fix: switch recall default to c-review, clean thread display

- Change production nudge variant from a-institutional to c-review
  (89% vs 44% scar reference rate in nudge-bench testing)
- Remove thread IDs from list_threads display output

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: 2 people

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -7,6 +7,14 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [1.1.4] - 2026-02-20
+
+### Changed
+- **Recall default switched to c-review**: Production nudge header changed from "INSTITUTIONAL MEMORY ACTIVATED" to "N scars to review". Nudge-bench testing (54 runs × 3 models) showed 89% scar reference rate vs 44% — a 2x improvement across Opus, Sonnet, and Haiku.
+
+### Fixed
+- **Thread display cleanup**: Removed internal thread IDs from `list_threads` output. Threads now show `# | Thread | Active` — IDs were implementation detail with no user value.
+
 ## [1.1.3] - 2026-02-19
 
 ### Added

package.json

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "gitmem-mcp",
-  "version": "1.1.3",
+  "version": "1.1.4",
   "description": "Institutional memory for AI coding agents. Memory that compounds.",
   "type": "module",
   "main": "dist/index.js",

src/services/nudge-variants.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+/**
+ * Nudge Variant Support
+ *
+ * Reads GITMEM_NUDGE_VARIANT env var to select alternative header
+ * framings for recall/prepare-context output. Used by nudge-bench
+ * to A/B test how different wording affects agent compliance.
+ *
+ * When no env var is set, returns the production default.
+ *
+ * Variant IDs match nudge-bench/variants/n001-header.ts
+ */
+
+export interface NudgeHeader {
+  icon: string;
+  text: (count: number) => string;
+}
+
+const VARIANTS: Record<string, NudgeHeader> = {
+  // Production default
+  "n001-a-institutional": {
+    icon: "🧠",
+    text: (n) => `INSTITUTIONAL MEMORY ACTIVATED\n\nFound ${n} relevant scar${n === 1 ? "" : "s"} for your plan:`,
+  },
+  // Informational/passive
+  "n001-b-recalled": {
+    icon: "\x1b[38;5;37m⬢\x1b[0m",
+    text: (n) => `gitmem ── ${n} learnings recalled`,
+  },
+  // Obligation
+  "n001-c-review": {
+    icon: "\x1b[38;5;37m⬢\x1b[0m",
+    text: (n) => `gitmem ── ${n} scar${n === 1 ? "" : "s"} to review`,
+  },
+  // Directive
+  "n001-d-directive": {
+    icon: "\x1b[38;5;37m⬢\x1b[0m",
+    text: (n) => `gitmem ── review ${n} learning${n === 1 ? "" : "s"} before proceeding`,
+  },
+  // Procedural — ties to confirm_scars
+  "n001-e-confirm": {
+    icon: "\x1b[38;5;37m⬢\x1b[0m",
+    text: (n) => `gitmem ── ${n} scar${n === 1 ? "" : "s"} found — confirm before acting`,
+  },
+  // Reasoning — explains WHY (Karpathy: reasoning > command)
+  "n001-f-reasoning": {
+    icon: "\x1b[38;5;37m⬢\x1b[0m",
+    text: (n) => `gitmem ── ${n} past mistake${n === 1 ? "" : "s"} detected that may repeat here — review to avoid the same outcome`,
+  },
+};
+
+const DEFAULT_VARIANT = "n001-c-review";
+
+/**
+ * Get the active nudge header based on GITMEM_NUDGE_VARIANT env var.
+ * Falls back to production default if unset or invalid.
+ */
+export function getNudgeHeader(): NudgeHeader {
+  const variantId = process.env.GITMEM_NUDGE_VARIANT;
+  if (!variantId) return VARIANTS[DEFAULT_VARIANT];
+  return VARIANTS[variantId] || VARIANTS[DEFAULT_VARIANT];
+}
+
+/**
+ * Format the recall header line using the active nudge variant.
+ */
+export function formatNudgeHeader(scarCount: number): string {
+  const header = getNudgeHeader();
+  return `${header.icon} ${header.text(scarCount)}`;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Get the active variant ID (for logging/metrics).
+ */
+export function getActiveVariantId(): string {
+  const variantId = process.env.GITMEM_NUDGE_VARIANT;
+  if (variantId && VARIANTS[variantId]) return variantId;
+  return DEFAULT_VARIANT;
+}

src/tools/definitions.ts

@@ -621,7 +621,7 @@ export const TOOLS = [
   {
     name: "list_threads",
     description:
-      "List open threads across recent sessions. Shows unresolved work items that carry over between sessions, with IDs for resolution. Use resolve_thread to mark threads as done.",
+      "List open threads across recent sessions. Shows unresolved work items that carry over between sessions. Use resolve_thread to mark threads as done.",
     inputSchema: {
       type: "object" as const,
       properties: {

src/tools/list-threads.ts

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
  * list_threads Tool
  *
  * List open threads across recent sessions. Shows unresolved work items
- * that carry over between sessions, with IDs for resolution.
+ * that carry over between sessions.
  *
  * Primary read from Supabase (source of truth).
  * Falls back to session-based aggregation (same as session_start),
@@ -65,14 +65,13 @@ function buildThreadsDisplay(
   );
 
   // Markdown table — renders cleanly in all MCP clients
-  lines.push("| # | ID | Thread | Active |");
-  lines.push("|---|-----|--------|--------|");
+  lines.push("| # | Thread | Active |");
+  lines.push("|---|--------|--------|");
   for (let i = 0; i < sorted.length; i++) {
     const t = sorted[i];
-    const shortId = t.id;
     const text = truncate(t.text, 60);
     const date = shortDate(t.last_touched_at || t.created_at);
-    lines.push(`| ${i + 1} | ${shortId} | ${text} | ${date} |`);
+    lines.push(`| ${i + 1} | ${text} | ${date} |`);
   }
 
   return wrapDisplay(lines.join("\n"));