/brain:forget

Deliberately decay, archive, or remove a memory. Use this when information is outdated, incorrect, or no longer relevant.

Usage

/brain:forget [target]

Arguments:

• [target] — A memory ID, file path, or descriptive query to identify the memory to forget. The agent will confirm before taking action.

What It Does

/brain:forget provides three levels of forgetting, from gentle to complete:

1. Decay

Reduce the memory's strength significantly, accelerating its natural decline. The memory remains in its current location but will be a weaker candidate for recall.

decayed_strength = strength * 0.3

This is useful when a memory is not wrong but is losing relevance. It will naturally fade further and eventually be archived during sleep.

2. Archive

Move the memory to _archived/. The memory is removed from the active hierarchy but remains searchable as a fallback during recall. It can be recovered if needed.

The memory's entry is removed from index.json and added to _archived/index.json. Association links pointing to the memory are preserved but deactivated.

3. Remove

Permanently delete the memory file. Its entry is removed from index.json and all association links are cleaned up. This cannot be undone (unless your ~/.brain/ is under Git version control).

Example Interaction

User: /brain:forget the old database schema notes

Agent: Found 1 matching memory:

📝 Initial Database Schema Notes
   Path: professional/companies/acme/projects/alpha/db-schema-v1.md
   Strength: 0.32 | Created: 2026-01-15 | Last accessed: 45 days ago
   Salience: 0.3 | Confidence: 0.5

How would you like to forget this?
  1. Decay — reduce strength to 0.10, let it fade naturally
  2. Archive — move to _archived/ (recoverable, searchable)
  3. Remove — permanently delete

User: 2

Agent: ✅ Archived: db-schema-v1.md → _archived/db-schema-v1.md
Association links deactivated (2 links).
Index updated.

Forgetting High-Salience Memories

Memories with salience >= 0.7 are protected from automatic pruning during sleep. However, /brain:forget can still decay, archive, or remove them — this is the explicit forgetting mechanism.

The agent will warn you when forgetting a high-salience memory:

Agent: ⚠️ This memory has high salience (0.85). It has been protected
from automatic pruning because it was marked as emotionally/motivationally
significant. Are you sure you want to forget it?

Forgetting vs. Sunshine

/brain:forget handles a single memory. If you need to erase all traces of a topic — including references in other memories, association links, and index entries — use /brain:sunshine instead.