anortham/brief

Brief

Core Split

Goldfish brief = durable direction.

• Harness plan mode owns execution planning for the current session.
• docs/plans/ owns implementation specs and task breakdowns.
• Goldfish brief owns the compact strategic context that future sessions need.

Do not copy a harness task list or docs/plans/ checklist into the brief. Link to execution artifacts instead.

What Belongs In A Brief

Keep the brief compact and stable:

• Goal
• Why now
• Constraints
• Success criteria
• References to docs/plans/... or other design docs
• Status

What Does Not Belong

• Step by step task breakdowns
• File by file implementation notes
• A mirrored ExitPlanMode plan blob
• Session noise that belongs in checkpoints

Save A Brief

mcp__goldfish__brief({
  action: "save",
  title: "Brief API surface around strategic context",
  content: "## Goal\n\nRename the forward-looking artifact to brief.\n\n## Why Now\n\nHarnesses now own execution planning.\n\n## Constraints\n\nKeep one-release compatibility for plan callers.\n\n## Success Criteria\n\nRecall, skills, hooks, and docs all present brief as canonical.\n\n## References\n\n- docs/plans/2026-04-16-brief-repositioning-design.md",
  tags: ["memory", "migration"],
  activate: true
})

Lifecycle

• Save a brief when a direction needs to survive session boundaries.
• Update it when goals, constraints, or success criteria change.
• Complete it when the direction has landed.
• Archive it when it has been superseded.

Only one brief should be active per workspace.

Retrieval

• mcp__goldfish__brief({ action: "get" }) gets the active brief.
• mcp__goldfish__brief({ action: "list" }) shows saved briefs.
• mcp__goldfish__recall({ limit: 0 }) shows the active brief without loading checkpoints.

Rules

• Treat the brief as a compact strategic document.
• Use checkpoints for evidence of work done.
• Use docs/plans/ for execution detail.
• If an older workflow says plan, translate it to brief semantics unless the user is asking about a legacy artifact on purpose.