auto-dream

Background memory consolidation cycle. Scans memory files, finds stale, duplicate, and conflicting entries, consolidates them, synthesizes cross-session insights, builds an injection-ready payload for the next session start, and writes a dated dream report.

When to invoke

• User says "run dream", "consolidate memories", "clean up memories", "memory maintenance", "deduplicate memories"
• Cron job at 2 AM nightly via wrapper script: scripts/auto-dream-cron.sh --execute
• Manual trigger for testing: ./scripts/auto-dream-cron.sh (dry-run by default)

Reference Loading Table

| Signal | Load These Files | Why |

|---|---|---|

| Debugging failed cron run, silent failure, empty log, wrong exit code | headless-cron-patterns.md | Routes to the matching deep reference |

| Setting up or modifying wrapper script (flock, --permission-mode, envsubst, PIPESTATUS) | headless-cron-patterns.md | Routes to the matching deep reference |

| Budget cap, --max-budget-usd, unattended Claude invocation | headless-cron-patterns.md | Routes to the matching deep reference |

| Writing, updating, or archiving memory files | memory-file-operations.md | Routes to the matching deep reference |

| Updating MEMORY.md index, atomic write, .tmp rename | memory-file-operations.md | Routes to the matching deep reference |

| Staleness detection, duplicate merging, conflict flagging | memory-file-operations.md | Routes to the matching deep reference |

| YAML frontmatter structure, merged_from, memory file format | memory-file-operations.md | Routes to the matching deep reference |

| Testing the dream cycle safely, dry-run validation, output file verification | dream-cycle-testing.md | Routes to the matching deep reference |

| Reading and interpreting cron run logs, detecting silent failures | logging-patterns.md | Routes to the matching deep reference |

| Log rotation, log directory structure, phase completion markers in logs | logging-patterns.md | Routes to the matching deep reference |

| last-dream.md stale, missing injection payload, cron log empty | logging-patterns.md | Routes to the matching deep reference |

| Concurrent dream runs, lockfile already held, duplicate cron invocations | concurrency.md | Routes to the matching deep reference |

| MEMORY.md.tmp left behind, partial write recovery, atomic rename failure | concurrency.md | Routes to the matching deep reference |

Instructions

When invoked interactively (not via cron), read skills/meta/auto-dream/dream-prompt.md and execute its phases directly. The prompt is self-contained — it describes the full seven-phase cycle including safety constraints, file paths, and output formats.

For cron invocation: the dream prompt is passed directly to claude -p and runs as a standalone headless session with no CLAUDE.md, no hooks, no project context. All instructions are embedded in the prompt.

Phases

1. SCAN — Read all memory files and the recent git log. Write the scan document to ~/.claude/state/dream-scan-{date}.md.
2. ANALYZE — Identify stale, duplicate, conflicting memories and cross-session patterns. Write analysis to ~/.claude/state/dream-analysis-{date}.md.
3. CONSOLIDATE — Apply consolidation actions (max 5 changes). Archive stale/merged files, update MEMORY.md atomically.
4. SYNTHESIZE — Create insight memories from cross-session patterns (max 2 new memories per cycle).
5. SELECT — Build the injection-ready payload for session start. Write to ~/.claude/state/dream-injection-{project-hash}.md.
6. REPORT — Write the dream summary to ~/.claude/state/last-dream.md.

Safety constraints (always enforced)

• Never delete files — archive to memory/archive/, never rm
• Write the REPORT before executing any CONSOLIDATE filesystem operations
• Maximum 5 memory changes per cycle — excess items deferred to next cycle
• Flag conflicts for human review, never auto-resolve
• Preserve YAML frontmatter when merging; use merged_from field for provenance
• Memory files are the only write target. Knowledge reaches an agent or skill file through a reviewed human edit, never through this cycle.
• In dry-run mode (the default), CONSOLIDATE and SYNTHESIZE describe proposed changes only — no filesystem writes. The wrapper script sets DREAM_DRY_RUN_MODE=yes, substituted into the prompt at runtime.

Testing

# Dry run (read-only, no filesystem changes — dry-run is the default)
./scripts/auto-dream-cron.sh

# Full run (execute consolidation)
./scripts/auto-dream-cron.sh --execute

# Check output
cat ~/.claude/state/last-dream.md

# Verify cron registration
python3 ~/.claude/scripts/crontab-manager.py list

Cost estimate

~0.09 USD per nightly run with 50 memory files (~20-30K input tokens at Sonnet pricing). ~33 USD/year for automated overnight operation. Budget capped at 3.00 USD/run via wrapper script.

Cron setup

Use crontab-manager.py (not raw crontab -e) to install. The wrapper script handles PATH, lockfile, logging, budget cap, and dry-run/execute toggle.

# Preview the cron entry
python3 ~/.claude/scripts/crontab-manager.py add \
  --tag "auto-dream" \
  --schedule "7 2 * * *" \
  --command "/home/feedgen/vexjoy-agent/scripts/auto-dream-cron.sh --execute >> /home/feedgen/vexjoy-agent/cron-logs/auto-dream/cron.log 2>&1" \
  --dry-run

# Install (after dry-run testing passes)
python3 ~/.claude/scripts/crontab-manager.py add \
  --tag "auto-dream" \
  --schedule "7 2 * * *" \
  --command "/home/feedgen/vexjoy-agent/scripts/auto-dream-cron.sh --execute >> /home/feedgen/vexjoy-agent/cron-logs/auto-dream/cron.log 2>&1"

# Verify
python3 ~/.claude/scripts/crontab-manager.py verify --tag auto-dream

Note: schedule uses 2:07 AM (off-minute) per cron best practice — avoids load spikes from jobs firing at :00.

Wrapper script details

scripts/auto-dream-cron.sh follows the established headless cron pattern (see skills/content/reddit-moderate/scripts/reddit-automod-cron.sh):

• flock lockfile prevents concurrent runs
• --permission-mode auto (never --dangerously-skip-permissions)
• --max-budget-usd 3.00 caps spend per run
• --no-session-persistence for clean headless operation
• envsubst templates dream-prompt.md with project-specific paths at runtime
• tee to timestamped per-run log file
• Dry-run by default, --execute for live runs
• Exit code propagation via PIPESTATUS[0]

Reference Loading

Load these references when the task matches the signal:

| Signal / Task | Reference File |

|---------------|----------------|

| Debugging failed cron run, silent failure, empty log, wrong exit code | references/headless-cron-patterns.md |

| Setting up or modifying wrapper script (flock, --permission-mode, envsubst, PIPESTATUS) | references/headless-cron-patterns.md |

| Budget cap, --max-budget-usd, unattended Claude invocation | references/headless-cron-patterns.md |

| Writing, updating, or archiving memory files | references/memory-file-operations.md |

| Updating MEMORY.md index, atomic write, .tmp rename | references/memory-file-operations.md |

| Staleness detection, duplicate merging, conflict flagging | references/memory-file-operations.md |

| YAML frontmatter structure, merged_from, memory file format | references/memory-file-operations.md |

| Testing the dream cycle safely, dry-run validation, output file verification | references/dream-cycle-testing.md |

| Reading and interpreting cron run logs, detecting silent failures | references/logging-patterns.md |

| Log rotation, log directory structure, phase completion markers in logs | references/logging-patterns.md |

| last-dream.md stale, missing injection payload, cron log empty | references/logging-patterns.md |

| Concurrent dream runs, lockfile already held, duplicate cron invocations | references/concurrency.md |

| MEMORY.md.tmp left behind, partial write recovery, atomic rename failure | references/concurrency.md |