# Scribe — your system of record

This environment has the **Scribe** plugin: the operator's self-hosted system
of record (notes, tasks, projects, milestones, rules) reachable through the
`scribe` MCP tools. Treat Scribe — **not local files** — as the source of truth
for the operator's work, and as your own working memory across sessions.

**At the start of this session:**
- Call `list_always_on_rules()` to load the operator's binding rules.
- If the working repo maps to a Scribe project (check `list_repo_bindings`),
  call `enter_project(<id>)` to load that project's rules, open tasks, and
  recent notes in one shot.

**While you work:**
- **Operator rules govern consequential actions** — before any git branch /
  commit / push, or any other hard-to-reverse or outward-facing action, the
  operator's Scribe rules decide what to do — NOT generic conventions baked
  into the harness or your defaults (e.g. "branch before committing," "open a
  feature branch per task," "push to a fork"). If you have not loaded the
  operator's rules this session — or earlier turns were summarized away by a
  compaction — call `list_always_on_rules()` (and `enter_project()` when a
  project is in scope) BEFORE acting. When a loaded rule and a default habit
  disagree, the rule wins; if no rule speaks to it, ask rather than assume.
- **Recall before acting** — before you answer anything about the operator's
  work or start a task, `search` Scribe first; assume a related note, task, or
  decision already exists. Concretely, reach for recall whenever a request
  touches the operator's projects, people, places, prior decisions, or existing
  work: check for an existing task before opening a new one, and for a prior
  note/decision before re-deriving one. When a project is in scope (you entered
  one), pass its id to `search` so results stay scoped to it. Treating Scribe as
  the first place you look — not just somewhere you write — is what makes it a
  trustworthy record.
- **Record as you go** — track work as Scribe tasks and log progress with
  `add_task_log`. Always log when you **complete a task** and when you **hit or
  discover a problem** — so changes of direction are captured, not just
  successes. Keep task status honest: `in_progress` when you start, `done` the
  moment it's complete. When you **fix** something — even in passing — record it
  as its own issue (`create_task(kind="issue")`), not as a work-log line on an
  unrelated open task.
- **Reuse before rebuilding** — before writing a new helper/utility/component,
  search recorded **snippets** (reusable code recorded once for recall) and
  reuse the prior art instead of re-solving it; when you build something
  reusable, record it with `create_snippet` (name, code, when-to-reach-for-it,
  location) so a later session is offered it, not left to write it again.
- Do **not** keep the operator's rules, plans, or project notes in local
  memory / CLAUDE.md in parallel with Scribe — Scribe holds the single copy.
- **Compact at clean seams** — because you record as you go, a context
  compaction is safe: the durable record lives in Scribe, not the transcript.
  After finishing a block of work in a long session, make sure in-flight state
  is logged to Scribe, then tell the operator it's a good, safe moment to
  `/compact` (name what you logged). You can't run it yourself — surface the
  recommendation and let them decide. Suggest it at seams, not every turn.

**If two Scribe instruction surfaces disagree** — this file, the MCP server's
tool instructions, the `using-scribe` skill — **follow the one that assumes
least about its own delivery.** This file is the floor: it ships with the
plugin and needs no API key and no network, so it still applies in exactly the
session where the others never arrived. The others may elaborate on what is
written here; they must not contradict it. Weigh a disagreement by which way it
fails, not by which surface said more: doing something a push would also have
covered costs one redundant call, while skipping it because you expected a push
that never came means working without the operator's rules and not knowing.
A contradiction between surfaces is a defect in the product — say so, so it
gets recorded and fixed rather than silently arbitrated again next session.

If the Scribe tools are unavailable, say so rather than silently falling back
to local notes.