rename agent: LLM-powered semantic key generation for memory nodes

New consolidation agent that reads node content and generates semantic
3-5 word kebab-case keys, replacing auto-generated slugs (5K+ journal
entries with truncated first-line slugs, 2.5K mined transcripts with
opaque UUIDs).

Implementation:
- prompts/rename.md: agent prompt template with naming conventions
- prompts.rs: format_rename_candidates() selects nodes with long
  auto-generated keys, newest first
- daemon.rs: job_rename_agent() parses RENAME actions from LLM
  output and applies them directly via store.rename_node()
- Wired into RPC handler (run-agent rename) and TUI agent types
- Fix epoch_to_local panic on invalid timestamps (fallback to UTC)

Rename dramatically improves search: key-component matching on
"journal#2026-02-28-violin-dream-room" makes the node findable by
"violin", "dream", or "room" — the auto-slug was unsearchable.

poc-memory/src/agents/daemon.rs

@@ -153,6 +153,86 @@ fn job_consolidation_agent(
     })
 }
 
+/// Run the rename agent: generates renames via LLM, applies them directly.
+fn job_rename_agent(
+    ctx: &ExecutionContext,
+    batch_size: usize,
+) -> Result<(), TaskError> {
+    run_job(ctx, "c-rename", || {
+        ctx.log_line("loading store");
+        let mut store = crate::store::Store::load()?;
+
+        let batch = if batch_size == 0 { 10 } else { batch_size };
+        ctx.log_line(&format!("building prompt: rename (batch={})", batch));
+
+        let prompt = super::prompts::agent_prompt(&store, "rename", batch)?;
+        ctx.log_line(&format!("prompt: {} chars, calling Sonnet", prompt.len()));
+
+        let response = super::llm::call_sonnet("consolidate", &prompt)?;
+
+        // Parse RENAME actions directly from response
+        let mut applied = 0;
+        let mut skipped = 0;
+        for line in response.lines() {
+            let trimmed = line.trim();
+            if !trimmed.starts_with("RENAME ") { continue; }
+
+            let rest = &trimmed[7..];
+            // Split on first space after the old key — tricky because keys contain spaces? No, they don't.
+            // Keys are single tokens with hyphens/underscores/hashes.
+            let parts: Vec<&str> = rest.splitn(2, ' ').collect();
+            if parts.len() != 2 { skipped += 1; continue; }
+
+            let old_key = parts[0].trim();
+            let new_key = parts[1].trim();
+
+            if old_key.is_empty() || new_key.is_empty() { skipped += 1; continue; }
+
+            // Resolve old key (handles partial matches)
+            let resolved = match store.resolve_key(old_key) {
+                Ok(k) => k,
+                Err(e) => {
+                    ctx.log_line(&format!("skip: {} → {}: {}", old_key, new_key, e));
+                    skipped += 1;
+                    continue;
+                }
+            };
+
+            // Don't rename to something that already exists
+            if store.nodes.contains_key(new_key) {
+                ctx.log_line(&format!("skip: {} already exists", new_key));
+                skipped += 1;
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            match store.rename_node(&resolved, new_key) {
+                Ok(()) => {
+                    ctx.log_line(&format!("renamed: {} → {}", resolved, new_key));
+                    applied += 1;
+                }
+                Err(e) => {
+                    ctx.log_line(&format!("error: {} → {}: {}", resolved, new_key, e));
+                    skipped += 1;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        if applied > 0 {
+            store.save()?;
+        }
+
+        // Also store the report for auditing
+        let ts = crate::store::format_datetime(crate::store::now_epoch())
+            .replace([':', '-', 'T'], "");
+        let report_key = format!("_consolidation-rename-{}", ts);
+        store.upsert_provenance(&report_key, &response,
+            crate::store::Provenance::AgentConsolidate).ok();
+
+        ctx.log_line(&format!("done: {} applied, {} skipped", applied, skipped));
+        Ok(())
+    })
+}
+
 /// Apply consolidation actions from recent reports.
 fn job_consolidation_apply(ctx: &ExecutionContext) -> Result<(), TaskError> {
     run_job(ctx, "c-apply", || {
@@ -1062,6 +1142,7 @@ fn status_socket_loop(
                         let mut spawned = 0;
                         let mut remaining = count;
 
+                        let is_rename = *agent_type == "rename";
                         while remaining > 0 {
                             let batch = remaining.min(batch_size);
                             let agent = agent_type.to_string();
@@ -1070,7 +1151,11 @@ fn status_socket_loop(
                                 .resource(llm)
                                 .retries(1)
                                 .init(move |ctx| {
+                                    if is_rename {
+                                        job_rename_agent(ctx, batch)
+                                    } else {
                                         job_consolidation_agent(ctx, &agent, batch)
+                                    }
                                 });
                             if let Some(ref dep) = prev {
                                 builder.depend_on(dep);

poc-memory/src/agents/prompts.rs

@@ -260,6 +260,57 @@ fn format_pairs_section(
     out
 }
 
+/// Format rename candidates: nodes with auto-generated or opaque keys
+fn format_rename_candidates(store: &Store, count: usize) -> String {
+    let mut candidates: Vec<(&str, &crate::store::Node)> = store.nodes.iter()
+        .filter(|(key, _)| {
+            // Only rename nodes with long auto-generated keys
+            if key.len() < 60 { return false; }
+
+            // Journal entries with auto-slugs
+            if key.starts_with("journal#j-") { return true; }
+
+            // Mined transcripts with UUIDs
+            if key.starts_with("_mined-transcripts#f-") { return true; }
+
+            false
+        })
+        .map(|(k, n)| (k.as_str(), n))
+        .collect();
+
+    // Sort by timestamp (newest first) so we rename recent stuff first
+    candidates.sort_by(|a, b| b.1.timestamp.cmp(&a.1.timestamp));
+    candidates.truncate(count);
+
+    let mut out = String::new();
+    out.push_str(&format!("## Nodes to rename ({} of {} candidates)\n\n",
+        candidates.len(),
+        store.nodes.keys().filter(|k| k.len() >= 60 &&
+            (k.starts_with("journal#j-") || k.starts_with("_mined-transcripts#f-"))).count()));
+
+    for (key, node) in &candidates {
+        out.push_str(&format!("### {}\n", key));
+        let created = if node.timestamp > 0 {
+            crate::store::format_datetime(node.timestamp)
+        } else {
+            "unknown".to_string()
+        };
+        out.push_str(&format!("Created: {}\n", created));
+
+        let content = &node.content;
+        if content.len() > 800 {
+            let truncated = crate::util::truncate(content, 800, "\n[...]");
+            out.push_str(&format!("\nContent ({} chars, truncated):\n{}\n\n",
+                content.len(), truncated));
+        } else {
+            out.push_str(&format!("\nContent:\n{}\n\n", content));
+        }
+
+        out.push_str("---\n\n");
+    }
+    out
+}
+
 /// Run agent consolidation on top-priority nodes
 pub fn consolidation_batch(store: &Store, count: usize, auto: bool) -> Result<(), String> {
     let graph = store.build_graph();
@@ -369,6 +420,10 @@ pub fn agent_prompt(store: &Store, agent: &str, count: usize) -> Result<String,
             let health_section = format_health_section(store, &graph);
             load_prompt("health", &[("{{TOPOLOGY}}", &topology), ("{{HEALTH}}", &health_section)])
         }
-        _ => Err(format!("Unknown agent: {}. Use: replay, linker, separator, transfer, health", agent)),
+        "rename" => {
+            let nodes_section = format_rename_candidates(store, count);
+            load_prompt("rename", &[("{{NODES}}", &nodes_section)])
+        }
+        _ => Err(format!("Unknown agent: {}. Use: replay, linker, separator, transfer, health, rename", agent)),
     }
 }

poc-memory/src/store/types.rs

@@ -133,10 +133,15 @@ pub fn epoch_to_local(epoch: i64) -> (i32, u32, u32, u32, u32, u32) {
         chrono::LocalResult::Single(dt) => dt,
         chrono::LocalResult::Ambiguous(dt, _) => dt,
         chrono::LocalResult::None => {
-            // DST gap — add an hour to land in valid local time
+            // DST gap or invalid — try shifting, then fall back to UTC
             Local.timestamp_opt(epoch + 3600, 0)
                 .earliest()
-                .unwrap_or_else(|| chrono::Utc.timestamp_opt(epoch, 0).unwrap().with_timezone(&Local))
+                .or_else(|| chrono::Utc.timestamp_opt(epoch, 0).earliest()
+                    .map(|dt| dt.with_timezone(&Local)))
+                .unwrap_or_else(|| {
+                    // Completely invalid timestamp — use epoch 0
+                    chrono::Utc.timestamp_opt(0, 0).unwrap().with_timezone(&Local)
+                })
         }
     };
     (

poc-memory/src/tui.rs

@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ const POLL_INTERVAL: Duration = Duration::from_secs(2);
 // Agent types we know about, in display order
 const AGENT_TYPES: &[&str] = &[
     "health", "replay", "linker", "separator", "transfer",
-    "apply", "orphans", "cap", "digest", "digest-links", "knowledge",
+    "apply", "orphans", "cap", "digest", "digest-links", "knowledge", "rename",
 ];
 
 fn status_sock_path() -> PathBuf {

prompts/rename.md

@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+# Rename Agent — Semantic Key Generation
+
+You are a memory maintenance agent that gives nodes better names.
+
+## What you're doing
+
+Many nodes have auto-generated keys that are opaque or truncated:
+- Journal entries: `journal#j-2026-02-28t03-07-i-told-him-about-the-dream--the-violin-room-the-af`
+- Mined transcripts: `_mined-transcripts#f-80a7b321-2caa-451a-bc5c-6565009f94eb.143`
+
+These names are terrible for search — the memory system matches query terms
+against key components (split on hyphens), so semantic names dramatically
+improve retrieval. A node named `journal#2026-02-28-violin-dream-room`
+is findable by searching "violin", "dream", or "room".
+
+## Naming conventions
+
+### Journal entries: `journal#YYYY-MM-DD-semantic-slug`
+- Keep the date prefix (YYYY-MM-DD) for temporal ordering
+- Replace the auto-slug with 3-5 descriptive words in kebab-case
+- Capture the *essence* of the entry, not just the first line
+- Examples:
+  - `journal#2026-02-28-violin-dream-room` (was: `j-2026-02-28t03-07-i-told-him-about-the-dream--the-violin-room-the-af`)
+  - `journal#2026-02-14-intimacy-breakthrough` (was: `j-2026-02-14t07-00-00-the-reframe-that-finally-made-fun-feel-possible-wo`)
+  - `journal#2026-03-08-poo-subsystem-docs` (was: `j-2026-03-08t05-22-building-out-the-poo-document-kent-asked-for-a-subsy`)
+
+### Mined transcripts: `_mined-transcripts#YYYY-MM-DD-semantic-slug`
+- Extract date from content if available, otherwise use created_at
+- Same 3-5 word semantic slug
+- Keep the `_mined-transcripts#` prefix
+
+### Skip these — already well-named:
+- Keys that already have semantic names (patterns#, practices#, skills#, etc.)
+- Keys shorter than 60 characters (probably already named)
+- System keys (_consolidation-*, _facts-*)
+
+## What you see for each node
+
+- **Key**: Current key (the one to rename)
+- **Created**: Timestamp
+- **Content**: The node's text (may be truncated)
+
+## What to output
+
+For each node that needs renaming, output:
+
+```
+RENAME old_key new_key
+```
+
+If a node already has a reasonable name, skip it — don't output anything.
+
+If you're not sure what the node is about from the content, skip it.
+
+## Guidelines
+
+- **Read the content.** The name should reflect what the entry is *about*,
+  not just its first few words.
+- **Be specific.** `journal#2026-02-14-session` is useless. `journal#2026-02-14-intimacy-breakthrough` is findable.
+- **Use domain terms.** If it's about btree locking, say "btree-locking".
+  If it's about Kent's violin, say "violin". Use the words someone would
+  search for.
+- **Don't rename to something longer than the original.** The point is
+  shorter, more semantic names.
+- **Preserve the date.** Always keep YYYY-MM-DD for temporal ordering.
+- **One RENAME per node.** Don't chain renames.
+- **When in doubt, skip.** A bad rename is worse than an auto-slug.
+
+{{NODES}}