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Agent skill

Forgetful Repo Encoding

by ScottRBK in ScottRBK/forgetful

Encodes a repository into the Forgetful knowledge base as a project, entities, atomic memories and documents, so a second run updates instead of duplicating.

MITAuto-check passedKnowledge Management

Install Forgetful Repo Encoding

skills CLI
$ npx skills add ScottRBK/forgetful --skill forgetful-encode-repo -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install ScottRBK/forgetful forgetful-encode-repo --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/ScottRBK/forgetful.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/forgetful-encode-repo .claude/skills/forgetful-encode-repo && 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
forgetful-encode-repo
GitHub stars
301
Token cost
~1k tokens
SKILL.md length
489 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
10
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Encodes a repository into the Forgetful knowledge base as a project, entities, atomic memories and documents, so a second run updates instead of duplicating.

  • Works in 5 steps: Resolve the project → Survey the sources → Model the system as entities → …
  • Bringing a new repository under the Forgetful knowledge base
  • SKILL.md covers Invoking operations, Step 1 — Resolve the project, Step 2 — Survey the sources and Step 3 — Model the system as…, plus 2 more sections
  • Calls git

What it does

The aim is a knowledge base that later sessions can rely on: the system modeled as entities, decisions and conventions stored as atomic memories, longer explanations kept as documents, and everything stamped with provenance back to the source. Running it twice updates what exists and never duplicates, because each write queries before creating. Operations run through either the Forgetful MCP tools or the `forgetful` CLI.

It starts by deriving the owner and repo name from the git origin remote and looking up the project; an existing one means a refresh, otherwise it creates one. It then surveys the README, docs, contributor and agent guides, manifests and CI or deploy configuration and notes the current commit. The system and its key components become entities linked by part-of and depends-on relationships, and the knowledge is stored as documents for long-form understanding plus atomic memories that link back to them.

When your agent uses it

  • Bringing a new repository under the Forgetful knowledge base
  • Refreshing a stale encoding after the codebase has changed
  • Capturing architecture, decisions and conventions for future sessions

Example prompts

  • “Encode this repo into Forgetful so future sessions know its architecture.”
  • “Refresh the Forgetful encoding of our payments service after the refactor.”
  • “Bootstrap a Forgetful project for this codebase from its README and manifests.”

Requirements

  • A Forgetful server reachable through MCP or the forgetful CLI
  • A git repository with an origin remote
  • Pre-approved tools (allowed-tools): mcp__forgetful__discover_forgetful_tools, mcp__forgetful__how_to_use_forgetful_tool, mcp__forgetful__execute_forgetful_tool, Bash(forgetful:*)

Workflow steps

5 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

  1. Resolve the project
  2. Survey the sources
  3. Model the system as entities
  4. Store the knowledge
  5. Report coverage

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit ff45893. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves these tools, so the agent can use them without asking each time:

    • mcp__forgetful__discover_forgetful_tools
    • mcp__forgetful__how_to_use_forgetful_tool
    • mcp__forgetful__execute_forgetful_tool
    • Bash(forgetful:*)

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • git

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

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md. Its commands use git, which can reach the network depending on how they are called.

    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

Forgetful Repo Encoding loads about 1k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 83 tokens; SKILL.md has 489 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~83
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1k

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 ScottRBK/forgetful at commit ff45893, republished under its MIT licence (© ScottRBK). 489 words, ~1,039 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/forgetful-encode-repo/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
forgetful-encode-repo
description
Encode a repository into the Forgetful knowledge base — bootstrap the project, its entities, memories, and documents from the codebase itself. Use when bringing a new repo under Forgetful or refreshing a stale encoding. Re-encoding is an update pass: query-before-create makes it supersession, not duplication.
allowed-tools
mcp__forgetful__discover_forgetful_tools, mcp__forgetful__how_to_use_forgetful_tool, mcp__forgetful__execute_forgetful_tool, Bash(forgetful:*)
license
MIT
disable-model-invocation
true
tags
bootstrap, encoding, repository, knowledge-base

Encoding a repository

The goal is a knowledge base a future session can lean on: the system modelled as entities, the decisions and conventions as atomic memories, the long-form understanding as documents, everything provenance-stamped back to the source. Encode twice and the second pass updates — never duplicates.

Invoking operations

Operations are named by registry name (create_project, create_entity, ...). Invoke via whichever surface this agent has:

  • MCP: execute_forgetful_tool(tool_name="create_project", arguments={...})
  • CLI: forgetful call create_project --args '{"name": "..."}' --json

Get any operation's schema at runtime: how_to_use_forgetful_tool (MCP) or forgetful tools info <operation> (CLI) — schemas are deliberately not repeated here.

Step 1 — Resolve the project

git remote get-url origin → owner/repo → list_projects with repo_name. Existing project means this run is a refresh; otherwise create_project with the repo name and a description of what the codebase is for.

Done when: a project_id exists and the run knows whether it is a first encode or a refresh.

Step 2 — Survey the sources

Read what the repo says about itself before reading code: README, docs/, contributor and agent guides, manifests (dependencies, entry points, scripts), CI and deploy configuration. Note the current commit — every write in this run cites it via provenance.

Done when: there is a source list of what will be encoded, ordered by signal.

Step 3 — Model the system as entities

Skills referenced by name below resolve via search_skills → export_skill when not already available. Per forgetful-entities: the system itself and its key components (services, packages, databases, external dependencies that matter) as entity_type: "System", and their structure as relationships — part_of for composition, depends_on for coupling. Dedupe against existing entities on a refresh.

Done when: the architecture is walkable as a graph, components to system, dependencies out.

Show full SKILL.md (212 more words)Show less

Step 4 — Store the knowledge

Two layers, per forgetful-remember (its routing, atomicity test, and importance rubric govern every write here):

  • Documents for long-form understanding: architecture overviews, subsystem guides, design analyses.
  • Atomic memories as the entry points: decisions, conventions, patterns, constraints — each linked to its document via document_ids, stamped with source_repo and source_files, and linked to the entities it concerns via a separate link_entity_to_memory call (not something create_memory does for you).

On a refresh, query first per source area: update what drifted, mark obsolete what the code contradicts, create only what is new.

Done when: each surveyed source area has produced its documents and entry-point memories, or explicitly had nothing worth encoding.

Step 5 — Report coverage

Close with a coverage report, in place of "done": project ID, entities created/updated, memories created/updated/obsoleted, documents written, source areas skipped and why, and the areas where knowledge is thin. Note repo-level gaps the survey turned up too — missing docs, absent CI, and the like — not only gaps in the encoding itself. Deliver the report in the final response to the user; it is not written anywhere in Forgetful. The report is the encode's acceptance surface — a reader should be able to spot a gap from it alone.

Done when: the report is delivered and honest about gaps.

© ScottRBK, MIT. 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 skills/forgetful-encode-repo of ScottRBK/forgetful.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit ff45893

Compare with similar skills

Forgetful Repo Encoding 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.

Forgetful Repo Encoding compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Forgetful Repo Encoding this skillScottRBK/forgetful301—~1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
MemPalace MemoryMemPalace/mempalace59k—~2.7kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Codebase Domain Flow ExtractorEgonex-AI/Understand-Anything86k—~2.4kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Ogham Maintainogham-mcp/ogham-mcp115—~1.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Ogham Recallogham-mcp/ogham-mcp115—~1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Basic Memory Setupbasicmachines-co/basic-memory4.1k—~3.9kAutomated safety check: PassAGPL-3.0

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Works with

Categories

Questions about Forgetful Repo Encoding

What does Forgetful Repo Encoding do?

Encodes a repository into the Forgetful knowledge base as a project, entities, atomic memories and documents, so a second run updates instead of duplicating. The aim is a knowledge base that later sessions can rely on: the system modeled as entities, decisions and conventions stored as atomic memories, longer explanations kept as documents, and everything stamped with provenance back to the source. Running it twice updates what exists and never duplicates, because each write queries before creating.

When should I use Forgetful Repo Encoding?

Forgetful Repo Encoding fits situations like: bringing a new repository under the Forgetful knowledge base; refreshing a stale encoding after the codebase has changed; capturing architecture, decisions and conventions for future sessions.

How do I install Forgetful Repo Encoding in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add ScottRBK/forgetful --skill forgetful-encode-repo -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/forgetful-encode-repo in ScottRBK/forgetful) into .claude/skills/forgetful-encode-repo in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Forgetful Repo Encoding in Codex?

Run `npx skills add ScottRBK/forgetful --skill forgetful-encode-repo -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/forgetful-encode-repo in ScottRBK/forgetful) into .agents/skills/forgetful-encode-repo in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Forgetful Repo Encoding 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 ScottRBK/forgetful --skill forgetful-encode-repo -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/forgetful-encode-repo, .gemini/skills/forgetful-encode-repo, .github/skills/forgetful-encode-repo and .opencode/skills/forgetful-encode-repo in your project.

What does Forgetful Repo Encoding need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Forgetful Repo Encoding needs the command-line tools its instructions call (git). Our summary lists: A Forgetful server reachable through MCP or the forgetful CLI; A git repository with an origin remote. Its frontmatter pre-approves these tools: mcp__forgetful__discover_forgetful_tools, mcp__forgetful__how_to_use_forgetful_tool, mcp__forgetful__execute_forgetful_tool, Bash(forgetful:*).

Does Forgetful Repo Encoding access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Its commands use git, which can reach the network depending on how they are called. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Forgetful Repo Encoding 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 Forgetful Repo Encoding use?

Forgetful Repo Encoding is published under the MIT licence (declared in SKILL.md). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Forgetful Repo Encoding use?

About 1k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 4.2k 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 Forgetful Repo Encoding?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Forgetful Repo Encoding: MemPalace Memory (MemPalace/mempalace, 59k stars), Codebase Domain Flow Extractor (Egonex-AI/Understand-Anything, 86k stars), Ogham Maintain (ogham-mcp/ogham-mcp, 115 stars) and Ogham Recall (ogham-mcp/ogham-mcp, 115 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Forgetful Repo Encoding?

ScottRBK (a GitHub user) maintains it in ScottRBK/forgetful, which has 301 GitHub stars. The repository holds 10 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 8, 2026.

Source: ScottRBK/forgetful on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.