history-hygiene · diff
git:20260320.9081840 to git:20260911.f640e80
15 added, 9 removed. Audit A to A.
---
name: history-hygiene
- description: Record final outcomes to history.md, not intermediate requests or reversed decisions
+ description: Record reconciled final outcomes to history.md, not intermediate requests or obsolete claims
domain: documentation, team-collaboration
confidence: high
- source: earned (Kobayashi v0.6.0 incident, team intervention)
+ source: earned (stale history reversal incident, team intervention)
---
## Context
- History files (.md files tracking decisions, spawns, outcomes) are read cold by future agents. Stale or incorrect entries poison decision-making downstream. The Kobayashi incident proved this: history said "Brady decided v0.6.0" when Brady had reversed that to v0.8.17. Future spawns read the wrong truth and repeated the mistake.
+ History files are cold-start context, not the source of truth for live behavior. Stale or incorrect
+ entries poison decision-making downstream. A stale-history incident proved that an old history claim
+ can cause future spawns to repeat a reversed decision. Reconcile an operational claim with current
+ implementation, workflows, tests, documentation, skills, and applicable decisions before acting on it.
## Patterns
- **Record the final outcome**, not the initial request.
- **Wait for confirmation** before writing to history — don't log intermediate states.
- **If a decision reverses**, update the entry immediately — don't leave stale data.
- - **One read = one truth.** A future agent should never need to cross-reference other files to understand what actually happened.
+ - **Link authority for operational facts.** Name the current source or workflow when a lesson
+ depends on live behavior.
+ - **Promote reusable rules.** Move procedures and incident lessons that future roles need into a
+ focused skill; history should retain only the evidence and outcome.
## Examples
✓ **Correct:**
- - "Migration target: v0.8.17 (initially discussed as v0.6.0, corrected by Brady)"
- - "Reverted to Node 18 per Brady's explicit request on 2024-01-15"
+ - "Migration target: v0.8.17 (initial target was later corrected before execution)"
+ - "Node runtime: follow the current `package.json` `engines.node` requirement"
✗ **Incorrect:**
- - "Brady directed v0.6.0" (when later reversed)
+ - "Migration target: v0.6.0" (when that request was later reversed)
- Recording what was *requested* instead of what *actually happened*
- Logging entries before outcome is confirmed
## Anti-Patterns
- Writing intermediate or "for now" states to disk
- Attributing decisions without confirming final direction
- - Treating history like a draft — history is the source of truth
- - Assuming readers will cross-reference or verify; they won't
+ - Treating history as authoritative over live source or workflow behavior
+ - Copying dated assignments, status reports, or retired workarounds into a reusable skill