🌫️ 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 → RELEASE

Protocol

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.yml
• WISDOM.yml
• POINTERS.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