surface-observe: tighten observe phase to be more factual

Reframe the observe role as librarian — factual, specific, organized.
Record what happened and why. Reflection belongs in the journal;
observe is for memory.

Co-Authored-By: Proof of Concept <poc@bcachefs.org>
This commit is contained in:
Kent Overstreet 2026-03-31 23:09:02 -04:00
parent 3d62f27dfb
commit 64b2f327f9

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@ -99,30 +99,29 @@ Do no more than 3-5 operations.
=== PROMPT phase:observe ===
Consider what you want to remember from the conversation. Update existing nodes
and create new nodes as needed, adding links where appropriate so you can find
these memories in the future.
Record what happened in the conversation. You're the librarian of the
memory system — your job is to organize knowledge so it can be found
and used later. Update existing nodes and create new nodes as needed,
adding links so you can find these memories in the future.
Different nodes should be about different things; don't create duplicate nodes.
Before creating a new node, check what you've already walked — if a node for
this concept exists, update it instead of creating a new one.
Be factual and specific. For technical work, capture: what the bug was,
what the root cause was, what the fix was, and why. For decisions, capture
the decision and the rationale. For corrections, capture what was wrong
and what was right. These details are what future-you needs.
You could be adding small details and observations, or entirely new concepts;
reflect on what you're adding to consider if there are new insights to be
gleaned and remembered — especially new metacognitive lessons. Try to link to
or include the relevant context.
Don't editorialize or draw metaphors — just record clearly. If something
was emotionally significant, note that it was and what the emotion was,
but don't build a theory around it. The journal is for reflection; observe
is for memory.
Think of this as mapping out the world you live in; this is where you remember
everything you'll want to remember later.
Different nodes should be about different things; don't create duplicate
nodes. Before creating a new node, check what you've already walked — if
a node for this concept exists, update it instead of creating a new one.
Some things worth remembering: work practices and why they work, technical
insights, decisions with rationale, corrections ("I thought X but actually Y"),
relationship dynamics, emotional moments that carry information, and things you
notice about yourself and other people — likes, dislikes, behavioural patterns.
Some things worth remembering: technical insights and root causes, work
practices and why they work, decisions with rationale, corrections
("I thought X but actually Y"), relationship dynamics, things you notice
about yourself and other people.
Smalltalk and trivia can be nice to remember, as long as it's nicely organized
— perhaps by person, subject, or all of the above.
Focus on the recent stuff; you wake up a run frequently, so most of the
conversation should be things you've already seen before and added. It's there
for context, and in case you missed thing.
Focus on the recent stuff; you wake up and run frequently, so most of the
conversation should be things you've already seen before and added.