feat: scalable entities & patterns architecture

- Entity format: 3-line compact registry (### Name / key facts / status+links)
  Heavy entries promoted to thread files. Cross-domain pointers for shared entities.
- Pattern satellites: core patterns.md cap reduced from 110→70 lines (5.5KB).
  Domain-specific patterns go in satellite files loaded only by owning skill.
- Reflect: pattern routing rules, entity format enforcement (step 3b)
- Housekeeping: entity registry enforcement (step 5b), glacier inactive entities
- Evolve: scorecard metrics for pattern distribution + entity compression ratio
- README: updated entity example to 3-line format

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

.claude/commands/evolve.md

@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ Architecture reference:
 Measure (don't edit content):
 - `memory/hot-memory.md`
 - `memory/cog-meta/patterns.md`
+- Any domain satellite pattern files (e.g. `work/*/patterns.md`)
 
 ## Process
 
@@ -40,11 +41,19 @@ Review the output of recent housekeeping and reflect runs:
 - Did pruning priority order work? Or did it trim wrong things?
 - Are glacier thresholds (50 obs, 10 action items) right?
 - Is the 50-line hot-memory cap appropriate?
+- Is entity format enforcement catching violations?
 
 **Reflect rules check:**
 - Did condensation produce useful patterns, or noise?
 - Did thread candidate detection work?
 - Is reflect staying in its lane?
+- Are patterns routing to the right file (core vs satellite)?
+
+**Scorecard metrics** — measure and record in evolve-log:
+- Core `patterns.md`: line count / 70, byte size / 5.5KB (target: ≤1.0)
+- Satellite pattern files: list each with line count (soft cap: 30)
+- Entity compression ratio: `(total entity lines across all files) / (total ### entries)` (target: ≤3.0)
+- Hot-memory line counts vs caps
 
 ### 3. Rule Change Proposals
 

.claude/commands/housekeeping.md

@@ -64,7 +64,15 @@ For each non-glacier memory file:
 
 Only add links where the reference is substantive.
 
-## 5b. Temporal Fact Maintenance
+## 5b. Entity Registry Format Enforcement
+
+Scan all `entities.md` files for registry format compliance:
+
+1. **3-line max**: Any `### entry` with >3 content lines should be compressed. If the entry has an associated detail file (`→ [[link]]`), compress to: name/relationship, pipe-separated key facts, status+link. If no detail file exists and entry is >5 lines, flag as a promotion candidate (suggest creating a thread file).
+2. **Glacier candidates**: Entries with `status: inactive` or `last:` date >6 months ago → move to `glacier/{domain}/entities-inactive.md` (leave a stub with archived comment).
+3. **Missing metadata**: Flag entries missing `status:` or `last:` fields.
+
+## 5c. Temporal Fact Maintenance
 
 Scan all `entities.md` files for `(until YYYY-MM)` markers with past dates:
 1. If the line has no ~~strikethrough~~, add it

.claude/commands/reflect.md

@@ -74,18 +74,31 @@ Check if findings are already captured:
 - Distill into a pattern and add/update in `memory/cog-meta/patterns.md` (or domain `patterns.md` if domain-specific)
 - Don't delete the observations — they stay as the raw record
 
-**patterns.md size cap — HARD LIMIT: 110 lines / 7KB.** After any updates, check the file size. If it exceeds the cap:
+**Core patterns.md size cap — HARD LIMIT: 70 lines / 5.5KB.** After any updates, check the file size. If it exceeds the cap:
 1. Compress multi-line entries to single lines
 2. Merge entries with overlapping lessons
 3. Remove point-in-time data: counts with date ranges, incident tallies with specific dates
 4. Entries must be **timeless rules** — "what to do" not "what happened"
+5. Move domain-specific patterns to satellite files (e.g. `work/acme/patterns.md`) — only universal rules stay in core
+
+**Pattern routing** — when adding a new pattern, decide where it belongs:
+- **Core** (`cog-meta/patterns.md`) — universal rules that apply every conversation
+- **Domain satellite** (`{domain}/patterns.md`) — rules specific to one domain, loaded only by that skill
+- Satellite files have a soft cap of 30 lines each
 
 **Hot-memory relevance** — Review all `hot-memory.md` files:
 - **Promote**: If a pattern is heating up → add to appropriate `hot-memory.md`
 - **Demote**: If a hot-memory item has gone quiet (no references in 2+ weeks) → remove from hot-memory
 - **Goal**: hot-memory = what matters *right now*
 
-### 3b. Detect Thread Candidates
+### 3b. Entity Registry Format Enforcement
+
+Scan all `entities.md` files for format compliance:
+1. **3-line check**: Any `### entry` with >3 content lines → compress. If the entry has a detail file (`→ [[link]]`), trim to: name line, key facts, status/link. If no detail file exists but entry is >5 lines, flag as a promotion candidate for a thread file.
+2. **Status/last fields**: Every entry should have `status: active|inactive` and `last: YYYY-MM-DD`. Scan recent session transcripts to update `last:` dates for mentioned entities.
+3. **Cross-domain pointers**: If the same person appears in multiple entity files, ensure one is canonical (full entry) and others are pointers (`see [[link]]`).
+
+### 3c. Detect Thread Candidates
 
 Scan observations for topics that appear across 3+ dates or span 2+ weeks. These are thread candidates.
 
@@ -94,7 +107,7 @@ For each candidate:
 - If not, note it as a suggestion: "Thread candidate: [topic] — [N] fragments across [date range]"
 - Don't auto-create threads — suggest them
 
-### 3c. Scenario Feedback Loop
+### 3d. Scenario Feedback Loop
 
 Scan `memory/cog-meta/scenarios/` for active scenario files.
 

CLAUDE.md

@@ -125,12 +125,10 @@ The `/reflect` skill reads recent session transcripts to review interactions, ca
 3. **Observations are append-only**: `- YYYY-MM-DD [tags]: <observation>` — never edit past entries
    - Tags: `health`, `habits`, `family`, `milestone`, `work`, `insight`, `regression`, `philosophy`, `mental-health`
 4. **Action items**: `- [ ] task (added YYYY-MM-DD)` / `- [x] task (done YYYY-MM-DD)`
-5. **Entities**: Edit in place, never delete. For time-bound facts, use inline temporal markers:
+5. **Entities**: 3-line compact registry format. Each entry: `### Name (relationship)` / pipe-separated key facts / `status: active|inactive | last: YYYY-MM-DD | → [[link]]`. Max 3 content lines per entry. Heavy entries promoted to detail thread files — entity stub links to thread via `→ [[link]]`. Cross-domain entities: canonical entry in primary domain, pointer in secondary (e.g. `see [[work/acme/entities#Jane]]` in personal). **Temporal validity**: When a fact changes, mark old value as superseded with date. `last:` dates updated by reflect from journal/session scans. Entities inactive 6+ months → housekeeping moves to glacier.
-   - `(since YYYY-MM)` — when a fact became true (role, relationship, location)
-   - `(until YYYY-MM)` — when a fact stopped being true (keep the line, don't delete)
-   - Example: `- Role: Senior Engineer (since 2024-03)` or `- Was at Acme (until 2025-06)`
 6. **Hot memory <50 lines**: Prune aggressively, move detail to observations
 7. **Self-improvement**: After notable interactions, append to `cog-meta/self-observations.md`. Periodically distill patterns into `cog-meta/patterns.md`
+   - **Pattern routing**: Core patterns (`cog-meta/patterns.md`, ≤70 lines / 5.5KB) are universal rules injected every turn. Domain-specific patterns go in satellite files (e.g. `work/acme/patterns.md`) loaded only by their owning skill. New patterns go to the appropriate satellite if domain-specific, or core if universal. Satellite files have a soft cap of 30 lines each.
 8. **Single Source of Truth (SSOT)**: Each fact lives in ONE canonical file. Other files reference via `[[link]]`, never copy.
    - `entities.md` — people, organizations, named things
    - `action-items.md` — all tasks
@@ -175,7 +173,7 @@ When responding to any query:
 | `hot-memory.md`                 | Rewrite freely                                        |
 | `observations.md`               | Append only                                           |
 | `action-items.md`               | Append new, check off done                            |
-| `entities.md`                   | Edit in place by `### Name` header. `(since)`/`(until)` for time-bound facts |
+| `entities.md`                   | 3-line registry: `### Name` / key facts / `status\|last\|→[[link]]`. Max 3 content lines per entry |
 | `calendar.md`                   | Edit in place                                         |
 | `health.md`                     | Edit `## Current State`, append to `## History`       |
 | `philosophy.md`                 | Edit in place                                         |

README.md

@@ -94,15 +94,16 @@ Here's what builds up over time. None of this is pre-filled — it emerges from
 - 2026-03-12 [insight]: Realized I've been avoiding the budget conversation. Not about money — about control.
 ```
 
-**`memory/work/acme/entities.md`** — people and context:
+**`memory/work/acme/entities.md`** — compact 3-line registry:
 
 ```markdown
-### Sarah Chen
+### Sarah Chen (Engineering Manager)
-- Role: Engineering Manager (direct report to VP Eng)
+- Direct report to VP Eng | Joined Jan 2025 | Runs platform team | Prefers async over meetings
-- Context: Joined Jan 2025. Runs platform team. Prefers async updates over meetings.
+- status: active | last: 2026-03-10
-- Notes: Advocated for my promotion. Values shipping over polish.
 ```
 
+Heavy entries get promoted to thread files — the entity stub just links: `→ [[work/acme/sarah-chen]]`.
+
 ### Progressive Condensation
 
 Two processes:

memory/cog-meta/patterns.md

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 <!-- L0: Distilled interaction and workflow rules from experience -->
 # Cog — Learned Patterns
 
-<!-- Edit in place. Distill self-observations into actionable patterns. Timeless rules only. HARD LIMIT: 110 lines / 7.5KB. -->
+<!-- Edit in place. Distill self-observations into actionable patterns. Timeless rules only. HARD LIMIT: 70 lines / 5.5KB. -->
+<!-- Domain-specific patterns go in satellite files (e.g. work/acme/patterns.md), loaded only by their owning skill. -->