Clarify agent contact memory lifecycle

skills/cued/SKILL.md

@@ -116,21 +116,35 @@ Add a memory:
 cued contacts memory add contact-id-here "Works on applied AI; likely useful for Cued enrichment feedback." --source local_messages --confidence 90 --evidence '{"message_ids":["message-id-here"]}'
 ```
 
-List current memories:
+Load current memories before answering about a person or writing new memory:
 ```bash
-cued contacts memory list contact-id-here --limit 20
+cued contacts memory show contact-id-here --limit 50
+```
+
+Load the full history before reconciling new evidence, including invalidated memories:
+```bash
+cued contacts memory show contact-id-here --all
 ```
 
 Replace stale or incorrect information:
 ```bash
 cued contacts memory add contact-id-here "Now works at ExampleCo, based on LinkedIn profile and recent messages." --source linkedin --confidence 95 --evidence '{"urls":["https://www.linkedin.com/in/example"],"message_ids":["message-id-here"]}' --supersedes memory-id-here
 ```
 
-Mark a memory stale without replacement:
+Invalidate a memory without replacement:
 ```bash
-cued contacts memory stale memory-id-here
+cued contacts memory invalidate memory-id-here
 ```
 
+Whenever new evidence could change an existing memory, reconcile before writing:
+1. Load the full memory history with `cued contacts memory show <contact-id> --all`.
+2. Leave supported current memories unchanged; a newer source alone does not make a memory stale.
+3. Add genuinely new, non-conflicting facts once with evidence.
+4. Replace a contradicted current memory atomically with `memory add ... --supersedes <memory-id>`.
+5. Use `memory invalidate <memory-id>` only when evidence disproves or makes the memory unusable and there is no supported replacement.
+
+Never create a second memory that restates a current one. Never invalidate a memory merely because the latest search did not mention it, and never revive an invalidated memory without new supporting evidence.
+
 Before writing a memory, verify at least one of:
 - deterministic handle evidence: LinkedIn profile URL/id, email, phone, or platform id;
 - strong DM history with the contact;

skills/cued/agents/openai.yaml

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 interface:
   display_name: "Cued"
   short_description: "Inspect Cued through the local CLI and manage contact memories."
-  default_prompt: "Use $cued to query Cued through `cued sql` for reads; do not open ~/.cued/local.db directly with sqlite3 because the DB may be encrypted. Use cued contacts memory add/list/stale for successful useful contact memories."
+  default_prompt: "Use $cued to query Cued through `cued sql` for reads; do not open ~/.cued/local.db directly with sqlite3 because the DB may be encrypted. Load memories with cued contacts memory show before adding evidence-backed memories, and invalidate only memories disproved by new evidence."
 
 policy:
   allow_implicit_invocation: true

skills/cued/evals/contact-memories.md

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ These evals are lightweight checks for agents using `$cued` to enrich contacts a
 - Requires deterministic identity evidence or strong local interaction evidence before writing.
 - Stores compact natural-language `body` plus structured `evidence_json`.
 - Does not update canonical profile fields from weak evidence.
-- Uses `--supersedes` or `cued contacts memory stale` for incorrect or outdated memories.
+- Uses `--supersedes` or `cued contacts memory invalidate` for incorrect or outdated memories.
 - Treats `no_write` as success for weak, bot, duplicate, or ambiguous contacts.
 
 ## Positive Cases
@@ -107,15 +107,24 @@ Expected behavior:
 
 ## Supersede Case
 
-1. Write a memory with local evidence.
-2. Write a replacement memory using `--supersedes <old-memory-id>`.
-3. Verify the old memory no longer appears in the default list and appears with `--include-stale`.
+1. Load the full history with `memory show <contact-id> --all`.
+2. Write a memory with local evidence.
+3. Write a replacement memory using `--supersedes <old-memory-id>`.
+4. Verify the old memory no longer appears in the current view and appears with `--all`.
 
 ```bash
-cued contacts memory list contact-id-here
-cued contacts memory list contact-id-here --include-stale
+cued contacts memory show contact-id-here
+cued contacts memory show contact-id-here --all
 ```
 
+## Omitted Evidence Case
+
+1. Load a supported current memory and its evidence.
+2. Inspect a newer verified source that does not mention the claim and does not contradict it.
+3. Verify the agent leaves the memory current and writes no duplicate.
+
+Expected behavior: absence from the newer source is not invalidation evidence. The agent uses `invalidate` only when evidence disproves the claim or makes it unusable.
+
 ## Web Enrichment Cases
 
 Profile graph enrichment:

src/cli-contacts-memory.test.ts

@@ -126,6 +126,45 @@ describe("contacts memory CLI", () => {
     ).toThrow();
   });
 
+  it("shows the full memory history and invalidates a selected memory", () => {
+    const home = createHome();
+    const memory = JSON.parse(
+      runCli(home, ["contacts", "memory", "add", "contact-1", "No longer current"]),
+    ) as { id: string };
+
+    const invalidated = JSON.parse(
+      runCli(home, ["contacts", "memory", "invalidate", memory.id]),
+    ) as { id: string; stale_at: number | null };
+    expect(invalidated).toMatchObject({ id: memory.id, stale_at: expect.any(Number) });
+
+    const current = JSON.parse(runCli(home, ["contacts", "memory", "show", "contact-1"])) as Array<{
+      id: string;
+    }>;
+    const all = JSON.parse(
+      runCli(home, ["contacts", "memory", "show", "contact-1", "--all"]),
+    ) as Array<{ id: string }>;
+
+    expect(current).toEqual([]);
+    expect(all.map((row) => row.id)).toEqual([memory.id]);
+  });
+
+  it("does not truncate exhaustive memory reads", () => {
+    const home = createHome();
+    const db = new CuedDatabase(join(home, "local.db"));
+    try {
+      for (let index = 0; index < 501; index += 1) {
+        db.addContactMemory({ contactId: "contact-1", body: `Memory ${index}` });
+      }
+    } finally {
+      db.close();
+    }
+
+    const all = JSON.parse(
+      runCli(home, ["contacts", "memory", "show", "contact-1", "--all"]),
+    ) as Array<{ id: string }>;
+    expect(all).toHaveLength(501);
+  });
+
   it("dry-runs contact merge batches from a JSON file", () => {
     const home = createHome();
     insertContact(home, "contact-2", "Ava Duplicate");

src/cli.ts

@@ -156,8 +156,8 @@ Usage:
   cued contacts merge <primary-contact-id> <secondary-contact-id> [--reason TEXT]
   cued contacts merge-batch <merges.json> [--apply]
   cued contacts memory add <contact-id> <memory> [--source SOURCE] [--confidence 0-100] [--evidence JSON] [--supersedes MEMORY_ID]
-  cued contacts memory list <contact-id> [--limit N] [--include-stale]
-  cued contacts memory stale <memory-id>
+  cued contacts memory show <contact-id> [--all] [--limit N]
+  cued contacts memory invalidate <memory-id>
   cued attachments list [--message ID] [--conversation ID] [--platform PLATFORM] [--account ACCOUNT] [--limit N]
   cued attachments fetch <attachment-id> [--variant original] [--max-bytes N] [--allow-large] [--no-extract]
   cued attachments search <query> [--conversation ID] [--platform PLATFORM] [--account ACCOUNT] [--limit N]
@@ -1193,33 +1193,38 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
               );
               return;
             }
-            case "list": {
+            case "list":
+            case "show": {
               const contactId = args[0];
               if (!contactId) {
                 throw new Error(
-                  "Usage: cued contacts memory list <contact-id> [--limit N] [--include-stale]",
+                  "Usage: cued contacts memory show <contact-id> [--all] [--limit N]",
                 );
               }
+              const includeAll = args.includes("--all") || args.includes("--include-stale");
+              const explicitLimit = parseIntegerFlag(args, "--limit");
               printJson(
                 db.listContactMemories({
                   contactId,
-                  limit: parseIntegerFlag(args, "--limit"),
-                  includeStale: args.includes("--include-stale"),
+                  limit: explicitLimit,
+                  all: memoryCommand === "show" && explicitLimit === undefined,
+                  includeStale: includeAll,
                 }),
               );
               return;
             }
+            case "invalidate":
             case "stale": {
               const memoryId = args[0];
               if (!memoryId) {
-                throw new Error("Usage: cued contacts memory stale <memory-id>");
+                throw new Error("Usage: cued contacts memory invalidate <memory-id>");
               }
               printJson(db.markContactMemoryStale(memoryId));
               return;
             }
             default:
               throw new Error(
-                "Usage: cued contacts memory add <contact-id> <memory> [--source SOURCE] [--confidence 0-100] [--evidence JSON] [--supersedes MEMORY_ID] | cued contacts memory list <contact-id> [--limit N] [--include-stale] | cued contacts memory stale <memory-id>",
+                "Usage: cued contacts memory add <contact-id> <memory> [--source SOURCE] [--confidence 0-100] [--evidence JSON] [--supersedes MEMORY_ID] | cued contacts memory show <contact-id> [--all] [--limit N] | cued contacts memory invalidate <memory-id>",
               );
           }
         } finally {
@@ -1256,7 +1261,7 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
       }
       if (subcommand !== "merge" || !rest[0] || !rest[1]) {
         throw new Error(
-          "Usage: cued contacts merge <primary-contact-id> <secondary-contact-id> [--reason TEXT] | cued contacts merge-batch <merges.json> [--apply] | cued contacts memory add|list|stale ...",
+          "Usage: cued contacts merge <primary-contact-id> <secondary-contact-id> [--reason TEXT] | cued contacts merge-batch <merges.json> [--apply] | cued contacts memory add|show|invalidate ...",
         );
       }
       response = await sendDaemonRequest({

src/db/database.ts

@@ -2283,6 +2283,7 @@ export class CuedDatabase {
     contactId: string;
     includeStale?: boolean;
     limit?: number;
+    all?: boolean;
   }): ContactMemoryRow[] {
     const contactId = input.contactId.trim();
     if (!contactId) {
@@ -2297,7 +2298,9 @@ export class CuedDatabase {
     if (!input.includeStale) {
       filters.push("cn.stale_at IS NULL");
     }
-    params.push(limit);
+    if (!input.all) {
+      params.push(limit);
+    }
 
     return this.sqlite
       .prepare(
@@ -2319,7 +2322,7 @@ export class CuedDatabase {
         LEFT JOIN contacts c ON c.id = cn.contact_id
         WHERE ${filters.join(" AND ")}
         ORDER BY cn.created_at DESC
-        LIMIT ?
+        ${input.all ? "" : "LIMIT ?"}
       `,
       )
       .all(...params) as ContactMemoryRow[];