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Agent skill

Bm Orient

by basicmachines-co in basicmachines-co/basic-memory

Orient Claude from Basic Memory before substantial repo work by reading active tasks, open decisions, recent checkpoints, and repo conventions.

AGPL-3.0Auto-check passed

Install Bm Orient

skills CLI
$ npx skills add basicmachines-co/basic-memory --skill bm-orient -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install basicmachines-co/basic-memory bm-orient --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/basicmachines-co/basic-memory.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/claude-code/skills/bm-orient .claude/skills/bm-orient && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
bm-orient
GitHub stars
4.1k
Token cost
~802 tokens
SKILL.md length
364 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
49
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
AGPL-3.0

At a glance

Orient Claude from Basic Memory before substantial repo work by reading active tasks, open decisions, recent checkpoints, and repo conventions.

  • Works in 5 steps: Resolve config: read the basicMemory… → Query the primary project with… → Query configured secondaryProjects… → …
  • Resuming old work
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md
  • The user asks where things stand

What it does

Bm Orient is an agent skill from basicmachines-co/basic-memory. Orient Claude from Basic Memory before substantial repo work by reading active tasks, open decisions, recent checkpoints, and repo conventions. Use when resuming old work or when the user asks where things stand.

Its SKILL.md is about 800 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

The repository describes itself as: AI conversations that actually remember. Never re-explain your project to your AI again. Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/tyvKNccgqN. The licence is AGPL-3.0.

When your agent uses it

  • Resuming old work
  • The user asks where things stand

Example prompts

  • “/bm-orient”

Workflow steps

5 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

  1. Resolve config: read the basicMemory block with the same precedence the
  2. Query the primary project with search_notes
  3. Query configured secondaryProjects read-only for open decisions. Do not write
  4. Read the highest-signal hits before summarizing. Prefer notes that match the
  5. Present a compact orientation

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit cb7407f. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Bm Orient loads about 802 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 56 tokens; SKILL.md has 364 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~56
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~802

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from basicmachines-co/basic-memory at commit cb7407f, republished under its AGPL-3.0 licence (© basicmachines-co). 364 words, ~802 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/bm-orient/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
bm-orient
description
Orient Claude from Basic Memory before substantial repo work by reading active tasks, open decisions, recent checkpoints, and repo conventions. Use when resuming old work or when the user asks where things stand.
argument-hint
(no arguments — reads the graph and summarizes)

Orient From Basic Memory

Use this before substantial work in a repo, before resuming an old thread, or when the user asks where things stand. The SessionStart hook already briefs the start of a session; this is the deliberate mid-session version with deeper reads.

Steps

  1. Resolve config: read the basicMemory block with the same precedence the hooks use. For the user-level base, append settings.json to the literal value of CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR when that environment variable is present; do not trim it, expand ~, or treat an empty value as unset. Use ~/.claude/settings.json only when the variable is absent. Then the project's .claude/settings.json and .claude/settings.local.json override it per key. Use primaryProject, secondaryProjects, recallTimeframe, sessionProfile, repository, and placementConventions. If no config is present, continue against the default Basic Memory project and mention that setup has not been run. Scope queries to primaryProject by passing it as project, or as project_id if it's an external_id UUID.

  2. Query the primary project with search_notes:

    • active tasks: metadata_filters={"type": "task", "status": "active"}
    • open decisions: metadata_filters={"type": "decision", "status": "open"}
    • recent sessions: metadata_filters={"type": "session"}, after recallTimeframe
    • recent coding sessions: metadata_filters={"type": "coding_session", "repository": "<configured repository>"}, after recallTimeframe, when sessionProfile is coding

    Always query "type": "session"; include "type": "coding_session" for a coding profile only with the configured repository metadata filter. Never run an unscoped coding-session query; if the repository is missing, report that setup is incomplete. Merge and deduplicate the results, sort them newest first, and prefer the highest-signal checkpoint regardless of which producer wrote it. coding_session carries schema-required, queryable Git context; session covers general checkpoints and PreCompact captures. Do not query lifecycle trace: bm hook flush archives it locally rather than promoting it into the graph.

  3. Query configured secondaryProjects read-only for open decisions. Do not write to shared projects during orientation.

  4. Read the highest-signal hits before summarizing. Prefer notes that match the current repository, branch, Git SHA, pull request, named route, issue, or file path. For coding sessions, use structured metadata filters before text search.

  5. Present a compact orientation:

    • active work
    • decisions that constrain the next move
    • recent checkpoint cursor
    • likely next action
    • any missing setup or ambiguous project mapping
Show full SKILL.md (11 more words)Show less

Keep the summary evidence-backed. Include permalinks for notes you rely on.

© basicmachines-co, AGPL-3.0. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in plugins/claude-code/skills/bm-orient of basicmachines-co/basic-memory.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit cb7407f

Compare with similar skills

Bm Orient next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Bm Orient compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Bm Orient this skillbasicmachines-co/basic-memory4.1k—~802Automated safety check: PassAGPL-3.0
Orientationthedaviddias/Front-End-Checklist74k—~625Automated safety check: PassMIT
OrientDrCatHicks/learning-opportunities2.5k—~3.1kAutomated safety check: NotesCC-BY-4.0
Basicbergside/awesome-design-skills3.1k1 repos~969Automated safety check: PassMIT
Makepad Basicssickn33/agentic-awesome-skills47k2 repos~1.2kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Bigquery Basicsdavila7/claude-code-templates32k—~1.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

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Questions about Bm Orient

What does Bm Orient do?

Orient Claude from Basic Memory before substantial repo work by reading active tasks, open decisions, recent checkpoints, and repo conventions. Bm Orient is an agent skill from basicmachines-co/basic-memory. Orient Claude from Basic Memory before substantial repo work by reading active tasks, open decisions, recent checkpoints, and repo conventions.

When should I use Bm Orient?

Bm Orient fits situations like: resuming old work; the user asks where things stand.

How do I install Bm Orient in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add basicmachines-co/basic-memory --skill bm-orient -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/claude-code/skills/bm-orient in basicmachines-co/basic-memory) into .claude/skills/bm-orient in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Bm Orient in Codex?

Run `npx skills add basicmachines-co/basic-memory --skill bm-orient -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/claude-code/skills/bm-orient in basicmachines-co/basic-memory) into .agents/skills/bm-orient in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Bm Orient in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add basicmachines-co/basic-memory --skill bm-orient -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/bm-orient, .gemini/skills/bm-orient, .github/skills/bm-orient and .opencode/skills/bm-orient in your project.

What does Bm Orient need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Bm Orient is instructions for the agent only.

Does Bm Orient access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Bm Orient safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Bm Orient use?

Bm Orient is published under the AGPL-3.0 licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Bm Orient use?

About 802 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 3.2k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Bm Orient?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Bm Orient: Orientation (thedaviddias/Front-End-Checklist, 74k stars), Orient (DrCatHicks/learning-opportunities, 2.5k stars), Basic (bergside/awesome-design-skills, 3.1k stars) and Makepad Basics (sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills, 47k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Bm Orient?

basicmachines-co (a GitHub organization) maintains it in basicmachines-co/basic-memory, which has 4,115 GitHub stars. The repository holds 49 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 7, 2026.

Source: basicmachines-co/basic-memory on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.