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

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