Common Workflows

These workflows help you keep durable memory current while coding with an assistant.

Save Assistant-Distilled Handoff Markdown

Promemo can parse structured handoff Markdown into durable feature memory:

cat <<'EOF' | promemo save product-direction --stdin
# Product direction
- Keep onboarding focused on durable memory.
EOF

Preview first without writing files:

cat <<'EOF' | promemo save product-direction --stdin --dry-run
# Product direction
- Keep onboarding focused on durable memory.
EOF

Read from stdin:

printf '# Handoff\n- Review memory before coding.\n' | promemo save product-direction --stdin

Write JSON output for automation:

cat <<'EOF' | promemo save product-direction --stdin --json
# Product direction
- Keep onboarding focused on durable memory.
EOF

Preview A Structured Memory Save

Use save-json --dry-run to validate and preview a structured JSON save when you already have memory JSON:

promemo save-json authentication --dry-run < path/to/memory.json

Dry runs report the normalized feature slug, target paths, warnings, and next commands without writing files.

Load Context Before Coding

Before asking an assistant to work on a feature:

promemo load authentication

Load compact context with related feature hints:

promemo load authentication --related --token-budget 1200

Paste or pipe the output into your coding assistant so it starts with the project's durable memory instead of only the current chat.

Search Memory

Keyword search:

promemo search "refresh token"

Hybrid retrieval search:

promemo search "why did we choose passkeys" --hybrid --limit 5

Semantic retrieval search:

promemo search "identity login decision" --semantic --limit 5

Create A Work Snapshot

Use snapshots when you want a handoff-ready view of repository state:

promemo snapshot authentication --dry-run

JSON output:

promemo snapshot authentication --dry-run --json

Snapshots include:

• branch
• git status
• diff stat
• changed files
• recent commits
• TODO/FIXME comments
• existing feature memory files
• warnings for possibly sensitive changed content

Check Repository Health

promemo doctor

JSON output:

promemo doctor --json

Doctor checks whether the repository has expected Promemo files such as .promemo/, config.toml, and index.json.