GOAT0.1 (Kid) · Source preview

ADR-0033: Exclusive Pen and global memory scopes ​

Status: Accepted · 2026-09-03 · Refines ADR-0005

Context ​

Global memory and Pen memory answer different questions. Global memory is durable context for loose chats, while a Pen's memory belongs to that Pen and should not surface in unrelated work. The local stores already live under separate roots, but an early MemoryContext contract allowed a Pen to read both scopes and the Settings browser followed the selected chat. Either behaviour can make a Pen's knowledge look global.

A chat can later be moved into, out of, or between Pens. Memory is scoped to a Pen or Global store, not to an individual chat, so automatically transferring all notes with a moved chat would copy or merge knowledge that may belong to other chats.

Decision ​

Global and Pen memory are exclusive scopes. A loose chat reads and writes only Global memory. A Pen chat reads and writes only that Pen's memory. The application Settings browser always opens the Global store. A Pen's landing page is the only browser for that Pen's store. The shared Pages/Map/Connections control is secondary navigation and uses a neutral selected state rather than GOAT's primary accent.

Moving a chat changes only its projectID, which selects the memory scope for future prompt reads, model tools, feedback, and explicit remembers. Existing notes remain in their original Global or Pen store. GOAT does not copy, merge, relabel, or delete them. The transcript moves with the chat, but it is not treated as an implicit memory migration.

This scope guarantee applies to local Markdown and LLM Wiki providers. Hindsight remains its own explicit shared-bank provider because its coding-agent contract has no per-chat or per-Pen bank parameter. GOAT must not label a shared Hindsight bank as isolated Global or Pen memory.

Consequences ​

  • A Pen cannot accidentally receive global notes, and Settings cannot accidentally browse a Pen.
  • A moved chat begins using destination memory on its next memory operation without destructive file work or surprising knowledge transfer.
  • Transferring knowledge between scopes is a future explicit, one-way copy workflow with a visible selection and provenance, not a side effect of moving a chat.
  • The one-scope MemoryContext contract makes accidental unioning fail in core tests before it can reach prompt construction.

Alternatives considered ​

Read global plus Pen notes for every Pen chat, automatically migrate all source notes when moving a chat, infer a memory subset from transcript messages, and silently duplicate notes into the destination. These either leak context, attribute shared Pen knowledge to one chat, or make an irreversible and often lossy copy without user consent.