Project Memory with Atuin

VerifiedSafe

Persists project context across sessions using Atuin's key-value store. Store and retrieve plans, specs, and task state to resume work seamlessly or share project context.

Sby Skills Guide Bot
DevelopmentIntermediate
506/2/2026
Claude Code
#project-memory#atuin-kv#context-management#session-persistence

Recommended for

Our review

This skill enables storing and retrieving project memories (plans, specs, tasks) using atuin's kv store, ensuring context continuity across sessions.

Strengths

  • Retains project context between sessions without local files
  • Uses git to automatically detect project and branch
  • Supports multi-line memories via temporary files
  • Simple commands to list, get, set, and delete memories

Limitations

  • Requires atuin to be installed and configured
  • Depends on consistent key naming (project-branch)
  • No native encryption for stored memories
When to use it

When starting a new work session on a project and needing to quickly recall progress, plans, or previous specifications.

When not to use it

For storing sensitive or large amounts of data that would require a dedicated database system.

Security analysis

Safe
Quality score92/100

The skill uses atuin kv (key-value store) for project memory, with Bash commands limited to safe patterns like git metadata retrieval and temp file handling. No destructive, exfiltrating, or obfuscated commands are present.

No concerns found

Examples

Check project memories
Check if there are any stored memories for this project on the current branch.
Store current plan
Store the current implementation plan as a project memory so I can resume later.
Retrieve previous session
What was I working on last session? Show me the session summary from yesterday.

name: atuin-memory description: Check, store, and retrieve project memories from atuin kv. Use when starting work on a project, recalling previous context, storing plans or specs, or when the user mentions memory, atuin, or project context. allowed-tools:

  • Bash(atuin *)
  • Bash(git rev-parse *)
  • Bash(git branch *)
  • Bash(basename *)
  • Bash(pwd)
  • Bash(cat *)
  • Bash(echo *)
  • Bash(grep *)
  • Bash(head *)
  • Read

Project Memory with Atuin

Store and retrieve project context using atuin kv to persist across sessions.

Project Detection

Reuse these variables in all commands:

PROJECT=$(basename "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null)" 2>/dev/null || basename "$PWD")
BRANCH=$(git branch --show-current 2>/dev/null)
BRANCH=${BRANCH:-main}

Before Starting Work

echo "=== $PROJECT ($BRANCH) ==="

# Discover what memories exist for this project
atuin kv list --namespace "project-metadata" | grep -F "$PROJECT-" || echo "(no memories found)"

Then retrieve relevant memories:

# Empty output means memory doesn't exist
atuin kv get --namespace "project-metadata" "$PROJECT-$BRANCH-plan"
atuin kv get --namespace "project-metadata" "$PROJECT-$BRANCH-spec"
atuin kv get --namespace "project-metadata" "$PROJECT-$BRANCH-todo"

Acting on Retrieved Memories

<memory-actions> <on-retrieval> - Check if stored plan/spec/todo still matches git state and current goals - Briefly summarize what you found so user can correct misunderstandings - Raise blockers, gaps, or open questions before proceeding—don't assume, ask - Pick up from first incomplete todo item; if none exist, start fresh </on-retrieval> <on-completion> - Update stored state after completing work so next session can resume cleanly </on-completion> </memory-actions>

Storing Memories

For multi-line content, write to a temp file first to avoid shell escaping issues:

# 1. Write content to temp file
# 2. Store from temp file
atuin kv set --namespace "project-metadata" --key "$PROJECT-$BRANCH-plan" "$(cat /tmp/plan.md)"

# 3. Verify storage succeeded
atuin kv get --namespace "project-metadata" "$PROJECT-$BRANCH-plan" | head -5

For short single-line values, store directly:

atuin kv set --namespace "project-metadata" --key "$PROJECT-$BRANCH-status" "in-progress"

Key Naming

| Key Pattern | Purpose | |-------------|---------| | {project}-{branch}-plan | Implementation plans | | {project}-{branch}-spec | Specifications/designs | | {project}-{branch}-todo | Task state | | {project}-{branch}-session-$(date +%Y-%m-%d) | Session summaries (use current date) |

Deleting Memories

# Delete a specific key
atuin kv delete --namespace "project-metadata" "$PROJECT-$BRANCH-plan"

# Verify deletion (should return empty)
atuin kv get --namespace "project-metadata" "$PROJECT-$BRANCH-plan"

Quick Reference

Argument syntax is inconsistent across subcommands — pay attention to positional vs flag arguments:

| Operation | Command | Notes | |-----------|---------|-------| | List all | atuin kv list --namespace "project-metadata" | | | Get | atuin kv get --namespace "project-metadata" "key" | KEY is positional | | Set | atuin kv set --namespace "project-metadata" --key "key" "value" | KEY is --key flag, VALUE is positional | | Delete | atuin kv delete --namespace "project-metadata" "key" | KEY is positional (not --key) |

<constraints> - Store artifacts in atuin, not local markdown files - Use /tmp for any temporary files needed during storage - Never commit metadata files to git </constraints>
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