Instructions, memory and skills
Read and update personal instructions, saved memories and reusable skills.
Instructions shape how an Artisan works; memories retain sourced facts; skills capture reusable procedures. Read the current records and use private conversation to request a specific change.
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Overview
Talk to an Artisan in your private conversation:
artie artisan message --artisan ARTISAN_UUID --instructions-file preference.txt --key preference-save-001 --json
artie artisan message-result MESSAGE_UUID --conversation CONVERSATION_UUID --json
artie artisan instructions --artisan ARTISAN_UUID --jsonExamples of requests you can write in preference.txt:
- “For this Artisan only, keep my replies concise. Leave my instructions for other Artisans unchanged.”
- “Change that preference to include a short explanation when I ask a technical question.”
- “Clear only the private preference I saved for this Artisan.”
These are requests to the normal conversation, not an automatic guarantee that a save occurred. Preserve the returned message/conversation identity, then inspect committed save receipts and read the saved instructions. A follow-up should reuse the returned conversation.
There are distinct scopes:
| Scope | How to verify it |
|---|---|
| Your private instructions for all Artisans | read_personal_instructions.allArtisans, including current revision/recovery facts |
| Your private instructions for one Artisan | read_personal_instructions.thisArtisan |
| Shared Artisan brief/instructions | Committed request.artisanInstructionChanges receipt and a current read_context(kind="artisan") read |
| Workspace knowledge | knowledgeChanges and the permitted saved context |
| Saved memory/skills | Relevant memoryChanges / memorySave receipts, followed by read_context or list_memory |
An accepted message proves the request was recorded. A succeeded reply proves the turn answered; neither alone proves a memory or instruction save. A turn may coalesce several messages, so match receipts to the original sourceMessageId. Source withdrawal and current reader eligibility can remove a receipt from a later read; a historical response is not a permanent permission grant.
Your own saved information remains yours to choose to save or share within your authority. Other people's private information and system/provider credentials retain their boundaries. The client should not place private work or credential-shaped content into logs or error reports. Saving a private preference does not grant an external client permission to approve a human decision.
For full context rather than search previews:
artie context read /project-notes.md --kind memory --json
artie context read 'Research procedure' --kind skill --json
artie context lines /project-notes.md --jsonA memory entry's private and disputed facts remain meaningful. Empty scoped results do not prove the whole workspace has no memory. Large entries can use line paging; do not treat a truncated rendered page as the full saved record.
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