poimen-memory/VAULT-SEPARATE-REPO.md

Vault as Separate Repository

Structure

poimen-memory (parent repo)
├── .git/                              ← parent git history
├── Cargo.toml, crates/                ← source code
├── log/                               ← JSONL authoritative log
├── tasks/, queries/                   ← task board + queries
└── vault/                             ← SEPARATE git repo
    ├── .git/                          ← vault's own git history
    ├── .gitignore                     ← vault's own rules
    ├── README.md
    ├── notes/                         ← human annotations
    ├── poimen/                        ← generated memories
    └── skills/                        ← generated drafts

Two independent repositories

Parent repo: poimen-memory

Remote:  ssh://[email protected]:2222/rock/poimen-memory.git
Tracks:  Rust code, JSONL log, task definitions, design docs
Ignores: /target/, vault/, .DS_Store, editor temp files
Commits: ~40 commits (M0-M2 implementation complete)

Vault repo: poimen-obesdient-memory

Remote:  ssh://[email protected]:2222/rock/poimen-obesdient-memory.git
Tracks:  Generated markdown, human annotations, structure
Ignores: .obsidian/, *.readonly, local settings
Commits: 2 commits (clean slate, ready for generated content)

Why separate?

1. Different tracking needs

   • Parent: code + logs (large, binary, mutable)
   • Vault: markdown + docs (small, text, rebuild-derived)

2. Different workflows

   • Parent: developers (Rust, CLI tools, testing)
   • Vault: readers (Obsidian, annotations, consumption)

3. Independent scaling

   • Parent: Cargo workspace grows (tests, crates, binaries)
   • Vault: only markdown files (stays lightweight)

4. Separate CI/CD

   • Parent: cargo build, cargo test, deploy binary
   • Vault: mem rebuild --from-log, git push (GitOps)

How they work together

1. Developer runs ingest
   cargo run -p mem-cli -- ingest --project poimen

2. JSONL written to parent repo
   log/poimen/infra-root-causes/<run-id>.jsonl

3. Parent repo commits
   git -C /path/to/poimen-memory commit

4. CI/CD triggered by log change

5. Rebuild vault from JSONL
   mem rebuild --from-log --project poimen
   cd vault && git add poimen/*.md && git commit

6. Vault repo updated
   git -C vault push origin main

Setup (fresh clone)

# Clone parent (parent repo only)
git clone ssh://[email protected]:2222/rock/poimen-memory.git
cd poimen-memory

# Vault is already there (subdirectory with separate .git)
cd vault
git status
# Shows: On branch main, tracking origin/main (poimen-obesdient-memory remote)

# Both repos now ready:
ls ..          # parent repo files (Cargo.toml, crates/, log/, etc.)
ls .           # vault repo files (notes/, poimen/, skills/)

Prevent vault/ from being tracked in parent

Parent repo .gitignore includes:

# Vault (projections and indexes)
vault/

This ensures:

• git status in parent doesn't list vault files
• git add . in parent won't add vault files
• Vault remains independent

Verify parent ignores vault:

cd /Users/rockliang/workplace/poimen-memory
git check-ignore vault/notes/INDEX.md
# Output: vault/notes/INDEX.md
# (confirmed: vault/ is ignored by parent)

Verify both remotes are correct

Parent remote:

cd /Users/rockliang/workplace/poimen-memory
git remote -v
# origin	ssh://[email protected]:2222/rock/poimen-memory.git

Vault remote:

cd /Users/rockliang/workplace/poimen-memory/vault
git remote -v
# origin	ssh://[email protected]:2222/rock/poimen-obesdient-memory.git

Tracked files per repo

Parent tracks:

✅ .gitea/workflows/               CI/CD
✅ crates/                          Rust source
✅ Cargo.toml, Cargo.lock          dependencies
✅ DESIGN.md, README.md            documentation
✅ k8s/                             infrastructure
✅ log/poimen/**/*.jsonl           JSONL events (authoritative)
✅ migrations/                      database migrations
✅ queries/                         query YAML
✅ tasks/                           task board
✅ tests/                           integration tests
✅ templates/                       Jinja2 for wrangler

❌ /target/                         build artifacts
❌ vault/                           separate repo

Vault tracks:

✅ README.md                        workflow guide
✅ notes/                           human annotations
✅ poimen/                          generated memories
✅ poimen/evidence/                 generated chunks
✅ skills/                          generated + promoted
✅ .gitignore                       Obsidian metadata

❌ .obsidian/                       local settings

Current status

Aspect	Status	Details
Parent repo remote	✅ configured	poimen-memory
Vault repo remote	✅ configured	poimen-obesdient-memory
Parent ignores vault/	✅ yes	In .gitignore
Vault has own .git	✅ yes	Separate history
Vault synced to remote	✅ yes	2 commits pushed
No historic bloat	✅ yes	Clean slate

Next steps

1. M3 implementation: First ingest → rebuild cycle (generates real memory files)
2. Verify byte-identical: git -C vault diff --exit-code after rebuild
3. Live reading: Clone vault separately, open in Obsidian
4. Human annotations: Add notes in vault/notes/, commit to vault repo