# Hermes Memory Auto-Consolidation

**Deployed:** July 9, 2026
**Schedule:** Every 10 min (Hermes cron, no_agent mode)
**Scripts:** `/root/.hermes/scripts/hermes-consolidate.sh` + `hermes-consolidate.py`

## Architecture

```
Every 10 min:
  1. Dump MEMORY.md entries to JSON
  2. Upload to S3 (backup-before-prune guarantee — aborts if S3 fails)
  3. Run pruner (pattern prune + size safety valve)
  4. Prune fact store (entries older than 7 days, never-retrieved, trust < 0.5)
  5. Keep local pre-prune copy in ~/.hermes/memories/.consolidate-backups/ (48h retention)
```

## Safety Guarantees

- **Backup-before-prune:** S3 upload is a hard gate; prune never runs without it
- **Never writes empty file:** pruner aborts if kept set would be empty
- **Atomic write:** `os.replace()` on temp file — no partial-write risk
- **Protected entries:** regex PROTECT prevents identity, rules, credentials, and key infrastructure facts from EVER being pruned (pattern or size valve)
- **Idempotent:** if already under target, backs up and exits without modifying

## PROTECT List (entries never pruned)

As of Jul 9 2026: includes "Core:", "STANDING PRACTICE", "app1-bu", "netcup|admin-ai.itpropartner", "Ops portal", "Recovery manual", "Ollama", "RS 4000", "Migration target", plus all credential/identity/formatting rules.

## Restore Procedure

```bash
# From S3:
source /opt/awscli-venv/bin/activate
aws s3 cp s3://hermes-vps-backups/live/memories/memory-backup.json /tmp/mem.json \
  --endpoint-url https://s3.us-east-1.wasabisys.com

# Rebuild MEMORY.md:
python3 -c "
import json
d = json.load(open('/tmp/mem.json'))
open('/root/.hermes/memories/MEMORY.md','w').write(('\n§\n'.join(d['entries'])) + '\n')
print('restored', d['entry_count'], 'entries')
"
```

## Known Caveat

The size safety valve drops oldest-appended entries when pattern-pruning alone doesn't reach 7,000 chars. This can remove useful entries at the top of the file if they don't match a PROTECT pattern. All data preserved in S3.