memory-capture

Your objective is to capture a specific item to the CocoPlus Memory Engine.

Pre-flight Check

1. Check that .cocoplus/ directory exists. If not, output: "CocoPlus not initialized in this directory. Run $pod init to begin." Then stop.

2. Check if memory.on flag exists at .cocoplus/modes/memory.on. If it does NOT exist, output: "Memory Engine is currently off. Run $memory on to enable cross-session memory capture." Then stop.

Identify What to Capture

The developer may have:

• Provided the item inline: $memory capture <text>
• Run $memory capture with no arguments (interactive mode)

If no argument provided, ask:

"What would you like to capture to memory? Choose a type:

1. Decision — A key choice made and why (e.g., 'chose star schema over OBT for query performance')
2. Pattern — A reusable approach observed (e.g., 'incremental load pattern for large fact tables')
3. Error — An error and how it was resolved (e.g., 'warehouse suspended mid-query — used RESUME before retry')

Reply with the type and the content."

Write to Memory

Based on the type, append to the appropriate memory file:

Decision → .cocoplus/memory/decisions.md

Format to append:

## [YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM] <short title>

**Decision:** <what was decided>
**Rationale:** <why this choice was made>
**Alternatives Considered:** <what else was considered, if known>
**Context:** CocoBrew Phase: <current phase from .cocoplus/AGENTS.md>

Pattern → .cocoplus/memory/patterns.md

Format to append:

## [YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM] <pattern name>

**Pattern:** <what the pattern is>
**When to Apply:** <conditions under which this pattern is useful>
**Example:** <brief example or code snippet if available>
**Source:** <where this pattern was observed — stage ID, task, or 'manual'>

Error → .cocoplus/memory/errors.md

Format to append:

## [YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM] <error short description>

**Error:** <what went wrong>
**Root Cause:** <why it happened>
**Resolution:** <how it was fixed>
**Prevention:** <how to avoid this in the future>

Post-Capture

1. Output confirmation: "Captured to .cocoplus/memory/<type>.md."
2. If the item looks like a reusable pattern that might benefit other projects, suggest: "This looks like a reusable pattern. Run $patterns promote to add it to CocoGrove for future projects."

Anti-Rationalization

Shortcut / Temptation	Why It Fails
Capture without specifying a type (decision/pattern/error)	Each type goes to a different memory file; routing to the wrong file makes retrieval unreliable
Skip the Rationale field for decisions because "it's obvious"	Rationale is why the decision has value; without it, future sessions cannot understand why the decision was made
Append to errors.md for a decision that "went wrong"	Errors and decisions are separate categories — conflating them makes both files noisy and hard to scan

Exit Criteria

• The captured item is appended to the correct memory file (decisions.md, patterns.md, or errors.md) in the required format
• The entry includes a date-prefixed header in ## [YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM] <title> format
• Output confirms the file the item was written to