feat(config): split memoryManager flag into autoMemory (#25601)

2026-04-22 02:54:31 -07:00 · 2026-04-17 17:08:02 -07:00
parent 220888ac2d
commit 8573650253
16 changed files with 239 additions and 12 deletions
@@ -0,0 +1,143 @@
+# Auto Memory
+
+Auto Memory is an experimental feature that mines your past Gemini CLI sessions
+in the background and turns recurring workflows into reusable
+[Agent Skills](./skills.md). You review, accept, or discard each extracted skill
+before it becomes available to future sessions.
+
+<!-- prettier-ignore -->
+> [!NOTE]
+> This is an experimental feature currently under active development.
+
+## Overview
+
+Every session you run with Gemini CLI is recorded locally as a transcript. Auto
+Memory scans those transcripts for procedural patterns that recur across
+sessions, then drafts each pattern as a `SKILL.md` file in a project-local
+inbox. You inspect the draft, decide whether it captures real expertise, and
+promote it to your global or workspace skills directory if you want it.
+
+You'll use Auto Memory when you want to:
+
+- **Capture team workflows** that you find yourself walking the agent through
+  more than once.
+- **Codify hard-won fixes** for project-specific landmines so future sessions
+  avoid them.
+- **Bootstrap a skills library** without writing every `SKILL.md` by hand.
+
+Auto Memory complements—but does not replace—the
+[`save_memory` tool](../tools/memory.md), which captures single facts into
+`GEMINI.md`. Auto Memory captures multi-step procedures into skills.
+
+## Prerequisites
+
+- Gemini CLI installed and authenticated.
+- At least 10 user messages across recent, idle sessions in the project. Auto
+  Memory ignores active or trivial sessions.
+
+## How to enable Auto Memory
+
+Auto Memory is off by default. Enable it in your settings file:
+
+1.  Open your global settings file at `~/.gemini/settings.json`. If you only
+    want Auto Memory in one project, edit `.gemini/settings.json` in that
+    project instead.
+
+2.  Add the experimental flag:
+
+    ```json
+    {
+      "experimental": {
+        "autoMemory": true
+      }
+    }
+    ```
+
+3.  Restart Gemini CLI. The flag requires a restart because the extraction
+    service starts during session boot.
+
+## How Auto Memory works
+
+Auto Memory runs as a background task on session startup. It does not block the
+UI, consume your interactive turns, or surface tool prompts.
+
+1.  **Eligibility scan.** The service indexes recent sessions from
+    `~/.gemini/tmp/<project>/chats/`. Sessions are eligible only if they have
+    been idle for at least three hours and contain at least 10 user messages.
+2.  **Lock acquisition.** A lock file in the project's memory directory
+    coordinates across multiple CLI instances so extraction runs at most once at
+    a time.
+3.  **Sub-agent extraction.** A specialized sub-agent (named `confucius`)
+    reviews the session index, reads any sessions that look like they contain
+    repeated procedural workflows, and drafts new `SKILL.md` files. Its
+    instructions tell it to default to creating zero skills unless the evidence
+    is strong, so most runs produce no inbox items.
+4.  **Patch validation.** If the sub-agent proposes edits to skills outside the
+    inbox (for example, an existing global skill), it writes a unified diff
+    `.patch` file. Auto Memory dry-runs each patch and discards any that do not
+    apply cleanly.
+5.  **Notification.** When a run produces new skills or patches, Gemini CLI
+    surfaces an inline message telling you how many items are waiting.
+
+## How to review extracted skills
+
+Use the `/memory inbox` slash command to open the inbox dialog at any time:
+
+**Command:** `/memory inbox`
+
+The dialog lists each draft skill with its name, description, and source
+sessions. From there you can:
+
+- **Read** the full `SKILL.md` body before deciding.
+- **Promote** a skill to your user (`~/.gemini/skills/`) or workspace
+  (`.gemini/skills/`) directory.
+- **Discard** a skill you do not want.
+- **Apply** or reject a `.patch` proposal against an existing skill.
+
+Promoted skills become discoverable in the next session and follow the standard
+[skill discovery precedence](./skills.md#skill-discovery-tiers).
+
+## How to disable Auto Memory
+
+To turn off background extraction, set the flag back to `false` in your settings
+file and restart Gemini CLI:
+
+```json
+{
+  "experimental": {
+    "autoMemory": false
+  }
+}
+```
+
+Disabling the flag stops the background service immediately on the next session
+start. Existing inbox items remain on disk; you can either drain them with
+`/memory inbox` first or remove the project memory directory manually.
+
+## Data and privacy
+
+- Auto Memory only reads session files that already exist locally on your
+  machine. Nothing is uploaded to Gemini outside the normal API calls the
+  extraction sub-agent makes during its run.
+- The sub-agent is instructed to redact secrets, tokens, and credentials it
+  encounters and to never copy large tool outputs verbatim.
+- Drafted skills live in your project's memory directory until you promote or
+  discard them. They are not automatically loaded into any session.
+
+## Limitations
+
+- The sub-agent runs on a preview Gemini Flash model. Extraction quality depends
+  on the model's ability to recognize durable patterns versus one-off incidents.
+- Auto Memory does not extract skills from the current session. It only
+  considers sessions that have been idle for three hours or more.
+- Inbox items are stored per project. Skills extracted in one workspace are not
+  visible from another until you promote them to the user-scope skills
+  directory.
+
+## Next steps
+
+- Learn how skills are discovered and activated in [Agent Skills](./skills.md).
+- Explore the [memory management tutorial](./tutorials/memory-management.md) for
+  the complementary `save_memory` and `GEMINI.md` workflows.
+- Review the experimental settings catalog in
+  [Settings](./settings.md#experimental).
@@ -169,6 +169,7 @@ they appear in the UI.
 | Model Steering                                       | `experimental.modelSteering`     | Enable model steering (user hints) to guide the model during tool execution.                                                                              | `false` |
 | Direct Web Fetch                                     | `experimental.directWebFetch`    | Enable web fetch behavior that bypasses LLM summarization.                                                                                                | `false` |
 | Memory Manager Agent                                 | `experimental.memoryManager`     | Replace the built-in save_memory tool with a memory manager subagent that supports adding, removing, de-duplicating, and organizing memories.             | `false` |
+| Auto Memory                                          | `experimental.autoMemory`        | Automatically extract reusable skills from past sessions in the background. Review results with /memory inbox.                                            | `false` |
 | Use the generalist profile to manage agent contexts. | `experimental.generalistProfile` | Suitable for general coding and software development tasks.                                                                                               | `false` |
 | Enable Context Management                            | `experimental.contextManagement` | Enable logic for context management.                                                                                                                      | `false` |

@@ -124,3 +124,5 @@ immediately. Force a reload with:
 - Explore the [Command reference](../../reference/commands.md) for more
  `/memory` options.
 - Read the technical spec for [Project context](../../cli/gemini-md.md).
+- Try the experimental [Auto Memory](../auto-memory.md) feature to extract
+  reusable skills from your past sessions automatically.