Institutional Memory Guardrails

Stop repeating architectural decisions. Document once, use everywhere.

What This Does

• Checks if your team already made an architectural decision before making a new one
• Asks you specific questions when decisions are missing, then documents the answers
• Ensures everyone uses the same documented standards consistently
• Updates documentation when you build new functionality

How It Works

1. Human asks Claude to build a feature
2. Claude automatically checks existing architectural decisions
3. Claude asks specific questions for missing decisions, then documents them
4. Claude implements using documented standards and updates the knowledge base
5. Human validates system health periodically

Installation

For Visual Studio + WSL Teams

# In WSL terminal within Visual Studio
cd /mnt/c/your-project-path
git clone [repository] institutional-memory-guardrails
cd institutional-memory-guardrails

# Install Node.js if needed
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_18.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

# Install system
npm install
npm run init

For Other Environments

git clone [repository]
cd institutional-memory-guardrails
npm install
npm run init

Basic Usage

What Humans Do

# One-time setup
npm install
npm run init

# Periodic maintenance  
npm run validate  # Check file integrity
npm run drift     # Find outdated documentation

What Claude Does Automatically

// Claude runs this before any development work
const guardrails = require('./institutional-memory-enforcer.js');
const decision = await guardrails.checkForExistingDecision('authentication');

if (decision.found) {
  // Use the documented standard
  use(decision.convention.standard);
} else {
  // Ask human specific questions and capture decision
  memory-enforce decision --title "..." --standard "..." --rationale "..."
}

File Structure

project-memory/
├── conventions.md     # Team architectural decisions
└── symbol-index.md   # Code structure and patterns

Commands

Core File Operations

# Focus on conventions.md and symbol-index.md
npm run core          # Core file utilities menu
npm run search        # Search conventions.md
npm run index         # Navigate symbol-index.md

System Health

npm run init          # Create initial files
npm run validate      # Complete system validation
npm run drift         # Find inconsistencies
npm run check         # Quick health check

Decision Management

npm run decision      # Capture new decision
npm run pattern       # Document pattern

Enhanced CLI Commands

Search conventions.md:

memory-enforce search "authentication"     # Find auth decisions
memory-enforce search "database" --exact   # Exact match only
memory-enforce search "api" --section "Security"  # Search in section

Navigate symbol-index.md:

memory-enforce index --functions           # List all functions
memory-enforce index --functions "auth"    # Functions matching pattern
memory-enforce index --connections "API"   # Connections for component
memory-enforce index --patterns            # Show discovered patterns
memory-enforce index --stats               # Symbol index statistics

Core file utilities:

memory-enforce core --health               # Check core file health
memory-enforce core --template technology  # Show decision template
memory-enforce core --conflicts            # Detect decision conflicts
memory-enforce core --orphans              # Find broken references

Integration

Git hooks

npm run install-hooks  # Pre-commit validation

CI/CD

- name: Validate Conventions
  run: npm run validate

Decision Types

Common decisions to document:

• Authentication methods
• Database choices
• Frontend frameworks
• API design patterns
• Testing strategies
• Deployment approaches

Team Setup

1. Install system - Run npm install && npm run init
2. Learn core file focus - Study conventions.md and symbol-index.md structure
3. Practice enhanced workflow - Use search and core utilities
4. Train team on Claude integration - Review enhanced CLAUDE.md instructions
5. Start using for all decisions - Begin with core templates and enhanced reasoning

Quick Start for Teams

# 1. Setup
npm install && npm run init

# 2. Learn the system
memory-enforce core --health        # Check core file status
memory-enforce core --template technology  # See decision templates

# 3. Search existing decisions
memory-enforce search "your-topic"

# 4. Capture new decisions with enhanced questions
memory-enforce decision --title "..." --standard "..." --rationale "..."

# 5. Monitor symbol index
memory-enforce index --stats

Corporate Use

• No external dependencies - Pure Node.js, works with any git repository
• Visual Studio + WSL compatible - Designed for corporate development environments
• Enhanced Claude integration - Structured reasoning and core file focus
• Complete audit trail - Every decision and pattern documented
• Core file architecture - Two sacred files (conventions.md, symbol-index.md) + enhanced tooling

New Features (Enhanced with Claude Code Best Practices)

🔍 Enhanced Search & Discovery

• Smart search across conventions.md with suggestions
• Pattern-based symbol-index.md navigation
• Core file health monitoring and quality scoring

🧠 Structured Reasoning (Think Tool)

• Automatic conflict detection in decisions
• Quality assessment of institutional memory
• Enhanced question generation for comprehensive documentation

🛠️ Core File Utilities

• Decision templates (Technology, Architecture, Security)
• Symbol-index templates (Functions, Connections, Patterns)
• Orphaned reference detection and cleanup
• Core file integrity validation

📋 Enhanced Claude Instructions

• Core file search patterns (grep commands)
• Copy-paste ready templates
• Workflow enhancement with contextual reasoning
• Symbol-index update prioritization

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Institutional memory guardrails enhanced with Claude Code best practices - keeping conventions.md and symbol-index.md at the center.