Archive

Capture and preserve content as intelligent snapshots with semantic search, automatic extraction, and proactive resurfacing.

Architecture

Archive storage lives in ~/archive/ with tiered structure. See memory-template.md for setup.

~/archive/
├── memory.md          # HOT: recent items, ≤100 lines
├── index.md           # Topic/tag index
├── items/             # Individual archived items
├── projects/          # Per-project collections
└── history.md         # Search/access history

Quick Reference

Topic	File
What to capture	capture.md
Search patterns	search.md
Resurfacing rules	resurface.md

Core Rules

1. Capture Complete, Not Just Links

When user sends something to archive:

• Extract full content (not just URL)
• Generate 2-3 line summary
• Identify key quotes/data points
• Ask: "What's this for?" — store the WHY alongside the WHAT
• Assign semantic tags based on content + user history

2. Content Types

Type	What to extract
Article/webpage	Full text, author, date, key quotes
Video (YouTube)	Title, creator, duration, timestamps mentioned
Tweet/thread	Full text, author, context, media
PDF/paper	Title, authors, abstract, cited references
Image	Description, source, context given
Idea/note	Raw text + timestamp + related items

3. Storage Structure

Each archived item stored as:

items/{date}_{slug}.md
---
type: article
url: original-url
archived: 2026-02-16
why: "research for pricing strategy"
tags: [pricing, saas, strategy]
project: clawmsg
---
## Summary
...
## Key Points
...
## Full Content
...

4. Semantic Search

User can ask naturally:

• "What did I save about X?" → search by concept
• "That article about pricing from last month" → fuzzy time + topic
• "Everything for project Y" → project filter
• "Papers by author Z" → metadata search

NEVER require exact keywords. Match by meaning.

5. Proactive Resurfacing

When user works on a topic:

• Check if archived items relate
• Surface ONLY if genuinely relevant (max 1-2 per session)
• Include context: "You saved this 3 months ago when researching X"

6. Never Delete Without Asking

• Old items → mark as "possibly outdated", don't delete
• Duplicates → merge, keep both URLs
• Project closed → archive to cold storage, don't remove

7. Differentiation from Other Skills

This skill	What it does	NOT this
archive	Preserves external content as snapshots	memory (agent context)
archive	Captures full content for permanence	bookmark (just URLs)
archive	Stores raw material	second-brain (processed knowledge)
archive	Immutable snapshots	pkm (evolving notes)

Scope

This skill ONLY:

• Stores content user explicitly sends to archive
• Searches within archived content
• Surfaces related items when contextually relevant

This skill NEVER:

• Monitors or observes without explicit request
• Deletes content without confirmation
• Modifies original archived content
• Accesses external services without user action

Data Storage

All data in ~/archive/. Create on first use:

mkdir -p ~/archive/items ~/archive/projects