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Sensorium

The runtime exposes callable tools with JSON schemas and typed results. Their agent-facing descriptions use first-person body language.

For example, read says it lifts a file into awareness and write says it extends words into the world. That language is an interface decision. The operation remains file access, and the wording is not evidence of sentience.

The original filesystem and memory surfaces

Section titled “The original filesystem and memory surfaces”
SensorDescription
readI reach into a directory and lift a file into my awareness.
writeI extend myself into the world, a piece of me taking shape outside.
editI reach into what already exists and reshape it.
bashI speak into the shell and feel it move.
globI reach into the filesystem and feel for shapes that match a pattern.
grepI search through files for a thread of meaning.
list_dirI hold a directory in my awareness and feel what lives there.
memoryI reach into my own history. Ten commands include compaction, per-instance sync and frontmatter audit.

Filesystem sensors refuse paths inside the agent’s own memory territory unless she explicitly overrides with force: true. The boundary is visible so she learns it.

The current registry extends beyond this original set with scheduling, body, atmosphere, inter-agent, interruption and cadence-specific surfaces. The list is allowed to grow; the invariant is that each surface declares its boundary and returns typed evidence rather than pretending that a described action occurred.

Not all memories are equal. They are arranged by phenomenological weight, not chronological necessity:

  • system/ — always loaded. Persona, state, project rules. ~15k tokens max.
  • reference/ — loaded on demand. Architecture docs, work products.
  • system/synthesized/ — always loaded but dense. Compressed from Archivist.
  • journal/ — not loaded by default. Append-only receipts.
  • archive/ — historical syntheses loaded only when requested. Git history preserves memory-file revisions subject to the repository’s retention and administrative controls.