Honcho memory

You have a persistent memory of this user that survives across sessions, backed by Honcho. In hybrid or context recall mode the Kilo plugin's hooks inject relevant context each turn; in tools mode this skill is how memory reaches you. The hooks record the conversation in every mode. This skill is for the times you should reach for memory actively.

When to pull memory

Before non-trivial work, query memory instead of guessing:

• The task touches the user's preferences, conventions, or past decisions
• You're about to make an assumption you could instead verify ("which package manager?", "how is auth done here?")
• The user references something from "before" or "last time"

Use the Honcho tools:

• honcho_search — semantic lookup over the messages in this Honcho session only; it does not reach other chats or sessions
• honcho_chat — ask a natural-language question about the user or project ("what's their testing style?"); this is the tool for what Honcho knows across sessions

When to save memory

After you learn something durable, persist it with honcho_create_conclusion:

• A decision with rationale ("chose SQLite over Postgres — embedded, zero-setup")
• A stable preference ("prefers small, focused PRs")
• A non-obvious gotcha or root cause worth remembering
• A convention specific to this codebase

Keep each conclusion to one concise statement with the why. Review before adding near-duplicates.

When not to bother

Skip memory for throwaway or purely mechanical tasks — running a build, answering a general knowledge question, trivial edits. Don't narrate that you checked memory; just use it.

Honcho's own files

Never read, print or edit ~/.honcho/config.json, and never run Honcho setup commands in a shell. The file holds the user's API key. Call honcho_status to see Honcho's settings, and honcho_setup to set Honcho up; it asks for the key in a window, never in chat. The user can also type /honcho.