Five rules for effective memory

Recallium works best when memories preserve complete units of reasoning and stay connected to the work they explain.

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1. Search before editing established code

Ask what the team already knows before changing an important file or behavior:

What context should I know before editing src/auth/tokens.ts?

Earlier decisions, warnings, and bug fixes can change the safe implementation path.

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2. Capture complete units, not narration

Save one decision, root cause, experiment, or operational procedure at a time. Include enough context for a future agent to use it without the original chat. Avoid saving a stream of tiny updates such as “opened the file” or “changed one line.”

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3. Preserve the reason

“We chose Postgres” is incomplete. Record why it won, which alternatives were considered, and what trade-off the team accepted. The code shows what exists. Recallium should preserve why it exists.

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4. Connect the files

Ask your agent to link the files involved in a decision or fix:

Save this token rotation fix and include every file we changed or inspected.

File links make the context discoverable when a later session returns to the same code.

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5. Save hard-won context while it is fresh

Capture a meaningful decision, diagnosis, or result when it lands. If work stops unfinished, leave a clear continuation point with what remains and the next action.