🌫️ Honest-Forget Skill
"Summarize before forgetting. Never fabricate."
Graceful memory compression that preserves wisdom. Compress context gracefully when budget is exceeded. Extract wisdom, create pointers, and let go with integrity.
Purpose
Compress context gracefully when budget is exceeded. Extract wisdom, create pointers, and let go with integrity. Never silently lose information or fabricate what was forgotten.
When to Use
- Context window is filling up
- Completed work needs archiving
- Repetitive iterations need compression
- Old sessions need summarization
- "I've tried this 10 times" situations
The Honest Forget Cycle
ASSESS → EXTRACT → COMPRESS → POINTER → RELEASEProtocol
Assessment
Before forgetting, understand what you have:
assessment:
file: "path/to/file.md"
tokens: 5000
contains:
decisions: ["List of decisions made"]
learnings: ["What was learned"]
questions_answered: ["Q&A pairs"]
dead_ends: ["What didn't work"]
importance:
for_current_task: "high|medium|low"
for_future_reference: "high|medium|low"Wisdom Extraction
Compress iterations into lessons:
wisdom:
id: "wisdom-001"
title: "LEARNED: [Pattern/Pitfall]"
compressed_from:
iterations: "45-55"
original_tokens: 15000
lesson: |
The core insight in one paragraph.
pitfalls:
- "What to avoid"
example:
good: "What works"
bad: "What doesn't"
retrieval_hint: |
When to recall this wisdom:
- [trigger condition]Pointer Creation
Leave breadcrumbs for retrieval:
pointer:
to: "path/to/archived/content"
summary: "One line about what's there"
retrieve_when:
- "Specific condition"
contains:
- "What you'll find there"Schemas
Assessment Schema
| Field | Required | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
file | ✓ | Path to content |
tokens | ✓ | Size estimate |
importance | ✓ | How critical |
decisions | Choices made | |
learnings | What was learned | |
dead_ends | Failed approaches |
Wisdom Schema
| Field | Required | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
id | ✓ | Unique identifier |
title | ✓ | Brief summary |
lesson | ✓ | Core insight |
compressed_from | Source info | |
pitfalls | What to avoid | |
example | Good/bad examples | |
retrieval_hint | When to recall |
Pointer Schema
| Field | Required | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
to | ✓ | Archive path |
summary | ✓ | One-line description |
retrieve_when | Trigger conditions | |
contains | What's there |
Core Files
| File | Purpose |
|---|---|
FORGET.yml | Current forgetting session |
WISDOM.yml | Extracted lessons |
POINTERS.yml | Retrieval breadcrumbs |
archive/ | Compressed content |
Commands
| Command | Syntax | Action |
|---|---|---|
ASSESS | ASSESS [file] | Evaluate what's there |
EXTRACT | EXTRACT [wisdom] | Pull out lessons |
COMPRESS | COMPRESS [level] | Create summary |
POINTER | POINTER [to] | Leave retrieval hint |
RELEASE | RELEASE [file] | Remove from context |
Compression Levels
| Level | Ratio | Keeps | Use When |
|---|---|---|---|
| FULL | 1:1 | Everything | Still actively needed |
| WISDOM | ~5:1 | Lessons, decisions, key facts | Work is done, wisdom remains |
| SUMMARY | ~10:1 | Essence and pointers | Background reference only |
| POINTER | ~50:1 | Just retrieval hints | Rarely needed, but should remember it exists |
The Honesty Principle
What Makes Forgetting "Honest"
DO:
- Acknowledge what was forgotten
- Leave pointers for retrieval
- Extract lessons before release
- Document compression decisions
DON'T:
- Silently lose information
- Fabricate what was forgotten
- Pretend to remember details
- Hallucinate from partial memory
When Uncertain
Say: "I compressed earlier iterations. The wisdom I retained is X."
Offer: "I can retrieve the original if needed."
Don't: "Make up details that feel right."
Working Set
Always include in context:
FORGET.ymlWISDOM.ymlPOINTERS.yml
Dovetails With
Sister Skills
- summarize/ — The compression mechanism
- session-log/ — What to potentially forget
- self-repair/ — Triggers forgetting when needed
Kernel
- kernel/memory-management-protocol.md — Full specification