Memory

Headmaster remembers things across chats. It learns your preferences, the people and projects you mention, and the decisions you make, so you do not have to repeat yourself. This page explains what gets saved, how Headmaster uses it, and how to see and manage it.

The short version

• Headmaster saves what it learns from your chats in the background. You do not need to press anything.
• Before it answers, Headmaster looks up memories related to what you are talking about and uses them as context.
• You have one memory for your account. Cloud mode, Work mode and web chat all use it.
• The Memory page shows everything Headmaster remembers, where it came from and how it changed.
• Memory is private to your account.

How memory works

Memory has three steps. They happen on their own while you chat.

1. Saving

After each turn of a conversation, Headmaster sends that exchange to your memory. It does not keep the chat word for word as a memory. Instead it reads the exchange and pulls out the useful parts:

• Facts about you and the world. For example: "Sam's company is called Northwind" or "The quarterly report is due on the 15th".
• Experiences, meaning things that happened in your work with Headmaster. For example: "Headmaster drafted the launch email and Sam asked for a shorter version".
• People, places and ideas that came up, such as a colleague, a client, a project or a tool. Headmaster links memories that mention the same person or project, so it can later follow those links.
• Dates. When you say something happened "last Tuesday", Headmaster tries to pin it to a real date, so it can answer questions like "what did we decide last week?".

Saving runs in the background, so it never slows down a reply. It can take a short while (usually seconds, sometimes a minute or two when busy) before a new memory shows up on the Memory page or in another mode.

You can also ask directly: "Remember that I prefer British spelling." Headmaster then saves it right away, with a short label such as "user preference".

2. Tidying up into summaries

Raw facts pile up and repeat. So Headmaster regularly tidies them into summaries. A summary combines many related facts into one clear statement, and keeps up with changes. For example, these three facts:

• "Sam is building the app in React."
• "Sam said the team moved the app to Svelte."
• "Sam asked for help with a Svelte component."

become one summary such as "Sam's app is built in Svelte. It was previously React." The older facts stay as evidence behind the summary.

You can watch this happen on the Activity tab, where it shows as Tidied up.

3. Recall: using memory when you send a message

Each time you send a message, Headmaster searches your memory for things related to the conversation and adds the best matches to its context before it answers. This is what lets it say "as you mentioned last month..." without being asked.

Recall looks for matches in several ways at once:

• Meaning, so "my car" can match a memory about "Sam's Volvo".
• Exact words, for names, codes and terms.
• Connections, following links between people, projects and ideas.
• Time, for questions like "what did I work on in March?".

The results are then ranked and only the most relevant ones are used, so a long memory does not flood the chat. By default recall uses the summaries, because they are the cleanest, most up to date version of what Headmaster knows.

Recall usually runs in the background while you read the previous reply, and the results are ready for your next message. That keeps replies fast. The trade-off: something you said in the very last message may not be part of recall until the message after.

Asking Headmaster to search or think it through

Besides the automatic recall, Headmaster can search memory on purpose during a task. You can ask:

• "What do you remember about the Acme project?" Headmaster searches memory and lists what it finds.
• "Based on what you know about me, which of these two laptops suits me better?" Headmaster reasons across many memories to give one considered answer, instead of just listing matches.

Your two memory switches

Open Settings, then Memory & Context. There are two switches. They are shared by Cloud and Work mode.

Setting	What it does
Persistent Memory	Lets Headmaster keep short notes for itself that help in future sessions, such as how you like things done or what it learned about your setup.
User Profile	Lets Headmaster keep a compact profile of your preferences, such as your name, tone and formatting choices.

Both are on by default. Turning one off stops Headmaster from keeping that kind of note. These two switches sit alongside the long-term memory described above, which is managed for your account and is always available.

One memory across Cloud, Work and web

Your account has a single memory. Whatever you tell Headmaster in Cloud mode, Work mode or web chat at headmaster.gcaplabs.com goes to the same place, and each of them can recall it.

Example: on Monday you tell web chat "I'm presenting to the board on Friday." On Thursday you open the desktop app in Work mode and ask "Can you help me prepare?" Headmaster can recall the board meeting without you mentioning it again.

Because saving happens in the background, allow a short while after a chat before expecting the memory to appear in another place.

See Modes and Web chat for more about each place you can use Headmaster.

The Memory page

Open Memory from the sidebar in the desktop app. Web chat has the same view. The page has nine tabs. Everything on it is read only: it shows what Headmaster remembers, it does not change it.

Overview

A quick summary of your memory.

• Four counters at the top:
  • Memories: how many individual memories are saved.
  • Connections: how many links there are between memories.
  • Sources: how many conversations and documents memories were taken from.
  • Summaries: how many tidied up summaries exist.
• Memory over time: a bar chart of how many memories were added each day over the last 30 days.
• Recently remembered: the latest items, each with its type and date. Choose View all to jump to the Memories tab.

Memories

The full list, called the Memory browser.

• Use the Filter memories box and Filter to show only memories containing certain words.
• Use the type buttons to switch what you see:
  • Summaries (the default): the tidied up statements Headmaster mainly uses.
  • Facts: the raw facts about you and the world.
  • Experiences: the raw records of things that happened in your work together.
  • Everything: all of the above.
• Labels may appear under the buttons, showing how summaries are grouped.
• Use Previous and Next to page through, 20 at a time. Refresh reloads the list.

Choose a memory to open Memory detail on the right. It shows:

• The full text.
• Type: Summary, Fact or Experience.
• Remembered: when it was saved or when it happened.
• Context: the short label it was saved with, such as "user preference".
• State: for example Done.
• Details: a fold out with technical ids, only needed if you contact support.
• How this changed: a timeline of earlier versions. This is useful for summaries, because you can see how Headmaster's understanding changed as you told it new things.

Search

Ask your memory a question in plain language, for example "What are my travel preferences?" and choose Search. This is the same kind of search Headmaster uses when it recalls memories, so it is a good way to check what Headmaster will find on a topic. Results come only from your own memory.

Map

A picture of how things in your memory connect. Use the Show option to switch between two views:

• People and topics: the people, places, organisations, projects, tools and ideas Headmaster has noticed, with lines between ones that appear together. Colours show the kind (Person, Place, Organisation, Project, Tool, Idea, Event).
• Memories: individual memories and the links between them.

Drag to move, scroll to zoom and click to focus on one item. Reset view puts it back. The People and topics list next to the map shows each one with a short summary and how many times it was mentioned.

Insights

Longer write ups Headmaster has worked out over time, in its own words, about recurring subjects. Choose one to read it and see how it changed. Insights build up as Headmaster learns, so a new account may show none.

Notes

A browsable set of organised knowledge pages, shown as a tree. Use Search knowledge to find a page, then choose it to read it on the right.

Where it came from

Every memory comes from a source, usually a conversation turn or a document. This tab lists sources. Use Filter sources to narrow the list, then choose one to see the Saved parts that were taken from it. Use this when you wonder "why does Headmaster think that?".

Labels

The labels used to group your memories and sources, with a count for each.

Activity

What Headmaster is doing with your memory in the background right now. Each entry has a type and a status:

Type	Meaning
Retain	Saving something new.
Recall	Looking memories up.
Reflect	Reasoning across memories to answer a question.
Tidied up	Combining facts into summaries.
Indexed	Preparing a memory so it can be searched.
Updated insights	Refreshing an insight.

Statuses are Waiting, Working on it, Done and Did not finish. If this tab says "Nothing is being worked on right now", everything is up to date.

Correcting and removing things

The Memory page shows memory but does not have edit or delete buttons. To change what Headmaster knows, tell it in a chat.

• To correct something, say so plainly: "Actually, I moved to Lisbon in June." Headmaster saves the new fact, and the next tidy up updates the summary. The old version stays in How this changed, so you can see the history.
• To stop Headmaster using a preference, tell it: "Please stop assuming I want bullet points." It can update or remove its own short notes and your profile.
• To stop new notes being kept, turn off Persistent Memory or User Profile in Settings, Memory & Context.
• To remove everything, delete your account. Your memory is deleted with it. See Data, privacy and security.

Tip: corrections work best when they are clear and dated. "As of this week, the project lead is Priya, not Tom" is better than "it's Priya now".

Privacy

• Your memory belongs to your account. Other accounts cannot see or search it.
• Search on the Memory page only looks at your own memory.
• Memory is built from your chats, so anything you share in a chat may be remembered. Avoid pasting passwords, card numbers or other secrets. If you do, tell Headmaster not to keep it, and contact support if you need it fully removed.

More detail is in Data, privacy and security.

Examples

Preferences that stick. You say once: "I like answers short, with the key point first." From then on, in any mode, Headmaster recalls that preference and writes that way.

Picking up a project after a break. Two weeks ago you discussed a website redesign with a client called Bluefin. Today you ask "Where did we leave the Bluefin redesign?" Headmaster recalls the summary about Bluefin, the open questions and the last decision, and picks up from there.

Time based questions. "What did I ask you to do last Friday?" works because Headmaster saved dates with the experiences.

Checking what it knows. Before a client meeting, open Memory, then Search, and type the client's name. You see exactly what Headmaster will bring up, and can correct anything out of date in a chat first.

Tips

• Say important things clearly, once. "Remember: my invoices always go to finance@example.com."
• Give context with names. "Priya (my manager)" helps Headmaster link the right person.
• Use the Memories tab with the Summaries view to review what Headmaster believes. Switch to Facts to see the evidence.
• Use Where it came from to trace a surprising memory back to the chat it came from.

Troubleshooting

A new memory does not show up yet. Saving and tidying up run in the background. Wait a minute, then choose Refresh. Check the Activity tab to see if it is still Waiting or Working on it.

Headmaster did not use something I told it a moment ago. Recall for a message usually runs while you read the previous reply, so the newest thing you said may only be recalled from the message after next. You can also ask it directly: "Check your memory for what I said about the budget."

Headmaster remembered something wrong. Correct it in a chat, as described above. Look at How this changed on the memory to confirm the update.

The Memory page shows a message instead of memories.

Message	What to do
Memory unavailable in Work mode	Choose Switch to Cloud to browse memory there.
Memory is not set up	Memory is not ready for this workspace yet. Switch to Cloud, or contact support if it continues.
Can't reach memory	Check your internet connection, then choose Try again.
Sign in again to see memory	Your sign in has expired. Sign in again, then choose Try again.
Update needed	Update Headmaster. See Updating Headmaster.
Memory is not available right now	A temporary problem. Try again in a moment.

For anything else, see Troubleshooting.