. ### cortex_search — Find by meaning Semantic similarity search across all stored knowledge. ``` cortex_search( query: string, # Required. Natural language query. limit: integer, # Max results. Default: 10 kind: string # Optional filter: "fact", "decision", "goal", etc. ) ``` Returns: array of `{ id, kind, title, body, score, created_at }`. **When to use:** Quick lookup of specific facts or concepts. Best when you know roughly what you're looking for. ### cortex_recall — Contextual retrieval Hybrid search combining vector similarity AND graph structure. Returns more contextually relevant results than pure search. ``` cortex_recall( query: string, # Required. What to recall. limit: integer, # Default: 10 alpha: number # 0.0 = pure graph, 1.0 = pure vector. Default: 0.7 ) ``` **When to use instead of search:** - When you need related context, not just matching text. - When exploring a topic area broadly. - Lower `alpha` (e.g., 0.3) when graph relationships matter more than text similarity. ### cortex_briefing — Session context Generate a structured summary of relevant knowledge. Includes active goals, recent decisions, patterns, key facts, and contradiction alerts. ``` cortex_briefing( agent_id: string, # Agent identifier. Default: "default" compact: boolean # If true, returns a shorter ~4x denser briefing. Default: false ) ``` Returns: `{ briefing: "<markdown>" }`. **Guidelines:** - Call at the start of every new session or conversation. - Use `compact: true` when context window is tight or you just need a quick refresh. - Use a consistent `agent_id` per role/project to get scoped briefings. ### cortex_traverse — Explore connections Walk the knowledge graph from a starting node to discover how concepts relate. ``` cortex_traverse( node_id: string, # Required. Starting node UUID (from search/store results). depth: integer, # How many hops. Default: 2 direction: string # "outgoing" | "incoming" | "both". Default: "both" ) ``` Returns: `{ nodes: [...], edges: [...] }` — the subgraph. **When to use:** After finding a key node via search, traverse to understand its full context, dependencies, and contradictions. ### cortex_relate — Connect knowledge Create a typed relationship between two existing nodes. ``` cortex_relate( from_id: string, # Required. Source node UUID. to_id: string, # Required. Target node UUID. relation: string # "relates-to" | "supports" | "contradicts" | "caused-by" | "depends-on" | "similar-to" | "supersedes". Default: "relates-to" ) ``` **When to use:** - When you discover a logical dependency between two pieces of knowledge. - When new information contradicts or supersedes an old node — use `contradicts` or `supersedes`. - The auto-linker handles many connections automatically; use `cortex_relate` for explicit, meaningful relationships the auto-linker might miss. ## Workflows ### Starting a session 1. `cortex_briefing(agent_id="<project-or-role>")` — load context. 2. Read the briefing. Note any active goals, recent decisions, or flagged contradictions. 3. Proceed with the task informed by prior knowledge. ### During work - When you make or observe a significant decision → `cortex_store(kind="decision", ...)`. - When you discover a fact worth remembering → `cortex_store(kind="fact", ...)`. - When you notice a recurring pattern → `cortex_store(kind="pattern", ...)`. - When something happened that matters → `cortex_store(kind="event", ...)`. - When you need to look something up → `cortex_search(...)` or `cortex_recall(...)`. ### Ending a session - Store any unrecorded decisions, outcomes, or observations. - If a goal was completed, store an event: `cortex_store(kind="event", title="Completed: <goal>", importance=0.6)`. ### Resolving contradictions 1. `cortex_search` or `cortex_recall` to find conflicting nodes. 2. `cortex_relate(from_id=new, to_id=old, relation="supersedes")` to mark the old information as superseded. 3. Store the resolution as a new decision node. ## Node Kinds Cheat Sheet | Kind | Use for | Example | |------|---------|---------| | `fact` | Verified information | "API rate limit is 1000 req/min" | | `decision` | Choices made and rationale | "Chose PostgreSQL over MongoDB for ACID compliance" | | `goal` | Active objectives | "Ship v2.0 API by March 30" | | `event` | Things that happened | "Production outage on March 15, root cause: DNS" | | `pattern` | Recurring observations | "User requests spike every Monday 9am" | | `observation` | Unverified or preliminary notes | "The test suite seems flaky on CI" | | `preference` | User/team preferences | "User prefers concise responses with code examples" |