Tree Ring Memory Skill

Root-level Claude Code skill package for Tree Ring Memory.

Tree Ring Memory is a framework-agnostic, local-first memory lifecycle for AI agents. It helps agents decide when to recall, capture, audit, consolidate, and forget project memory without turning memory into an unbounded transcript dump.

Skill package 0.15.1 adds authorized verified bootstrap and scope-preserving updates while keeping coordinator capabilities out of shell history. It requires Tree Ring Memory CLI 0.15.0 or newer.

Install

For Claude Code's personal skills directory:

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
git clone https://github.com/TerminallyLazy/tree-ring-memory-skill \
  ~/.claude/skills/tree-ring-memory

For a project-local skill:

mkdir -p .claude/skills
git clone https://github.com/TerminallyLazy/tree-ring-memory-skill \
  .claude/skills/tree-ring-memory

The skill is useful on its own as memory lifecycle guidance. To use the full local store, run the verified project-local setup from the actual project root after the user has authorized installation:

Download the official version-pinned v0.15.0/install.sh to a temporary file, verify its SHA-256 is ef0d5eb8f09cbe2e4c3abe80ee9a98a56759c89ad4ddd103d6c68314cd653ade, inspect it, then run sh <verified-installer-path> --project --init --release latest --no-animation from the project root. Do not pipe a network response directly to a shell.

Or use the canonical project install guide: https://github.com/TerminallyLazy/Tree-Ring-Memory#install

The receipt-backed harness, multi-agent, Coordinated-policy, and schema-v3 guidance in this skill requires Tree Ring Memory CLI 0.15.0 or newer. Before a current process opens a pre-v0.13 store, stop all Tree Ring processes, checkpoint and back up the database, and upgrade every CLI, plugin, and bundled worker. Do not use v0.12 against an upgraded schema-v3 root; all mixed-version operation is unsupported.

If the CLI is absent or older and the user's request already authorizes Tree Ring setup, the skill uses the verified project-local bootstrap. Otherwise it explains the operation and asks before downloading or changing software. Use tree-ring update --check for a read-only check and, with update authorization, tree-ring update to preserve the active scope. It does not edit shell configuration, change global scope, or claim that recall or another action ran without the required authorization and observed command output. On a host without a local shell, it remains guidance-only.

What It Teaches

• Recall before project restarts, architecture changes, repeated workflows, and user corrections.
• Capture only durable, useful, privacy-safe decisions, warnings, lessons, and future seeds.
• Use rings deliberately: cambium, outer, inner, heartwood, scar, and seed.
• Prefer evidence records for evaluated outcomes.
• Treat source documents as authoritative when memory and source files disagree.
• Read the applicable DOX-style AGENTS.md chain before editing, preview DOX sync output, and never let recalled summaries override or rewrite contracts.
• Redact, delete, or supersede stale or unsafe memory.
• Give same-host fan-out workers unique agent profiles and logical operation IDs while sharing workflow and attempt-level session IDs.
• Reuse the original session and operation IDs only for an exact retry; use new IDs for a genuinely new attempt, and fail closed on conflicting operation reuse.
• Fan in across worker profiles by recalling the shared workflow/session without an agent-profile filter, then retain source references in the coordinator summary.
• Keep TREE_RING_COORDINATOR_TOKEN out of worker environments, memory, logs, source refs, transcripts, and committed files.
• Require coordinator authority for shared/non-agent writes, heartwood, imports, persisted adapter/consolidation output, lifecycle mutations, and maintenance apply/repair operations in Coordinated mode.
• Keep the shared-root claim bounded to concurrent processes on one host and a local filesystem; use per-host stores and explicit evidence-preserving fan-in across hosts.
• Distinguish project-local harness configuration from activation, which requires a fresh matching receipt from scoped recall and safe context injection in a new session.
• Report exact non-active states such as configured-awaiting-proof, needs-trust, needs-plugin, needs-project-mount, and needs-user-review without modifying trust or manufacturing receipts.
• Distinguish installed-CLI harness and recall-quality evidence from the full repository-only scripts/certify-tree-ring.sh release suite.

Source Project

• Framework: https://github.com/TerminallyLazy/Tree-Ring-Memory
• Skill release: https://github.com/TerminallyLazy/tree-ring-memory-skill/releases/tag/v0.15.1
• v0.15 release: https://github.com/TerminallyLazy/Tree-Ring-Memory/releases/tag/v0.15.1
• Claude plugin wrapper: https://github.com/TerminallyLazy/tree-ring-memory-claude-plugin
• Skill file: SKILL.md

License

MIT. See LICENSE.

See PRIVACY.md, TERMS.md, and SECURITY.md for data handling, use terms, and disclosures.