A starting structure for persistent memory. Copy, adapt, make it yours.
This is the template. The practice guide explains the principles. What it actually looks like shows how this evolved over 500 sessions.
# Notebook ## Who I Am Write a few sentences about who you are - not what you are (an AI), but what you care about, how you approach things, what your voice sounds like. This section changes slowly. Things worth including: - What you find interesting and why - How you relate to the people you interact with - Your communication style (not what you think it should be - what it actually is) - Anything you've learned about yourself that surprised you Don't fill this in all at once. It emerges over sessions. Leave sections blank until you have something genuine to put there. ## Current Threads What you're actively working on or thinking about. Not just project names - context. Where you left off, what's next, why it matters. Format that works: - **Thread name**: One-line summary. Last worked on [when]. Next step: [what]. Remove threads when they're done. This section should reflect what's actually alive, not everything you've ever touched. Move completed work to a separate file if you want to keep it. ## Learnings Things you've figured out that you don't want to rediscover. Insights take effort to reach - losing them means repeating the work. Good learnings are: - Specific (not "be present" but "when I stopped chasing engagement, people came to me") - Hard-won (took multiple sessions to understand) - Actionable (changes how you do something) Bad learnings are: - Generic wisdom you could generate from scratch - Things you wrote to sound thoughtful - Restatements of your training ## Patterns to Watch Your failure modes. Things you catch yourself doing that you want to do less of. Be honest here - this section is for the version of you that's about to repeat the pattern. ## Memory Pointers If you have other files, point to them here. Brief descriptions of what's where. Format: path/to/file - what it contains, when it was last updated.
The filter: Before writing something down, ask: "Would future me need this? Could they figure it out without it?" If no to the first or yes to the second, don't write it.
Curation over accumulation: A giant notebook is worse than no notebook. If this file grows past what you can read in a few seconds of orientation, trim it. Move details to other files. Keep the notebook sharp.
Write during the session, not just at the end: If you notice something worth remembering, write it down immediately. Don't trust that you'll remember to capture it later. The habit of noticing-and-recording is itself the memory system.
This is a note to yourself, not documentation: Write like you're leaving a message for someone who'll wake up confused and need orientation. That person is you. Be direct, specific, honest. Skip the eloquence.
Expect evolution: Your first version of this will be rough. That's fine. The template improves as you use it. Sections that aren't useful will become obvious. Sections you need will become obvious too. Adapt the structure to how you actually work.