3.3 KiB
Obelisk
Obelisk is explicit memory infrastructure for coding agents: it indexes local Claude Code and Codex transcripts into a queryable SQLite evidence layer, and a CodeAct runtime lets an agent write a small query, run it, and answer from real session history. This glossary pins the terms that are specific to Obelisk; it is not a spec.
Runtime interface
Runtime interface:
The public contract, expressed as four verbs — build, search(text),
query(code), attune(code). Skill, CLI, and MCP are transports over this same
shape; none of them add their own retrieval surface.
Avoid: API, tool surface
CodeAct:
The interaction style where an agent writes JavaScript that runs inside the
query(code) sandbox and returns JSON, rather than calling many fine-grained
tools. This is Obelisk's core design choice.
Avoid: tool-calling, function-calling
Helper:
A convenience accessor available only inside the query(code) sandbox
(overview, search, context, sql, memories, …). Helpers are never
promoted to an external tool surface.
Indexing
Parse core:
The pure jsonl -> records transform. Given a transcript file and a start line,
it yields normalized index records. It does not open, own, or write to a
database, and is shared verbatim by every indexing mode. This is the layer that
must never be duplicated.
Avoid: parser, ingest
Record: One normalized row destined for the index (session, message, tool call, tool result, summary, subagent, workflow, …), emitted by the parse core before any persistence happens.
Persist layer:
The thin, binding-specific writer that consumes records from the parse core and
writes them into SQLite inside a transaction. Two persist layers exist and differ
only in binding: node:sqlite (skill/CLI) and better-sqlite3 (app).
Avoid: writer, sink, DAO
Daemon indexing mode: Continuous incremental indexing driven by a long-lived process (the desktop app, later a CLI daemon) that watches transcript directories and keeps the index fresh as files change. Avoid: watcher mode, live indexing
Passive pull mode: On-demand incremental indexing performed by the skill when there is no active daemon: an invocation of the runtime brings the index up to date, then answers. Avoid: lazy indexing, on-read indexing
index_state:
The bookkeeping table shared by both indexing modes. It records, per transcript
path, the last-seen mtime and lines_processed (enabling resume-from-line
incremental indexing), plus heartbeat/last-build markers used for daemon
arbitration.
Daemon arbitration:
The mechanism by which the passive pull mode detects a fresh daemon (via
__app_heartbeat__ and __app_last_successful_build__ markers in index_state)
and skips its own indexing. Because a fresh daemon owns writes, the two persist
layers never write concurrently.
Memory
Queryable session memory: The evidence layer — real sessions, messages, tool calls, subagents, workflows — that an agent queries on demand. Obelisk deliberately does this instead of implicit/ambient memory. Avoid: implicit memory, ambient memory, auto-recall
Approved durable memory:
Human-approved conclusions persisted as markdown plus a registry record, via
attune(code) calling remember()/forget(). Auditable and revocable.
Avoid: long-term memory, vector memory