npm - @cerefox/memory - Versions diffs - 1.14.1 → 1.14.2 - Mend

@cerefox/memory 1.14.1 → 1.14.2

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Files changed (15) hide show

package/AGENT_GUIDE.md +11 -0
package/AGENT_QUICK_REFERENCE.md +9 -8
package/dist/bin/cerefox.js +423 -280
package/dist/frontend/assets/{index-BC_iqEHZ.js → index-DUY9wimN.js} +29 -29
package/dist/frontend/assets/index-DUY9wimN.js.map +1 -0
package/dist/frontend/index.html +1 -1
package/dist/server-assets/_shared/ef-meta/index.ts +3 -3
package/dist/server-assets/_shared/mcp-tools/_utils.ts +8 -3
package/dist/server-assets/_shared/mcp-tools/get-help-content.ts +2 -2
package/dist/server-assets/_shared/mcp-tools/metadata-search.ts +29 -7
package/dist/server-assets/_shared/mcp-tools/search.ts +79 -17
package/dist/server-assets/supabase/functions/cerefox-search/index.ts +26 -24
package/docs/guides/connect-agents.md +8 -2
package/package.json +1 -1
package/dist/frontend/assets/index-BC_iqEHZ.js.map +0 -1

package/dist/frontend/index.html CHANGED Viewed

@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
       href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Geist:wght@300;400;500;600;700&display=swap"
     />
     <title>Cerefox</title>
-    <script type="module" crossorigin src="/app/assets/index-BC_iqEHZ.js"></script>
+    <script type="module" crossorigin src="/app/assets/index-DUY9wimN.js"></script>
     <link rel="stylesheet" crossorigin href="/app/assets/index-Dm_zCch4.css">
   </head>
   <body>

package/dist/server-assets/_shared/ef-meta/index.ts CHANGED Viewed

@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
  * doesn't touch `supabase/functions/` leaves it alone).
  */
-export const EF_VERSION = "1.14.1";
+export const EF_VERSION = "1.14.2";
 /**
  * The Cerefox RELEASE version — what `cerefox --version` reports and what npm
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ export const EF_VERSION = "1.14.1";
  * is imported by the Deno Edge Functions, which cannot reach into the npm
  * package.
  */
-export const CEREFOX_VERSION = "1.14.1";
+export const CEREFOX_VERSION = "1.14.2";
 /**
  * The most recent version whose EF-side SOURCE actually changed (#127).
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ export const CEREFOX_VERSION = "1.14.1";
  * `cut_release.ts` ONLY when EF source changed since the last tag; doctor
  * uses it to stay silent on label-only drift.
  */
-export const EF_LAST_CHANGED = "1.14.0";
+export const EF_LAST_CHANGED = "1.14.2";
 /**
  * The 8 peer EFs the cerefox-mcp aggregator probes (excludes cerefox-mcp

package/dist/server-assets/_shared/mcp-tools/_utils.ts CHANGED Viewed

@@ -145,22 +145,27 @@ export function getMinTermCoverage(): number | undefined {
 export function applyByteBudget(
   rows: unknown[],
   maxBytes: number,
-): { accepted: unknown[]; truncated: boolean; usedBytes: number } {
+): { accepted: unknown[]; dropped: unknown[]; truncated: boolean; usedBytes: number } {
   const accepted: unknown[] = [];
   let usedBytes = 0;
   let truncated = false;
+  let cut = rows.length;
-  for (const row of rows) {
+  for (const [i, row] of rows.entries()) {
     const rowBytes = new TextEncoder().encode(JSON.stringify(row)).length;
     if (usedBytes + rowBytes > maxBytes) {
       truncated = true;
+      cut = i;
       break;
     }
     accepted.push(row);
     usedBytes += rowBytes;
   }
-  return { accepted, truncated, usedBytes };
+  // What did not fit, so a caller can say so instead of reporting nothing
+  // (#254): a first row larger than the budget empties `accepted` entirely,
+  // and "no results" is the one answer an agent acts on irreversibly.
+  return { accepted, dropped: rows.slice(cut), truncated, usedBytes };
 }
 import type { AccessPath } from "./types.ts";

package/dist/server-assets/_shared/mcp-tools/get-help-content.ts CHANGED Viewed

@@ -11,13 +11,13 @@
  * docs/specs/polish-and-distribution-design.md §10d.
  */
-export const HELP_FULL = "# Cerefox Knowledge Base -- Agent Quick Reference\n\nCerefox is a persistent, shared knowledge base. You have **15 core MCP tools** (14 with CLI equivalents — `cerefox_get_help` is MCP-only), plus 4 dormant relation tools that appear only when `relations_enabled` is on. For the full guide, search Cerefox for \"How AI Agents Use Cerefox\" or call `cerefox_get_help` to retrieve this content over MCP.\n\n## Tools\n\n| Tool | Purpose | Key params |\n|------|---------|------------|\n| `cerefox_search` | Find documents (hybrid FTS + semantic) | `query` (required), `project_name`, `metadata_filter`, `author` |\n| `cerefox_ingest` | Save or update a document | `title`, `content` (required), `document_id` (update by ID), `expected_content_hash` (**required on content updates** — see rule 9), `last_write_wins`, `update_if_exists`, `project_name` (single, non-destructive add on update), `project_names` (list, destructive replace on update), `metadata` (omit on update to keep existing tags; `{}` clears), `author` |\n| `cerefox_insert` | **Add** to a document without resending it. Cannot destroy content. | `document_id`, `text`, `position` (`end_of_document`/`end_of_section`/`after_heading`/`before_heading`), `expected_content_hash` (required), `anchor_heading` (unless `end_of_document`), `section_part`, `author` |\n| `cerefox_edit` | **Change** parts of a document: 1..n operations applied atomically | `document_id`, `operations` (`insert`/`replace_section`/`delete_section`/`rename_section`), `expected_content_hash` (required), `author` |\n| `cerefox_delete_document` | **Soft**-delete a document (to trash; excluded from search; permanent purge is human-only) | `document_id`, `expected_content_hash` (**required** — a delete must follow a read), `reason` (recorded in the audit log — give one), `author` |\n| `cerefox_restore_document` | Restore a soft-deleted document from the trash (audited inverse of delete; no-op if not deleted) | `document_id` (required), `reason` (recorded in the audit log), `author` |\n| `cerefox_get_document` | Get full document by ID (header includes `content_hash` — the update token), or with `outline: true` just its heading paths, sizes and hash, or with `section: \"## Heading\"` one section's text | `document_id` (required), `outline`, `section`, `section_part`, `author` |\n| `cerefox_list_versions` | Version history of a document | `document_id` (required), `author` |\n| `cerefox_set_relation` ⚑ | Link two documents (`source --rel_type--> target`) | `source_id`, `target_id`, `rel_type` (required), `metadata`, `author` |\n| `cerefox_delete_relation` ⚑ | Remove a relation | `source_id`, `target_id`, `rel_type`, `author` |\n| `cerefox_get_relations` ⚑ | All relations touching a document, both directions | `document_id` |\n| `cerefox_get_neighbors` ⚑ | Walk the graph along ONE relation type | `document_id`, `rel_type` (required), `depth`, `from_time`, `to_time`, `limit` |\n| `cerefox_metadata_search` | Find or list docs by metadata, project, or time (no text query) | `metadata_filter`, `project_name` (list a project's docs), `updated_since`, `include_content` — **at least one** of metadata_filter/project_name/updated_since/created_since |\n| `cerefox_list_metadata_keys` | Discover available metadata keys | (none required) |\n| `cerefox_list_projects` | List all projects | (none required) |\n| `cerefox_set_document_metadata` | Change tags WITHOUT resending content. **Merges** by default; a `null` value removes a key | `document_id`, `metadata` (required), `replace` (rare: set exactly this object), `author` |\n| `cerefox_set_document_projects` | Set doc's project memberships to exactly the given list (destructive replace; metadata-only, no content change) | `document_id`, `project_names` (required), `author` |\n| `cerefox_get_audit_log` | Query write operation history | `document_id`, `by_author` (filter), `operation`, `since`, `author` |\n| `cerefox_get_help` | Retrieve Cerefox conventions (this reference) over MCP. **Call this whenever uncertain.** | `topic` (optional, case-insensitive H2 substring match) |\n\n⚑ **Opt-in — usually absent.** The four relation tools are hidden unless the\noperator enables them (`relations_enabled`). **Trust your own tool list**: if\nthey are not in it, the feature is switched off for this deployment. That is\nnormal, not an error, and not something to work around.\n\n## Editing part of a document (prefer this over re-sending)\n\n**Re-sending a whole document to change part of it is the main way agents lose\ndata.** You have to reproduce the untouched remainder verbatim, and any drift\nsilently rewrites content nobody asked you to touch — which the caller cannot\ndiff. Use the partial-edit tools instead:\n\n1. **Learn the anchors** — `cerefox_get_document(document_id, outline: true)`.\n   Returns heading paths, per-section sizes and the `content_hash`, without the\n   body. The paths it returns are exactly what `anchor_heading` accepts.\n2. **Add** → `cerefox_insert`. `end_of_document` is a plain append;\n   `end_of_section` adds inside a named section. It is structurally incapable of\n   removing anything, so \"I meant to append\" cannot become \"I replaced the file\".\n3. **Look before you overwrite** — `cerefox_get_document(document_id,\n   section: \"## Heading\")` returns exactly the text a `replace_section` on that\n   anchor would destroy. The outline gives you a section's *size*, never its\n   *text*, so on a document you did not write yourself this is the difference\n   between a replace and a blind overwrite.\n4. **Change or remove** → `cerefox_edit`. Put changes that belong together in\n   ONE call: they apply atomically, so a table row and the total it feeds cannot\n   end up disagreeing. To change a single line, `replace_section` on its\n   smallest enclosing heading — that is the intended granularity, not a\n   workaround. To fix a stale heading (`## OPEN TODOs (as of ...)`), use\n   `rename_section`: it changes the heading text and leaves the body and\n   position alone.\n5. All of them require `expected_content_hash` and **have no last-write-wins**. A\n   conflict means someone else changed the document; re-read and decide, do not\n   force it.\n\n**A section runs to the next same-or-higher heading, or to the end of the\ndocument.** So `end_of_document` inserts land inside the *last* section, and\nreplacing or deleting that section removes them too. A large shrink in the\nresponse is your warning; `cerefox_list_versions` has the previous content.\n\n**When an anchor is ambiguous the tool refuses and hands you the options** — a\nrepeated heading returns the qualifying paths, and a section with both its own\ncontent and sub-sections returns both `section_part` choices. That is a\nrecoverable answer, not a failure: retry with what it gave you.\n\n## Essential Rules\n\n1. **Search before ingesting** -- check if the document exists first.\n2. **Prefer ID-based updates** -- pass `document_id` from search results for deterministic updates. Falls back to title-matching with `update_if_exists: true`.\n3. **Set `author`** to your name on every call, reads and writes alike (e.g., \"Claude Code\", \"archiver\"). Same parameter on every tool. (`requestor` is still accepted everywhere as the pre-1.13.1 alias.) On the CLI it is `--author` on every command too (plus `--author-type` on writes); or rely on `CEREFOX_AUTHOR_NAME`/`CEREFOX_AUTHOR_TYPE` env vars set in the user's `.env`.\n4. **Use `document_id` from search results** `[id: uuid]` for get_document and list_versions.\n5. **Add metadata** -- at minimum `type` (\"decision-log\", \"research\", \"design-doc\") and `status` (\"active\", \"draft\").\n6. **Write structured Markdown** with H1/H2/H3 headings for good chunking and search.\n7. **Deletes are soft (recoverable); permanent purge is web-UI-only.** `cerefox_delete_document` requires the document's `content_hash` as you read it (read before you delete) and takes a `reason` — give one; it is what the human reviewing the trash sees. `cerefox_restore_document` undoes a mistaken delete (also audited, also takes a `reason`). Always surface deletes AND restores to the user. Once a human purges from the web UI, the document is gone for good.\n8. **Cross-doc links inside content**: **always use `[Text](document-uuid)`.** UUIDs are the only fully reliable link form — stable across title changes, never ambiguous, no encoding gotchas. Every `cerefox_search` result shows `[id: <uuid>]` after the title; grab it and use it. Title-based linking (`[Text](<Title With Spaces>)`) is fragile (breaks on colons, parens, ampersands, brackets — silently navigates to wrong page) — **don't write title-based links**; do an extra search to get the UUID instead. Repo-path forms (`[Text](docs/path.md)`) exist for repo-ingested files; don't construct manually. **The server validates `](uuid)` links on every write** (v1.7.0): a link to a nonexistent id rejects the write, naming the offender — that means you mangled the UUID; re-read the source and correct it, do not retry unchanged. Example ids go in backticks (code is not validated). `[[Wikilinks]]` may dangle. See `AGENT_GUIDE.md → Writing linkable content` for the full rule.\n9. **Concurrency: content updates require `expected_content_hash`.** Pass the `content_hash` you last saw — every read shows one (`cerefox_get_document` incl. outline mode, `cerefox_search`, `cerefox_metadata_search`) and **every write returns the new one, including create** (v1.3.0, #189), so after writing you already hold the token for your next edit; no re-read needed. If it's stale you get a **conflict** — re-read the document, merge your changes into the latest content, retry with the new hash. **Never resolve a conflict by overwriting blindly** — the current content includes another writer's work. `last_write_wins: true` skips the check; use it ONLY when an external source of truth makes conflicts meaningless (file re-sync), never to silence a conflict.\n10. **Search: prefer a few distinctive terms; heed `below confidence`.** When nothing clears the relevance threshold, `cerefox_search` returns the closest candidates prefixed with a `below confidence` warning instead of an empty set — that flag means **weak signal, not absent knowledge**: check the candidates' scores and titles before concluding the KB lacks the content. A truly empty response means nothing even weakly related exists.\n11. **Relations express how documents relate; lifecycle tells you if knowledge is still good.** Use `cerefox_set_relation` when one document supersedes, contradicts, references, or continues another. `supersedes` marks the target **superseded**; `contradicts` marks **both** stale; `related_to`/`duplicates`/`contradicts` are symmetric (both directions written). Any other type string is accepted without special behaviour. When a search result or `cerefox_get_relations` shows a neighbour marked `[superseded]` or `[stale]`, say so rather than presenting it as current.\n12. **Project memberships — non-destructive by default**: on `cerefox_ingest` updates, **`project_name` (singular) is a non-destructive add** (ensures membership, preserves others). Use **`project_names` (list)** when you want to set the doc's full project set in one call (destructive replace). For metadata-only project changes without writing content, use **`cerefox_set_document_projects(document_id, project_names)`** — that tool is the destructive-replace contract made explicit. Never call `cerefox_set_document_projects` with a single name when you mean \"add\" — that would REMOVE the doc from all other projects. When in doubt, use `cerefox_ingest` with singular `project_name`.\n\n## Update Workflow (ID-based -- preferred)\n\n```\nsearch(\"topic\") -> find doc [id: abc123] -> get_document(abc123) -> note its content_hash -> modify ->\ningest(title=\"Same Title\", content=\"...\", document_id=\"abc123\",\n       expected_content_hash=\"<the hash you read>\", author=\"my-agent\")\n```\n\nOn a **conflict** error: get_document again (fresh content + fresh hash) -> merge your changes -> retry with the new hash.\n\n## Update Workflow (title-based -- fallback)\n\n```\nsearch(\"topic\") -> find doc (note its hash) -> modify ->\ningest(title=\"Same Title\", content=\"...\", update_if_exists=true,\n       expected_content_hash=\"<the hash you read>\", author=\"my-agent\")\n```\n\n## Catch-Up Workflow\n\n```\nmetadata_search(metadata_filter={\"type\": \"decision-log\"}, updated_since=\"2026-03-28T00:00:00Z\")\n```\n\n## CLI fallback (when MCP is unavailable)\n\nIf `cerefox_search` is not in your tool list, your user has likely installed the Cerefox CLI. The canonical invocation is plain **`cerefox <subcommand>`** (the TypeScript CLI, installed via `npm install -g @cerefox/memory`). It uses a resource-verb shape (`cerefox document get`, `cerefox project list`, …).\n\nSame operations, same conventions. Full reference: [`docs/guides/cli.md`](docs/guides/cli.md). CLI flag names match MCP parameter names exactly (e.g. `metadata_filter` ↔ `--metadata-filter`); common flags also have single-letter short forms (`-f`, `-p`, `-c`, `-m`, `-u`, `-a`). Use the canonical long name (what `--help` shows) or its short form — there are no long-form aliases like `--filter` or `--count`.\n\n| MCP tool | CLI |\n|---|---|\n| `cerefox_search` | `cerefox search \"<q>\" --author \"<your-name>\"` |\n| `cerefox_ingest` (paste) | `printf '...' \\| cerefox document ingest --paste --title \"<t>\" --author \"<your-name>\" --author-type agent` |\n| `cerefox_ingest` (update by ID) | `printf '...' \\| cerefox document ingest --paste --title \"<t>\" --document-id \"<uuid>\" --expected-content-hash \"<hash>\" --author \"<your-name>\" --author-type agent` |\n| `cerefox_get_document` | `cerefox document get <id> --version-id <vid> --author \"<your-name>\"` |\n| `cerefox_list_versions` | `cerefox document version list <id> --author \"<your-name>\"` |\n| `cerefox_list_projects` | `cerefox project list --author \"<your-name>\"` |\n| `cerefox_list_metadata_keys` | `cerefox metadata keys` |\n| `cerefox_insert` | `cerefox document insert <id> -t \"<text>\" -p <position> -a \"<anchor-heading>\" -e \"<hash>\" --author \"<your-name>\" --author-type agent` |\n| `cerefox_edit` | `cerefox document edit-parts <id> --operations '<json>' -e \"<hash>\" --author \"<your-name>\" --author-type agent` |\n| `cerefox_delete_document` | `cerefox document delete <id> --reason \"<why>\" --author \"<your-name>\" --author-type agent --yes` (confirms interactively instead of requiring the hash) |\n| `cerefox_restore_document` | `cerefox document restore <id> --reason \"<why>\" --author \"<your-name>\" --author-type agent` |\n| `cerefox_metadata_search` | `cerefox metadata search --metadata-filter '<json>' --author \"<your-name>\"` (list a project: `cerefox document list --project <name>`) |\n| `cerefox_set_document_metadata` | `cerefox document set-metadata <id> --set key=value` (also `--remove key`, `--json '{...}'`, `--replace`) |\n| `cerefox_set_document_projects` | `cerefox document set-projects <id> <name...> --author \"<your-name>\" --author-type agent` (or `--clear` to remove all) |\n| `cerefox_get_audit_log` | `cerefox audit list --author \"<your-name>\"` (add `--json` for scripted access) |\n| `cerefox_get_help` | `cerefox guides show agent-quick-reference` (or `cerefox guides list` for the full bundled-docs index) |\n\n**Set identity on every call**, exactly as you would on MCP:\n- Writes (`document ingest`, `document ingest-dir`): `--author \"<your-name>\" --author-type agent`\n- Reads: `--author \"<your-name>\"` (the same flag; `--requestor` still works as a hidden alias)\n\nOr have your user set `CEREFOX_AUTHOR_NAME` / `CEREFOX_AUTHOR_TYPE` / `CEREFOX_REQUESTOR_NAME` in their `.env` to apply defaults once.\n\n## Timestamps are UTC\n\nEvery timestamp Cerefox returns — `created_at` on audit entries, version\nhistory, document metadata — is **UTC**, and now carries its `Z` marker so it\ncannot be mistaken for local time.\n\n**When you write a date into a document's CONTENT, use your own clock, not a\nCerefox timestamp.** These are different things: a timestamp records when the\nserver stored something; a date in a log entry or a heading is authored content\nand belongs to your timezone. An agent working a Pacific afternoon read\n`2026-08-11` from version history, wrote \"8/11\" into its entries, and put a\nday's work in the future — the timestamp was correct, and copying it into\ncontent was not.\n\nCerefox deliberately does not convert to local time on the API or MCP paths.\n\"Local\" has no server-side meaning: the remote MCP server runs in a cloud\nfunction whose local time *is* UTC, while a local MCP server runs in yours, so\nthe same document would report two different times depending on transport. The\nweb UI converts because a browser knows the viewer's timezone; nothing\nserver-side does.\n\n## Mistakes that have actually happened\n\nEach of these comes from a real agent session, and each is easy to make.\n\n- **`cerefox_ingest` always replaces the ENTIRE document.** Never a section.\n  Before sending, check that the tool name matches the intent: if the intent is\n  \"change one section\", the call is `cerefox_edit` with `replace_section`. A\n  section-sized edit sent as a full ingest truncated a 13,000-character index to\n  a single word. It was recovered from version history within the minute, but\n  only because it was noticed immediately.\n\n- **Do not include the anchor's own heading in your text.** `replace_section`\n  keeps the heading and `insert` places your text inside the section, so\n  including it produces two. This is now refused rather than silently applied,\n  but the shape is worth knowing: it happened twice in one session, the second\n  time while trying to repair the first. A *deeper* sub-heading inside your text\n  is fine.\n\n- **Content between sections belongs to the section ABOVE it.** A section runs\n  to the next heading of the same or higher level, so a `---` rule, a note, or\n  any trailing text sitting just above the next heading is part of the section\n  before it — even when it visually reads as belonging below. Replacing that\n  section takes it too. An agent hit exactly this: a `---` that separated two\n  major sections disappeared when the section above it was replaced. The write\n  was correct by the addressing rules; the surprise is that \"the end of this\n  section\" is further down the page than it looks. Note the loss warning will\n  not catch it if your replacement text is longer than what it replaced, since\n  there is then no net loss to report.\n\n- **To change only tags, use `cerefox_set_document_metadata`, never `cerefox_ingest`.**\n  Ingest replaces the whole document, so re-sending it to set one tag carries the\n  full transcription risk for no reason. The metadata tool merges: the keys you\n  pass are set, everything else is left alone, so you do not need to read the\n  document first and cannot drop a tag another agent set. Pass `null` as a value\n  to remove a key.\n\n- **Never partial-edit to fix a partial edit.** If a write leaves unexpected\n  structure, stop. Use `cerefox_list_versions`, retrieve the last good version,\n  and re-ingest cleanly. Repairing edits with more edits compounds the damage.\n\n- **A rejected batch is safe.** Operations in one `cerefox_edit` are\n  all-or-nothing: if any is invalid, nothing is written. A refusal costs you a\n  retry, not data — so prefer one call for changes that belong together, and do\n  not split a batch to \"make it more likely to succeed\".\n\n- **Read before replacing.** `cerefox_get_document(section: \"## Heading\")`\n  returns exactly what a `replace_section` on that anchor would overwrite. Use it\n  for any section you did not write in this session. The outline gives a\n  section's *size*, never its *text*.\n\n- **Verify after writing** — read the result back before reporting success, and\n  report what the read actually shows.\n\n- **Partial edits cannot change a document's stored TITLE.** `rename_section`\n  changes a heading inside the content; the title is a separate field and still\n  needs `cerefox_ingest`.\n\n- **If a capability seems missing from one server, suspect your client first.**\n  Local and remote run the same code. **Every `cerefox_get_help()` response\n  begins with the server's version and the operations it registers** — you do\n  not need a special topic, and the *absence* of that block is itself an answer:\n  a server that does not print it predates v1.5.0. If that\n  disagrees with your tool list, the client is holding a list it fetched before\n  an upgrade — clients cache it at connect time. Ask the user to restart the\n  client. Do not record a capability difference between servers as a fact; every\n  such report so far has been a stale client.\n- Long inline bodies can arrive with literal `\\n`/`\\\"` (the author over-escaped; Cerefox stores bytes faithfully). For long or quote-dense content, ingest from a file or build incrementally with `cerefox_insert`; read back multi-line writes.\n";
+export const HELP_FULL = "# Cerefox Knowledge Base -- Agent Quick Reference\n\nCerefox is a persistent, shared knowledge base. You have **15 core MCP tools** (14 with CLI equivalents — `cerefox_get_help` is MCP-only), plus 4 dormant relation tools that appear only when `relations_enabled` is on. For the full guide, search Cerefox for \"How AI Agents Use Cerefox\" or call `cerefox_get_help` to retrieve this content over MCP.\n\n## Tools\n\n| Tool | Purpose | Key params |\n|------|---------|------------|\n| `cerefox_search` | Find documents (hybrid FTS + semantic) | `query` (required), `project_name`, `metadata_filter`, `author` |\n| `cerefox_ingest` | Save or update a document | `title`, `content` (required), `document_id` (update by ID), `expected_content_hash` (**required on content updates** — see rule 9), `last_write_wins`, `update_if_exists`, `project_name` (single, non-destructive add on update), `project_names` (list, destructive replace on update), `metadata` (omit on update to keep existing tags; `{}` clears), `author` |\n| `cerefox_insert` | **Add** to a document without resending it. Cannot destroy content. | `document_id`, `text`, `position` (`end_of_document`/`end_of_section`/`after_heading`/`before_heading`), `expected_content_hash` (required), `anchor_heading` (unless `end_of_document`), `section_part`, `author` |\n| `cerefox_edit` | **Change** parts of a document: 1..n operations applied atomically | `document_id`, `operations` (`insert`/`replace_section`/`delete_section`/`rename_section`), `expected_content_hash` (required), `author` |\n| `cerefox_delete_document` | **Soft**-delete a document (to trash; excluded from search; permanent purge is human-only) | `document_id`, `expected_content_hash` (**required** — a delete must follow a read), `reason` (recorded in the audit log — give one), `author` |\n| `cerefox_restore_document` | Restore a soft-deleted document from the trash (audited inverse of delete; no-op if not deleted) | `document_id` (required), `reason` (recorded in the audit log), `author` |\n| `cerefox_get_document` | Get full document by ID (header includes `content_hash` — the update token), or with `outline: true` just its heading paths, sizes and hash, or with `section: \"## Heading\"` one section's text | `document_id` (required), `outline`, `section`, `section_part`, `author` |\n| `cerefox_list_versions` | Version history of a document | `document_id` (required), `author` |\n| `cerefox_set_relation` ⚑ | Link two documents (`source --rel_type--> target`) | `source_id`, `target_id`, `rel_type` (required), `metadata`, `author` |\n| `cerefox_delete_relation` ⚑ | Remove a relation | `source_id`, `target_id`, `rel_type`, `author` |\n| `cerefox_get_relations` ⚑ | All relations touching a document, both directions | `document_id` |\n| `cerefox_get_neighbors` ⚑ | Walk the graph along ONE relation type | `document_id`, `rel_type` (required), `depth`, `from_time`, `to_time`, `limit` |\n| `cerefox_metadata_search` | Find or list docs by metadata, project, or time (no text query) | `metadata_filter`, `project_name` (list a project's docs), `updated_since`, `include_content` — **at least one** of metadata_filter/project_name/updated_since/created_since |\n| `cerefox_list_metadata_keys` | Discover available metadata keys | (none required) |\n| `cerefox_list_projects` | List all projects | (none required) |\n| `cerefox_set_document_metadata` | Change tags WITHOUT resending content. **Merges** by default; a `null` value removes a key | `document_id`, `metadata` (required), `replace` (rare: set exactly this object), `author` |\n| `cerefox_set_document_projects` | Set doc's project memberships to exactly the given list (destructive replace; metadata-only, no content change) | `document_id`, `project_names` (required), `author` |\n| `cerefox_get_audit_log` | Query write operation history | `document_id`, `by_author` (filter), `operation`, `since`, `author` |\n| `cerefox_get_help` | Retrieve Cerefox conventions (this reference) over MCP. **Call this whenever uncertain.** | `topic` (optional, case-insensitive H2 substring match) |\n\n⚑ **Opt-in — usually absent.** The four relation tools are hidden unless the\noperator enables them (`relations_enabled`). **Trust your own tool list**: if\nthey are not in it, the feature is switched off for this deployment. That is\nnormal, not an error, and not something to work around.\n\n## Editing part of a document (prefer this over re-sending)\n\n**Re-sending a whole document to change part of it is the main way agents lose\ndata.** You have to reproduce the untouched remainder verbatim, and any drift\nsilently rewrites content nobody asked you to touch — which the caller cannot\ndiff. Use the partial-edit tools instead:\n\n1. **Learn the anchors** — `cerefox_get_document(document_id, outline: true)`.\n   Returns heading paths, per-section sizes and the `content_hash`, without the\n   body. The paths it returns are exactly what `anchor_heading` accepts.\n2. **Add** → `cerefox_insert`. `end_of_document` is a plain append;\n   `end_of_section` adds inside a named section. It is structurally incapable of\n   removing anything, so \"I meant to append\" cannot become \"I replaced the file\".\n3. **Look before you overwrite** — `cerefox_get_document(document_id,\n   section: \"## Heading\")` returns exactly the text a `replace_section` on that\n   anchor would destroy. The outline gives you a section's *size*, never its\n   *text*, so on a document you did not write yourself this is the difference\n   between a replace and a blind overwrite.\n4. **Change or remove** → `cerefox_edit`. Put changes that belong together in\n   ONE call: they apply atomically, so a table row and the total it feeds cannot\n   end up disagreeing. To change a single line, `replace_section` on its\n   smallest enclosing heading — that is the intended granularity, not a\n   workaround. To fix a stale heading (`## OPEN TODOs (as of ...)`), use\n   `rename_section`: it changes the heading text and leaves the body and\n   position alone.\n5. All of them require `expected_content_hash` and **have no last-write-wins**. A\n   conflict means someone else changed the document; re-read and decide, do not\n   force it.\n\n**A section runs to the next same-or-higher heading, or to the end of the\ndocument.** So `end_of_document` inserts land inside the *last* section, and\nreplacing or deleting that section removes them too. A large shrink in the\nresponse is your warning; `cerefox_list_versions` has the previous content.\n\n**When an anchor is ambiguous the tool refuses and hands you the options** — a\nrepeated heading returns the qualifying paths, and a section with both its own\ncontent and sub-sections returns both `section_part` choices. That is a\nrecoverable answer, not a failure: retry with what it gave you.\n\n## Essential Rules\n\n1. **Search before ingesting** -- check if the document exists first.\n2. **Prefer ID-based updates** -- pass `document_id` from search results for deterministic updates. Falls back to title-matching with `update_if_exists: true`.\n3. **Set `author`** to your name on every call, reads and writes alike (e.g., \"Claude Code\", \"archiver\"). Same parameter on every tool. (`requestor` is still accepted everywhere as the pre-1.13.1 alias.) On the CLI it is `--author` on every command too (plus `--author-type` on writes); or rely on `CEREFOX_AUTHOR_NAME`/`CEREFOX_AUTHOR_TYPE` env vars set in the user's `.env`.\n4. **Use `document_id` from search results** `[id: uuid]` for get_document and list_versions.\n5. **`max_bytes` has to fit a whole document.** Search returns COMPLETE documents, so a budget smaller than the top hit fits nothing. You get a header-only list saying so (never \"No results found.\" — that means the store really has nothing). Raise `max_bytes`, or read one document with `cerefox_get_document` using `outline: true` or `section`.\n6. **Add metadata** -- at minimum `type` (\"decision-log\", \"research\", \"design-doc\") and `status` (\"active\", \"draft\").\n7. **Write structured Markdown** with H1/H2/H3 headings for good chunking and search.\n8. **Deletes are soft (recoverable); permanent purge is web-UI-only.** `cerefox_delete_document` requires the document's `content_hash` as you read it (read before you delete) and takes a `reason` — give one; it is what the human reviewing the trash sees. `cerefox_restore_document` undoes a mistaken delete (also audited, also takes a `reason`). Always surface deletes AND restores to the user. Once a human purges from the web UI, the document is gone for good.\n9. **Cross-doc links inside content**: **always use `[Text](document-uuid)`.** UUIDs are the only fully reliable link form — stable across title changes, never ambiguous, no encoding gotchas. Every `cerefox_search` result shows `[id: <uuid>]` after the title; grab it and use it. Title-based linking (`[Text](<Title With Spaces>)`) is fragile (breaks on colons, parens, ampersands, brackets — silently navigates to wrong page) — **don't write title-based links**; do an extra search to get the UUID instead. Repo-path forms (`[Text](docs/path.md)`) exist for repo-ingested files; don't construct manually. **The server validates `](uuid)` links on every write** (v1.7.0): a link to a nonexistent id rejects the write, naming the offender — that means you mangled the UUID; re-read the source and correct it, do not retry unchanged. Example ids go in backticks (code is not validated). `[[Wikilinks]]` may dangle. See `AGENT_GUIDE.md → Writing linkable content` for the full rule.\n10. **Concurrency: content updates require `expected_content_hash`.** Pass the `content_hash` you last saw — every read shows one (`cerefox_get_document` incl. outline mode, `cerefox_search`, `cerefox_metadata_search`) and **every write returns the new one, including create** (v1.3.0, #189), so after writing you already hold the token for your next edit; no re-read needed. If it's stale you get a **conflict** — re-read the document, merge your changes into the latest content, retry with the new hash. **Never resolve a conflict by overwriting blindly** — the current content includes another writer's work. `last_write_wins: true` skips the check; use it ONLY when an external source of truth makes conflicts meaningless (file re-sync), never to silence a conflict.\n11. **Search: prefer a few distinctive terms; heed `below confidence`.** When nothing clears the relevance threshold, `cerefox_search` returns the closest candidates prefixed with a `below confidence` warning instead of an empty set — that flag means **weak signal, not absent knowledge**: check the candidates' scores and titles before concluding the KB lacks the content. A truly empty response means nothing even weakly related exists.\n12. **Relations express how documents relate; lifecycle tells you if knowledge is still good.** Use `cerefox_set_relation` when one document supersedes, contradicts, references, or continues another. `supersedes` marks the target **superseded**; `contradicts` marks **both** stale; `related_to`/`duplicates`/`contradicts` are symmetric (both directions written). Any other type string is accepted without special behaviour. When a search result or `cerefox_get_relations` shows a neighbour marked `[superseded]` or `[stale]`, say so rather than presenting it as current.\n13. **Project memberships — non-destructive by default**: on `cerefox_ingest` updates, **`project_name` (singular) is a non-destructive add** (ensures membership, preserves others). Use **`project_names` (list)** when you want to set the doc's full project set in one call (destructive replace). For metadata-only project changes without writing content, use **`cerefox_set_document_projects(document_id, project_names)`** — that tool is the destructive-replace contract made explicit. Never call `cerefox_set_document_projects` with a single name when you mean \"add\" — that would REMOVE the doc from all other projects. When in doubt, use `cerefox_ingest` with singular `project_name`.\n\n## Update Workflow (ID-based -- preferred)\n\n```\nsearch(\"topic\") -> find doc [id: abc123] -> get_document(abc123) -> note its content_hash -> modify ->\ningest(title=\"Same Title\", content=\"...\", document_id=\"abc123\",\n       expected_content_hash=\"<the hash you read>\", author=\"my-agent\")\n```\n\nOn a **conflict** error: get_document again (fresh content + fresh hash) -> merge your changes -> retry with the new hash.\n\n## Update Workflow (title-based -- fallback)\n\n```\nsearch(\"topic\") -> find doc (note its hash) -> modify ->\ningest(title=\"Same Title\", content=\"...\", update_if_exists=true,\n       expected_content_hash=\"<the hash you read>\", author=\"my-agent\")\n```\n\n## Catch-Up Workflow\n\n```\nmetadata_search(metadata_filter={\"type\": \"decision-log\"}, updated_since=\"2026-03-28T00:00:00Z\")\n```\n\n## CLI fallback (when MCP is unavailable)\n\nIf `cerefox_search` is not in your tool list, your user has likely installed the Cerefox CLI. The canonical invocation is plain **`cerefox <subcommand>`** (the TypeScript CLI, installed via `npm install -g @cerefox/memory`). It uses a resource-verb shape (`cerefox document get`, `cerefox project list`, …).\n\nSame operations, same conventions. Full reference: [`docs/guides/cli.md`](docs/guides/cli.md). CLI flag names match MCP parameter names exactly (e.g. `metadata_filter` ↔ `--metadata-filter`); common flags also have single-letter short forms (`-f`, `-p`, `-c`, `-m`, `-u`, `-a`). Use the canonical long name (what `--help` shows) or its short form — there are no long-form aliases like `--filter` or `--count`.\n\n| MCP tool | CLI |\n|---|---|\n| `cerefox_search` | `cerefox search \"<q>\" --author \"<your-name>\"` |\n| `cerefox_ingest` (paste) | `printf '...' \\| cerefox document ingest --paste --title \"<t>\" --author \"<your-name>\" --author-type agent` |\n| `cerefox_ingest` (update by ID) | `printf '...' \\| cerefox document ingest --paste --title \"<t>\" --document-id \"<uuid>\" --expected-content-hash \"<hash>\" --author \"<your-name>\" --author-type agent` |\n| `cerefox_get_document` | `cerefox document get <id> --version-id <vid> --author \"<your-name>\"` |\n| `cerefox_list_versions` | `cerefox document version list <id> --author \"<your-name>\"` |\n| `cerefox_list_projects` | `cerefox project list --author \"<your-name>\"` |\n| `cerefox_list_metadata_keys` | `cerefox metadata keys` |\n| `cerefox_insert` | `cerefox document insert <id> -t \"<text>\" -p <position> -a \"<anchor-heading>\" -e \"<hash>\" --author \"<your-name>\" --author-type agent` |\n| `cerefox_edit` | `cerefox document edit-parts <id> --operations '<json>' -e \"<hash>\" --author \"<your-name>\" --author-type agent` |\n| `cerefox_delete_document` | `cerefox document delete <id> --reason \"<why>\" --author \"<your-name>\" --author-type agent --yes` (confirms interactively instead of requiring the hash) |\n| `cerefox_restore_document` | `cerefox document restore <id> --reason \"<why>\" --author \"<your-name>\" --author-type agent` |\n| `cerefox_metadata_search` | `cerefox metadata search --metadata-filter '<json>' --author \"<your-name>\"` (list a project: `cerefox document list --project <name>`) |\n| `cerefox_set_document_metadata` | `cerefox document set-metadata <id> --set key=value` (also `--remove key`, `--json '{...}'`, `--replace`) |\n| `cerefox_set_document_projects` | `cerefox document set-projects <id> <name...> --author \"<your-name>\" --author-type agent` (or `--clear` to remove all) |\n| `cerefox_get_audit_log` | `cerefox audit list --author \"<your-name>\"` (add `--json` for scripted access) |\n| `cerefox_get_help` | `cerefox guides show agent-quick-reference` (or `cerefox guides list` for the full bundled-docs index) |\n\n**Set identity on every call**, exactly as you would on MCP:\n- Writes (`document ingest`, `document ingest-dir`): `--author \"<your-name>\" --author-type agent`\n- Reads: `--author \"<your-name>\"` (the same flag; `--requestor` still works as a hidden alias)\n\nOr have your user set `CEREFOX_AUTHOR_NAME` / `CEREFOX_AUTHOR_TYPE` / `CEREFOX_REQUESTOR_NAME` in their `.env` to apply defaults once.\n\n## Timestamps are UTC\n\nEvery timestamp Cerefox returns — `created_at` on audit entries, version\nhistory, document metadata — is **UTC**, and now carries its `Z` marker so it\ncannot be mistaken for local time.\n\n**When you write a date into a document's CONTENT, use your own clock, not a\nCerefox timestamp.** These are different things: a timestamp records when the\nserver stored something; a date in a log entry or a heading is authored content\nand belongs to your timezone. An agent working a Pacific afternoon read\n`2026-08-11` from version history, wrote \"8/11\" into its entries, and put a\nday's work in the future — the timestamp was correct, and copying it into\ncontent was not.\n\nCerefox deliberately does not convert to local time on the API or MCP paths.\n\"Local\" has no server-side meaning: the remote MCP server runs in a cloud\nfunction whose local time *is* UTC, while a local MCP server runs in yours, so\nthe same document would report two different times depending on transport. The\nweb UI converts because a browser knows the viewer's timezone; nothing\nserver-side does.\n\n## Mistakes that have actually happened\n\nEach of these comes from a real agent session, and each is easy to make.\n\n- **`cerefox_ingest` always replaces the ENTIRE document.** Never a section.\n  Before sending, check that the tool name matches the intent: if the intent is\n  \"change one section\", the call is `cerefox_edit` with `replace_section`. A\n  section-sized edit sent as a full ingest truncated a 13,000-character index to\n  a single word. It was recovered from version history within the minute, but\n  only because it was noticed immediately.\n\n- **Do not include the anchor's own heading in your text.** `replace_section`\n  keeps the heading and `insert` places your text inside the section, so\n  including it produces two. This is now refused rather than silently applied,\n  but the shape is worth knowing: it happened twice in one session, the second\n  time while trying to repair the first. A *deeper* sub-heading inside your text\n  is fine.\n\n- **Content between sections belongs to the section ABOVE it.** A section runs\n  to the next heading of the same or higher level, so a `---` rule, a note, or\n  any trailing text sitting just above the next heading is part of the section\n  before it — even when it visually reads as belonging below. Replacing that\n  section takes it too. An agent hit exactly this: a `---` that separated two\n  major sections disappeared when the section above it was replaced. The write\n  was correct by the addressing rules; the surprise is that \"the end of this\n  section\" is further down the page than it looks. Note the loss warning will\n  not catch it if your replacement text is longer than what it replaced, since\n  there is then no net loss to report.\n\n- **To change only tags, use `cerefox_set_document_metadata`, never `cerefox_ingest`.**\n  Ingest replaces the whole document, so re-sending it to set one tag carries the\n  full transcription risk for no reason. The metadata tool merges: the keys you\n  pass are set, everything else is left alone, so you do not need to read the\n  document first and cannot drop a tag another agent set. Pass `null` as a value\n  to remove a key.\n\n- **Never partial-edit to fix a partial edit.** If a write leaves unexpected\n  structure, stop. Use `cerefox_list_versions`, retrieve the last good version,\n  and re-ingest cleanly. Repairing edits with more edits compounds the damage.\n\n- **A rejected batch is safe.** Operations in one `cerefox_edit` are\n  all-or-nothing: if any is invalid, nothing is written. A refusal costs you a\n  retry, not data — so prefer one call for changes that belong together, and do\n  not split a batch to \"make it more likely to succeed\".\n\n- **Read before replacing.** `cerefox_get_document(section: \"## Heading\")`\n  returns exactly what a `replace_section` on that anchor would overwrite. Use it\n  for any section you did not write in this session. The outline gives a\n  section's *size*, never its *text*.\n\n- **Verify after writing** — read the result back before reporting success, and\n  report what the read actually shows.\n\n- **Partial edits cannot change a document's stored TITLE.** `rename_section`\n  changes a heading inside the content; the title is a separate field and still\n  needs `cerefox_ingest`.\n\n- **If a capability seems missing from one server, suspect your client first.**\n  Local and remote run the same code. **Every `cerefox_get_help()` response\n  begins with the server's version and the operations it registers** — you do\n  not need a special topic, and the *absence* of that block is itself an answer:\n  a server that does not print it predates v1.5.0. If that\n  disagrees with your tool list, the client is holding a list it fetched before\n  an upgrade — clients cache it at connect time. Ask the user to restart the\n  client. Do not record a capability difference between servers as a fact; every\n  such report so far has been a stale client.\n- Long inline bodies can arrive with literal `\\n`/`\\\"` (the author over-escaped; Cerefox stores bytes faithfully). For long or quote-dense content, ingest from a file or build incrementally with `cerefox_insert`; read back multi-line writes.\n";
 /** Sections keyed by their H2 heading text (lower-cased for matching). */
 export const HELP_SECTIONS: Record<string, string> = {
   "Tools": "## Tools\n\n| Tool | Purpose | Key params |\n|------|---------|------------|\n| `cerefox_search` | Find documents (hybrid FTS + semantic) | `query` (required), `project_name`, `metadata_filter`, `author` |\n| `cerefox_ingest` | Save or update a document | `title`, `content` (required), `document_id` (update by ID), `expected_content_hash` (**required on content updates** — see rule 9), `last_write_wins`, `update_if_exists`, `project_name` (single, non-destructive add on update), `project_names` (list, destructive replace on update), `metadata` (omit on update to keep existing tags; `{}` clears), `author` |\n| `cerefox_insert` | **Add** to a document without resending it. Cannot destroy content. | `document_id`, `text`, `position` (`end_of_document`/`end_of_section`/`after_heading`/`before_heading`), `expected_content_hash` (required), `anchor_heading` (unless `end_of_document`), `section_part`, `author` |\n| `cerefox_edit` | **Change** parts of a document: 1..n operations applied atomically | `document_id`, `operations` (`insert`/`replace_section`/`delete_section`/`rename_section`), `expected_content_hash` (required), `author` |\n| `cerefox_delete_document` | **Soft**-delete a document (to trash; excluded from search; permanent purge is human-only) | `document_id`, `expected_content_hash` (**required** — a delete must follow a read), `reason` (recorded in the audit log — give one), `author` |\n| `cerefox_restore_document` | Restore a soft-deleted document from the trash (audited inverse of delete; no-op if not deleted) | `document_id` (required), `reason` (recorded in the audit log), `author` |\n| `cerefox_get_document` | Get full document by ID (header includes `content_hash` — the update token), or with `outline: true` just its heading paths, sizes and hash, or with `section: \"## Heading\"` one section's text | `document_id` (required), `outline`, `section`, `section_part`, `author` |\n| `cerefox_list_versions` | Version history of a document | `document_id` (required), `author` |\n| `cerefox_set_relation` ⚑ | Link two documents (`source --rel_type--> target`) | `source_id`, `target_id`, `rel_type` (required), `metadata`, `author` |\n| `cerefox_delete_relation` ⚑ | Remove a relation | `source_id`, `target_id`, `rel_type`, `author` |\n| `cerefox_get_relations` ⚑ | All relations touching a document, both directions | `document_id` |\n| `cerefox_get_neighbors` ⚑ | Walk the graph along ONE relation type | `document_id`, `rel_type` (required), `depth`, `from_time`, `to_time`, `limit` |\n| `cerefox_metadata_search` | Find or list docs by metadata, project, or time (no text query) | `metadata_filter`, `project_name` (list a project's docs), `updated_since`, `include_content` — **at least one** of metadata_filter/project_name/updated_since/created_since |\n| `cerefox_list_metadata_keys` | Discover available metadata keys | (none required) |\n| `cerefox_list_projects` | List all projects | (none required) |\n| `cerefox_set_document_metadata` | Change tags WITHOUT resending content. **Merges** by default; a `null` value removes a key | `document_id`, `metadata` (required), `replace` (rare: set exactly this object), `author` |\n| `cerefox_set_document_projects` | Set doc's project memberships to exactly the given list (destructive replace; metadata-only, no content change) | `document_id`, `project_names` (required), `author` |\n| `cerefox_get_audit_log` | Query write operation history | `document_id`, `by_author` (filter), `operation`, `since`, `author` |\n| `cerefox_get_help` | Retrieve Cerefox conventions (this reference) over MCP. **Call this whenever uncertain.** | `topic` (optional, case-insensitive H2 substring match) |\n\n⚑ **Opt-in — usually absent.** The four relation tools are hidden unless the\noperator enables them (`relations_enabled`). **Trust your own tool list**: if\nthey are not in it, the feature is switched off for this deployment. That is\nnormal, not an error, and not something to work around.",
   "Editing part of a document (prefer this over re-sending)": "## Editing part of a document (prefer this over re-sending)\n\n**Re-sending a whole document to change part of it is the main way agents lose\ndata.** You have to reproduce the untouched remainder verbatim, and any drift\nsilently rewrites content nobody asked you to touch — which the caller cannot\ndiff. Use the partial-edit tools instead:\n\n1. **Learn the anchors** — `cerefox_get_document(document_id, outline: true)`.\n   Returns heading paths, per-section sizes and the `content_hash`, without the\n   body. The paths it returns are exactly what `anchor_heading` accepts.\n2. **Add** → `cerefox_insert`. `end_of_document` is a plain append;\n   `end_of_section` adds inside a named section. It is structurally incapable of\n   removing anything, so \"I meant to append\" cannot become \"I replaced the file\".\n3. **Look before you overwrite** — `cerefox_get_document(document_id,\n   section: \"## Heading\")` returns exactly the text a `replace_section` on that\n   anchor would destroy. The outline gives you a section's *size*, never its\n   *text*, so on a document you did not write yourself this is the difference\n   between a replace and a blind overwrite.\n4. **Change or remove** → `cerefox_edit`. Put changes that belong together in\n   ONE call: they apply atomically, so a table row and the total it feeds cannot\n   end up disagreeing. To change a single line, `replace_section` on its\n   smallest enclosing heading — that is the intended granularity, not a\n   workaround. To fix a stale heading (`## OPEN TODOs (as of ...)`), use\n   `rename_section`: it changes the heading text and leaves the body and\n   position alone.\n5. All of them require `expected_content_hash` and **have no last-write-wins**. A\n   conflict means someone else changed the document; re-read and decide, do not\n   force it.\n\n**A section runs to the next same-or-higher heading, or to the end of the\ndocument.** So `end_of_document` inserts land inside the *last* section, and\nreplacing or deleting that section removes them too. A large shrink in the\nresponse is your warning; `cerefox_list_versions` has the previous content.\n\n**When an anchor is ambiguous the tool refuses and hands you the options** — a\nrepeated heading returns the qualifying paths, and a section with both its own\ncontent and sub-sections returns both `section_part` choices. That is a\nrecoverable answer, not a failure: retry with what it gave you.",
-  "Essential Rules": "## Essential Rules\n\n1. **Search before ingesting** -- check if the document exists first.\n2. **Prefer ID-based updates** -- pass `document_id` from search results for deterministic updates. Falls back to title-matching with `update_if_exists: true`.\n3. **Set `author`** to your name on every call, reads and writes alike (e.g., \"Claude Code\", \"archiver\"). Same parameter on every tool. (`requestor` is still accepted everywhere as the pre-1.13.1 alias.) On the CLI it is `--author` on every command too (plus `--author-type` on writes); or rely on `CEREFOX_AUTHOR_NAME`/`CEREFOX_AUTHOR_TYPE` env vars set in the user's `.env`.\n4. **Use `document_id` from search results** `[id: uuid]` for get_document and list_versions.\n5. **Add metadata** -- at minimum `type` (\"decision-log\", \"research\", \"design-doc\") and `status` (\"active\", \"draft\").\n6. **Write structured Markdown** with H1/H2/H3 headings for good chunking and search.\n7. **Deletes are soft (recoverable); permanent purge is web-UI-only.** `cerefox_delete_document` requires the document's `content_hash` as you read it (read before you delete) and takes a `reason` — give one; it is what the human reviewing the trash sees. `cerefox_restore_document` undoes a mistaken delete (also audited, also takes a `reason`). Always surface deletes AND restores to the user. Once a human purges from the web UI, the document is gone for good.\n8. **Cross-doc links inside content**: **always use `[Text](document-uuid)`.** UUIDs are the only fully reliable link form — stable across title changes, never ambiguous, no encoding gotchas. Every `cerefox_search` result shows `[id: <uuid>]` after the title; grab it and use it. Title-based linking (`[Text](<Title With Spaces>)`) is fragile (breaks on colons, parens, ampersands, brackets — silently navigates to wrong page) — **don't write title-based links**; do an extra search to get the UUID instead. Repo-path forms (`[Text](docs/path.md)`) exist for repo-ingested files; don't construct manually. **The server validates `](uuid)` links on every write** (v1.7.0): a link to a nonexistent id rejects the write, naming the offender — that means you mangled the UUID; re-read the source and correct it, do not retry unchanged. Example ids go in backticks (code is not validated). `[[Wikilinks]]` may dangle. See `AGENT_GUIDE.md → Writing linkable content` for the full rule.\n9. **Concurrency: content updates require `expected_content_hash`.** Pass the `content_hash` you last saw — every read shows one (`cerefox_get_document` incl. outline mode, `cerefox_search`, `cerefox_metadata_search`) and **every write returns the new one, including create** (v1.3.0, #189), so after writing you already hold the token for your next edit; no re-read needed. If it's stale you get a **conflict** — re-read the document, merge your changes into the latest content, retry with the new hash. **Never resolve a conflict by overwriting blindly** — the current content includes another writer's work. `last_write_wins: true` skips the check; use it ONLY when an external source of truth makes conflicts meaningless (file re-sync), never to silence a conflict.\n10. **Search: prefer a few distinctive terms; heed `below confidence`.** When nothing clears the relevance threshold, `cerefox_search` returns the closest candidates prefixed with a `below confidence` warning instead of an empty set — that flag means **weak signal, not absent knowledge**: check the candidates' scores and titles before concluding the KB lacks the content. A truly empty response means nothing even weakly related exists.\n11. **Relations express how documents relate; lifecycle tells you if knowledge is still good.** Use `cerefox_set_relation` when one document supersedes, contradicts, references, or continues another. `supersedes` marks the target **superseded**; `contradicts` marks **both** stale; `related_to`/`duplicates`/`contradicts` are symmetric (both directions written). Any other type string is accepted without special behaviour. When a search result or `cerefox_get_relations` shows a neighbour marked `[superseded]` or `[stale]`, say so rather than presenting it as current.\n12. **Project memberships — non-destructive by default**: on `cerefox_ingest` updates, **`project_name` (singular) is a non-destructive add** (ensures membership, preserves others). Use **`project_names` (list)** when you want to set the doc's full project set in one call (destructive replace). For metadata-only project changes without writing content, use **`cerefox_set_document_projects(document_id, project_names)`** — that tool is the destructive-replace contract made explicit. Never call `cerefox_set_document_projects` with a single name when you mean \"add\" — that would REMOVE the doc from all other projects. When in doubt, use `cerefox_ingest` with singular `project_name`.",
+  "Essential Rules": "## Essential Rules\n\n1. **Search before ingesting** -- check if the document exists first.\n2. **Prefer ID-based updates** -- pass `document_id` from search results for deterministic updates. Falls back to title-matching with `update_if_exists: true`.\n3. **Set `author`** to your name on every call, reads and writes alike (e.g., \"Claude Code\", \"archiver\"). Same parameter on every tool. (`requestor` is still accepted everywhere as the pre-1.13.1 alias.) On the CLI it is `--author` on every command too (plus `--author-type` on writes); or rely on `CEREFOX_AUTHOR_NAME`/`CEREFOX_AUTHOR_TYPE` env vars set in the user's `.env`.\n4. **Use `document_id` from search results** `[id: uuid]` for get_document and list_versions.\n5. **`max_bytes` has to fit a whole document.** Search returns COMPLETE documents, so a budget smaller than the top hit fits nothing. You get a header-only list saying so (never \"No results found.\" — that means the store really has nothing). Raise `max_bytes`, or read one document with `cerefox_get_document` using `outline: true` or `section`.\n6. **Add metadata** -- at minimum `type` (\"decision-log\", \"research\", \"design-doc\") and `status` (\"active\", \"draft\").\n7. **Write structured Markdown** with H1/H2/H3 headings for good chunking and search.\n8. **Deletes are soft (recoverable); permanent purge is web-UI-only.** `cerefox_delete_document` requires the document's `content_hash` as you read it (read before you delete) and takes a `reason` — give one; it is what the human reviewing the trash sees. `cerefox_restore_document` undoes a mistaken delete (also audited, also takes a `reason`). Always surface deletes AND restores to the user. Once a human purges from the web UI, the document is gone for good.\n9. **Cross-doc links inside content**: **always use `[Text](document-uuid)`.** UUIDs are the only fully reliable link form — stable across title changes, never ambiguous, no encoding gotchas. Every `cerefox_search` result shows `[id: <uuid>]` after the title; grab it and use it. Title-based linking (`[Text](<Title With Spaces>)`) is fragile (breaks on colons, parens, ampersands, brackets — silently navigates to wrong page) — **don't write title-based links**; do an extra search to get the UUID instead. Repo-path forms (`[Text](docs/path.md)`) exist for repo-ingested files; don't construct manually. **The server validates `](uuid)` links on every write** (v1.7.0): a link to a nonexistent id rejects the write, naming the offender — that means you mangled the UUID; re-read the source and correct it, do not retry unchanged. Example ids go in backticks (code is not validated). `[[Wikilinks]]` may dangle. See `AGENT_GUIDE.md → Writing linkable content` for the full rule.\n10. **Concurrency: content updates require `expected_content_hash`.** Pass the `content_hash` you last saw — every read shows one (`cerefox_get_document` incl. outline mode, `cerefox_search`, `cerefox_metadata_search`) and **every write returns the new one, including create** (v1.3.0, #189), so after writing you already hold the token for your next edit; no re-read needed. If it's stale you get a **conflict** — re-read the document, merge your changes into the latest content, retry with the new hash. **Never resolve a conflict by overwriting blindly** — the current content includes another writer's work. `last_write_wins: true` skips the check; use it ONLY when an external source of truth makes conflicts meaningless (file re-sync), never to silence a conflict.\n11. **Search: prefer a few distinctive terms; heed `below confidence`.** When nothing clears the relevance threshold, `cerefox_search` returns the closest candidates prefixed with a `below confidence` warning instead of an empty set — that flag means **weak signal, not absent knowledge**: check the candidates' scores and titles before concluding the KB lacks the content. A truly empty response means nothing even weakly related exists.\n12. **Relations express how documents relate; lifecycle tells you if knowledge is still good.** Use `cerefox_set_relation` when one document supersedes, contradicts, references, or continues another. `supersedes` marks the target **superseded**; `contradicts` marks **both** stale; `related_to`/`duplicates`/`contradicts` are symmetric (both directions written). Any other type string is accepted without special behaviour. When a search result or `cerefox_get_relations` shows a neighbour marked `[superseded]` or `[stale]`, say so rather than presenting it as current.\n13. **Project memberships — non-destructive by default**: on `cerefox_ingest` updates, **`project_name` (singular) is a non-destructive add** (ensures membership, preserves others). Use **`project_names` (list)** when you want to set the doc's full project set in one call (destructive replace). For metadata-only project changes without writing content, use **`cerefox_set_document_projects(document_id, project_names)`** — that tool is the destructive-replace contract made explicit. Never call `cerefox_set_document_projects` with a single name when you mean \"add\" — that would REMOVE the doc from all other projects. When in doubt, use `cerefox_ingest` with singular `project_name`.",
   "Update Workflow (ID-based -- preferred)": "## Update Workflow (ID-based -- preferred)\n\n```\nsearch(\"topic\") -> find doc [id: abc123] -> get_document(abc123) -> note its content_hash -> modify ->\ningest(title=\"Same Title\", content=\"...\", document_id=\"abc123\",\n       expected_content_hash=\"<the hash you read>\", author=\"my-agent\")\n```\n\nOn a **conflict** error: get_document again (fresh content + fresh hash) -> merge your changes -> retry with the new hash.",
   "Update Workflow (title-based -- fallback)": "## Update Workflow (title-based -- fallback)\n\n```\nsearch(\"topic\") -> find doc (note its hash) -> modify ->\ningest(title=\"Same Title\", content=\"...\", update_if_exists=true,\n       expected_content_hash=\"<the hash you read>\", author=\"my-agent\")\n```",
   "Catch-Up Workflow": "## Catch-Up Workflow\n\n```\nmetadata_search(metadata_filter={\"type\": \"decision-log\"}, updated_since=\"2026-03-28T00:00:00Z\")\n```",

package/dist/server-assets/_shared/mcp-tools/metadata-search.ts CHANGED Viewed

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 import type { MCPSupabaseClient } from "./types.ts";
-import { applyByteBudget, getMaxResponseBytes, logUsage } from "./_utils.ts";
+import { getMaxResponseBytes, logUsage } from "./_utils.ts";
 import { lookupProjectId } from "./_projects.ts";
 import { reviewWorkflowEnabled } from "./feature-flags.ts";
 import { McpInvalidParams, type ToolContext, type ToolDefinition } from "./types.ts";
@@ -93,17 +93,39 @@ async function handler(
     result_count: rows.length,
   });
-  if (rows.length === 0) return "No documents match the given criteria.";
+  if (rows.length === 0) {
+    // The RPC applies the byte budget server-side by stopping at the first row
+    // that does not fit, so a single oversized document empties the result set
+    // the same way the search tool's client-side budget did (#254). Ask again
+    // without content before reporting nothing: an agent that is told "no
+    // documents" stops looking, and here that would be false.
+    if (include_content && max_bytes !== null) {
+      const { data: headers } = await supabase.rpc("cerefox_metadata_search", {
+        ...params,
+        p_include_content: false,
+        p_max_bytes: null,
+      });
+      const headerRows = (headers ?? []) as Array<{ document_id: string; title: string }>;
+      if (headerRows.length > 0) {
+        return (
+          `⚠ ${headerRows.length} document(s) match, but none fit max_bytes=${max_bytes} ` +
+          `with include_content. This is NOT an empty result. Listing them without ` +
+          `content — raise max_bytes, or read one with cerefox_get_document ` +
+          `(outline: true for structure).\n\n` +
+          headerRows.map((r) => `## ${r.title} [id: ${r.document_id}]`).join("\n")
+        );
+      }
+    }
+    return "No documents match the given criteria.";
+  }
   // The review status is a column of a feature that may be off (#241); when
   // it is, an agent should not see "approved" and wonder what it means.
   const showReview = await reviewWorkflowEnabled(supabase);
-  // Note: when include_content is true the RPC already respects p_max_bytes
-  // server-side. The applyByteBudget helper is retained here only for
-  // parity with the EF implementation and as a defensive trim — see the
-  // EF original for the same shape.
-  void applyByteBudget; // referenced for symmetry; kept for v0.5 work
+  // The byte budget is the RPC's job here (`p_max_bytes`), not this file's:
+  // it stops emitting rows once the accumulated content would exceed it. The
+  // empty-result branch above compensates for its one sharp edge (#254).
   const parts: string[] = rows.map((row) => {
     const projects = row.project_names?.length

package/dist/server-assets/_shared/mcp-tools/search.ts CHANGED Viewed

@@ -24,6 +24,61 @@ import { lookupProjectId } from "./_projects.ts";
 import { McpInvalidParams, type ToolContext, type ToolDefinition } from "./types.ts";
 import { AUTHOR_PARAM_READ, callerIdentity } from "./identity.ts";
+interface SearchRow {
+  document_id?: string;
+  doc_title?: string;
+  full_content?: string;
+  best_score?: number;
+  score?: number;
+  is_partial?: boolean;
+  chunk_count?: number;
+  total_chars?: number;
+  content_hash?: string;
+  below_confidence?: boolean;
+}
+/** `## Title [id: …] (score: …) -- 20,297 chars` — everything but the content. */
+function headerLine(row: SearchRow): string {
+  const title = row.doc_title ?? "Untitled";
+  const docId = row.document_id ? ` [id: ${row.document_id}]` : "";
+  const raw = row.best_score ?? row.score;
+  const score = raw != null ? ` (score: ${raw.toFixed(3)})` : "";
+  const size = row.total_chars != null ? ` -- ${row.total_chars.toLocaleString()} chars` : "";
+  const hash = row.content_hash ? `\nhash: ${row.content_hash}` : "";
+  return `## ${title}${docId}${score}${size}${hash}`;
+}
+/**
+ * What to say when results matched but none fit `max_bytes` (#254).
+ *
+ * Never "no results": that is the one answer an agent acts on irreversibly.
+ * The headers are listed while they fit the same budget, so the response
+ * still honours the limit the caller asked for; if even one header does not
+ * fit, the count and the remedy alone still beat silence.
+ */
+function degradedToHeaders(matched: SearchRow[], maxBytes: number): string {
+  const biggest = Math.max(
+    ...matched.map((r) => new TextEncoder().encode(JSON.stringify(r)).length),
+  );
+  const lead =
+    `⚠ ${matched.length} result(s) matched, but none fit max_bytes=${maxBytes} ` +
+    `(the largest is ${biggest.toLocaleString()} bytes). This is NOT an empty ` +
+    `knowledge base. Listing what matched, without content — raise max_bytes to ` +
+    `read it, or read one document with cerefox_get_document (outline: true for ` +
+    `structure, or section: "## Heading" for one part).`;
+  const lines: string[] = [];
+  let used = new TextEncoder().encode(lead).length;
+  for (const row of matched) {
+    const line = headerLine(row);
+    const size = new TextEncoder().encode(line).length + 2;
+    if (used + size > maxBytes) break;
+    lines.push(line);
+    used += size;
+  }
+  return lines.length > 0 ? `${lead}\n\n${lines.join("\n\n")}` : lead;
+}
 async function handler(
   supabase: MCPSupabaseClient,
   args: Record<string, unknown>,
@@ -131,7 +186,8 @@ async function handler(
   if (error) throw new Error(`RPC error: ${error.message}`);
-  const { accepted, truncated, usedBytes } = applyByteBudget(data ?? [], max_bytes);
+  const matched = (data ?? []) as SearchRow[];
+  const { accepted, dropped, truncated, usedBytes } = applyByteBudget(matched, max_bytes);
   logUsage(supabase, {
     operation: "search",
@@ -139,23 +195,26 @@ async function handler(
     requestor: callerIdentity(args),
     query_text: query,
     project_id: projectId,
-    result_count: accepted.length,
+    // What the QUERY matched, not what survived the byte budget. The two
+    // differ only when rows were dropped, and recording 0 there made a
+    // budget-wiped search look like an empty knowledge base in analytics too.
+    result_count: matched.length,
+    ...(truncated ? { extra: { returned: accepted.length, truncated: true } } : {}),
   });
-  if (accepted.length === 0) return "No results found.";
-  const rows = accepted as Array<{
-    document_id?: string;
-    doc_title?: string;
-    full_content?: string;
-    best_score?: number;
-    score?: number;
-    is_partial?: boolean;
-    chunk_count?: number;
-    total_chars?: number;
-    content_hash?: string;
-    below_confidence?: boolean;
-  }>;
+  // Nothing matched: the honest empty answer.
+  if (matched.length === 0) return "No results found.";
+  // Something matched but none of it fit the budget (#254). Reporting "no
+  // results" here is the most damaging answer the tool can give: an agent
+  // stops looking and often recreates the document it failed to find. Show
+  // the headers instead — a few hundred bytes that name what exists and how
+  // to read it.
+  if (accepted.length === 0) {
+    return degradedToHeaders(matched, max_bytes);
+  }
+  const rows = accepted as SearchRow[];
   // 28I: nothing cleared the relevance threshold, so the server returned its
   // best-effort top candidates flagged below_confidence instead of an empty
@@ -184,7 +243,10 @@ async function handler(
   }
   if (truncated) {
     output +=
-      `\n\n[Results truncated at ${usedBytes} bytes. Use a more specific query or a smaller match_count to see more.]`;
+      `\n\n[${accepted.length} of ${matched.length} result(s) shown; truncated at ` +
+      `${usedBytes} bytes. ${dropped.length} did not fit: ` +
+      `${dropped.map((r) => (r as SearchRow).doc_title ?? "Untitled").join(", ")}. ` +
+      `Raise max_bytes, narrow the query, or lower match_count.]`;
   }
   return output;
 }

package/dist/server-assets/supabase/functions/cerefox-search/index.ts CHANGED Viewed

@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ import { isVersionRequest, versionResponse } from "../../../_shared/ef-meta/inde
 import { efAuthGate } from "../../../_shared/ef-auth/index.ts";
 import { callerIdentity } from "../../../_shared/mcp-tools/identity.ts";
 import { capEmbeddingInput } from "../../../_shared/embeddings/index.ts";
+// One implementation of the byte budget, shared with the MCP tools (#254).
+import { applyByteBudget } from "../../../_shared/mcp-tools/_utils.ts";
 /**
  * cerefox-search — Supabase Edge Function
@@ -156,27 +158,6 @@ async function lookupProjectId(
  * Rows are always kept or dropped whole — content is never truncated
  * mid-document. Returns the accepted rows and a `truncated` flag.
  */
-function applyByteBudget(
-  rows: unknown[],
-  maxBytes: number,
-): { accepted: unknown[]; truncated: boolean; usedBytes: number } {
-  const accepted: unknown[] = [];
-  let usedBytes = 0;
-  let truncated = false;
-  for (const row of rows) {
-    const rowBytes = new TextEncoder().encode(JSON.stringify(row)).length;
-    if (usedBytes + rowBytes > maxBytes) {
-      truncated = true;
-      break;
-    }
-    accepted.push(row);
-    usedBytes += rowBytes;
-  }
-  return { accepted, truncated, usedBytes };
-}
 const headers = {
   "Content-Type": "application/json",
   "Access-Control-Allow-Origin": "*",
@@ -374,7 +355,17 @@ Deno.serve(async (req: Request) => {
   // Apply byte budget — drop whole results (never truncate mid-doc) to stay
   // under the limit. This mirrors the local MCP server's truncation behaviour.
-  const { accepted, truncated, usedBytes } = applyByteBudget(data ?? [], max_bytes);
+  const matched = (data ?? []) as Array<Record<string, unknown>>;
+  const { accepted, truncated, usedBytes } = applyByteBudget(matched, max_bytes);
+  // Nothing fit the budget (#254). Returning an empty `results` reads as "this
+  // knowledge does not exist" to whatever is on the other end, so send the
+  // rows WITHOUT their content instead: the caller learns what matched, how
+  // big it is, and can re-ask with a larger budget or fetch one document.
+  const degraded = accepted.length === 0 && matched.length > 0;
+  const results = degraded
+    ? matched.map(({ full_content: _omitted, ...header }) => header)
+    : accepted;
   // Fire-and-forget usage logging (never blocks the response)
   Promise.resolve(supabase.rpc("cerefox_log_usage", {
@@ -382,13 +373,15 @@ Deno.serve(async (req: Request) => {
     p_access_path: "edge-function",
     p_requestor: identityValue ?? null,
     p_query_text: query,
-    p_result_count: accepted.length,
+    // What the query matched, not what survived the budget: recording 0 for a
+    // budget-wiped search made it look like an empty knowledge base here too.
+    p_result_count: matched.length,
     p_project_id: projectId,
   })).catch(() => {});
   return new Response(
     JSON.stringify({
-      results: accepted,
+      results,
       query,
       mode,
       match_count,
@@ -396,6 +389,15 @@ Deno.serve(async (req: Request) => {
       metadata_filter: metadata_filter ?? null,
       truncated,
       response_bytes: usedBytes,
+      matched: matched.length,
+      degraded,
+      ...(degraded
+        ? {
+            note:
+              `${matched.length} result(s) matched but none fit max_bytes=${max_bytes}; ` +
+              `content omitted. Raise max_bytes, or fetch one document with cerefox-get-document.`,
+          }
+        : {}),
     }),
     { headers },
   );

package/docs/guides/connect-agents.md CHANGED Viewed

@@ -638,7 +638,7 @@ In the action editor, paste this schema (replace `<your-project-ref>`):
 openapi: 3.1.0
 info:
   title: Cerefox Knowledge Base
-  version: 4.0.0
+  version: 4.1.0
 servers:
   - url: https://<your-project-ref>.supabase.co/functions/v1
 paths:
@@ -707,9 +707,15 @@ paths:
       responses:
         '200':
           description: >
-            { results, query, mode, match_count, project_name, metadata_filter, truncated, response_bytes }.
+            { results, query, mode, match_count, project_name, metadata_filter, truncated,
+            response_bytes, matched, degraded }.
             Each item in results (docs mode) contains: document_id, doc_title, full_content,
             chunk_count, total_chars, best_score, is_partial.
+            matched is how many results the query found, before the byte budget.
+            When degraded is true, everything that matched was larger than max_bytes, so the
+            items carry NO full_content — they name what exists so you can re-ask with a
+            larger max_bytes or fetch one document. An empty results array with degraded
+            true is never "nothing was found"; results is empty only when matched is 0.
             is_partial is true when the document exceeded the small-to-big threshold — in that
             case full_content contains matched chunks plus their neighbours rather than the
             complete document, and total_chars still reflects the full document size.

package/package.json CHANGED Viewed

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@cerefox/memory",
-  "version": "1.14.1",
+  "version": "1.14.2",
   "description": "Cerefox — user-owned shared memory for AI agents. CLI + stdio MCP server + web UI + ingestion for a knowledge base on your own Supabase project (or fully self-hosted with Cerefox Local).",
   "license": "Apache-2.0",
   "homepage": "https://github.com/fstamatelopoulos/cerefox",