personal memory agent
Add retention configuration documentation to JOURNAL.md
Add a retention configuration subsection under User configuration covering modes, fields, retained artifacts, and completion safety checks.
Document health/retention.log under Service Health as part of wave 3 docs for the already-shipped retention feature.
+45
+45
docs/JOURNAL.md
+45
docs/JOURNAL.md
···
149
149
- `apps.order` – Custom app ordering in menu bar.
150
150
- `apps.starred` – Apps to show in the quick-access starred section.
151
151
152
+
### Retention configuration
153
+
154
+
The `retention` block controls automatic cleanup of layer 1 raw media (audio recordings, video captures, screen diffs) while preserving all layer 2 extracts and layer 3 agent outputs. Three modes control when raw media is deleted:
155
+
156
+
- `"keep"` – retain raw media indefinitely (default)
157
+
- `"days"` – delete raw media after `raw_media_days` days, once the segment has finished processing
158
+
- `"processed"` – delete raw media as soon as the segment has finished processing
159
+
160
+
```json
161
+
{
162
+
"retention": {
163
+
"raw_media": "days",
164
+
"raw_media_days": 30,
165
+
"per_stream": {
166
+
"plaud": {
167
+
"raw_media": "days",
168
+
"raw_media_days": 7
169
+
},
170
+
"archon": {
171
+
"raw_media": "processed"
172
+
}
173
+
}
174
+
}
175
+
}
176
+
```
177
+
178
+
Fields:
179
+
- `raw_media` (string) – Retention mode: `"keep"`, `"days"`, or `"processed"`. Default: `"keep"`.
180
+
- `raw_media_days` (integer or null) – Number of days to retain raw media when mode is `"days"`. Required when `raw_media` is `"days"`, ignored otherwise.
181
+
- `per_stream` (object) – Per-stream overrides keyed by stream name. Each entry supports `raw_media` and `raw_media_days`. Omitted fields inherit from the global retention settings.
182
+
183
+
"Raw media" means layer 1 capture files only: audio files (`.flac`, `.opus`, `.ogg`, `.m4a`), video files (`.webm`, `.mov`), and screen diffs (`monitor_*_diff.png`).
184
+
185
+
All layer 2 and layer 3 content is always preserved regardless of retention policy: transcripts (`audio.jsonl`, `screen.jsonl`), agent outputs (`agents/*.md`), speaker labels (`agents/speaker_labels.json`), facet events (`events/*.jsonl`), entity data, segment metadata (`stream.json`), and search index entries.
186
+
187
+
Raw media is never deleted from segments that haven't finished processing. A segment is considered complete only when all four checks pass:
188
+
189
+
- No `_active.jsonl` files in `agents/` (no running agents)
190
+
- `audio.jsonl` (or `*_audio.jsonl`) exists if audio raw media was captured
191
+
- `screen.jsonl` (or `*_screen.jsonl`) exists if video raw media was captured
192
+
- `agents/speaker_labels.json` exists if voice embeddings (`.npz`) are present
193
+
194
+
Purged segments remain fully navigable in convey. Transcripts, entities, speaker labels, and summaries are all intact. The only difference is that audio/video playback is unavailable.
195
+
152
196
### Environment variables
153
197
154
198
The `env` block provides fallback values for environment variables. These are loaded at CLI startup and used when the corresponding variable is not set in the shell or `.env` file:
···
804
848
805
849
**Files:**
806
850
- `health/<service>.log` – log output for each service (e.g., `observe.log`, `cortex.log`, `convey.log`)
851
+
- `health/retention.log` – JSONL log of retention purge operations with timestamps, files deleted, bytes freed, and per-segment details
807
852
808
853
These logs are useful for debugging service issues. See [DOCTOR.md](DOCTOR.md) for diagnostics and troubleshooting guidance.
809
854