Import schema

Brigade work imports are the local handoff contract for scanners, wrappers, and chat adapters that discover candidate work. Producers write JSON Lines files, then an operator or wrapper validates and ingests them with brigade work import.

Imports are local review items. They do not write canonical memory directly.

Commands

brigade work import validate imports.jsonl
brigade work import ingest imports.jsonl
brigade work import memory-care
brigade work import memory-refresh
brigade work import chat-sweep
brigade chat sweep import-issues discord-export
brigade work inbox
brigade work inbox doctor
brigade work inbox archive
brigade work import triage
brigade work import plan <import-id>
brigade work import plan-handoff <import-id>
brigade work import promote-handoff <import-id>
brigade work import promote --run <import-id>
brigade work import promote --all --source memory-care --kind task

validate checks a JSONL file without writing. ingest appends valid records into .brigade/work/imports/inbox.jsonl, skipping duplicate pending records with the same source, kind, and normalized text. Scanner producers can also provide stable source item keys and fingerprints so repeated ingestion skips equivalent pending or promoted imports, while dismissed imports stay dismissed unless the source item changes materially. inbox groups pending imports for daily review. inbox doctor reports queue hygiene issues, and inbox archive moves old closed imports to .brigade/work/imports/archive.jsonl without touching pending imports. plan previews the task or handoff a reviewed import would create. promote --run promotes one task import and immediately runs it through the normal work-session loop. plan-handoff and promote-handoff preview and write reviewed Memory Handoff drafts for durable non-task imports. memory-care reads memory/cards/decay/refresh-queue.json and converts queued cards into task imports. memory-refresh accepts the same queue plus candidates or refresh_candidates and writes TDD-ready refresh task imports. chat-sweep reads .brigade/chat-memory-sweeps/latest.json and converts sweep issues; actionable issues become task imports. brigade chat sweep import-issues <surface-id> produces that same chat-sweep import shape from configured local chat export fixtures.

Record Shape

Each non-empty line must be one JSON object:

{"text":"Refresh memory card memory/cards/tools.md: source-of-truth changed","kind":"task","source":"memory-care","metadata":{"card_file":"memory/cards/tools.md","reason":"source-of-truth changed"}}

Required fields:

text: non-empty string. The operator-facing candidate work.

Optional fields:

kind: one of task, finding, decision, preference, incident, link, or command. Defaults to task.
source: non-empty string identifying the producer, such as memory-care, slack, discord, telegram, or repo-scan. Defaults to manual.
metadata: JSON object with producer-specific context.

Task-only optional fields:

type: one of task, feature, bug, docs, security, workflow, research, or chore.
priority: one of low, normal, high, or urgent.
template: one of vertical-slice, bugfix, red-green-refactor, docs, or security-follow-up.
acceptance: list of non-empty strings. These become local task acceptance criteria when the import is promoted.

Task fields are valid only when kind is task. When a task import is promoted, Brigade preserves these fields on the local task ledger item and keeps source-specific details in metadata.

Durable non-task imports with kind decision, preference, link, command, finding, or incident can be promoted into a local Memory Handoff draft. Promotion writes to the configured handoff inbox, runs handoff lint, then marks the import promoted only after the draft is valid. The promoted import stores handoff_path, handoff_target_document, promoted_at, and handoff_source_fingerprint. Review those drafts with brigade handoff list, brigade handoff show, and brigade handoff archive; those commands do not run the canonical ingestor or edit memory.

Recommended metadata keys:

card_file: memory card path for memory-care records.
card_id: stable memory card identity.
reason: short reason the item was produced.
refresh_reason: reason a memory card needs review.
source_item_key: stable producer item key used for idempotency.
source_fingerprint: producer item fingerprint used to detect material changes.
sweep_path: local chat memory sweep JSON path.
sweep_id: stable chat sweep id.
sweep_issue_id: stable issue id inside a chat sweep.
issue_title: title from a chat memory sweep issue.
issue_source: original issue source such as cron, delivery, crawler, or bridge.
provider: scanner provider or memory owner that produced the item.
workspace: chat workspace or source workspace.
channel: chat channel or surface name.
thread: thread id, message range, or export locator.
message_range: local message range or export range.
confidence: producer confidence such as low, medium, or high.
evidence_summary: compact evidence summary, not raw private chat text.
evidence: local evidence path, not raw private chat text.
handoff_target_document: optional explicit target document for promote-handoff, such as TOOLS.md, USER.md, rules/scanner-imports.md, or .learnings/LEARNINGS.md.

Scanner run provenance metadata is added by brigade work scanners run --ingest-output, and also attached to new inbox records that a scanner command writes directly during a run when Brigade can match the source:

scanner_id: configured scanner id.
scanner_source: configured scanner source.
scanner_run_id: local scanner run receipt id.
scanner_receipt_path: local receipt path under .brigade/scanners/runs/.
scanner_output_path_snapshot: safe snapshot of configured output path after the run.
scanner_import_path: configured JSONL import output path when present.
source_fingerprint: producer fingerprint or Brigade-computed fingerprint for dedupe and dismissed-change checks.

Privacy Rules

Keep raw chat exports, message bodies, and third-party personal details out of public docs and public repos.
Store source locators and summaries in metadata instead of raw message quotes.
Route durable memory changes through reviewed Memory Handoffs. Do not let scanners edit memory cards directly by default.
promote-handoff rejects raw private chat fields such as raw_text, raw_messages, messages, message_text, quotes, and transcript.
promote-handoff redacts unsafe URLs, tokens, host-private paths, user ids, channel ids, hostnames, and secret-looking values before writing handoff drafts.

Memory-Care And Memory-Refresh Producers

The memory-care and memory-refresh producers read this refresh queue by default:

memory/cards/decay/refresh-queue.json

Minimal queue shape:

{
  "cards": [
    {
      "file": "memory/cards/example.md",
      "reason": "source-of-truth changed"
    }
  ]
}

Run:

brigade work import memory-care
brigade work import memory-refresh
brigade work import triage

memory-care keeps the legacy source name memory-care. brigade memory care scan now produces this queue directly from local memory cards, and brigade memory care import-issues imports it into the work inbox. memory-refresh uses source memory-refresh and also accepts candidates or refresh_candidates.

Memory-refresh candidates can include id or card_id, file, refresh_reason, issue_type, safe_summary, confidence, evidence_references, evidence_summary, suggested_refresh_action, source_item_key, source_fingerprint, priority, template, and acceptance. The producer writes task imports preserving card identity, refresh reason, queue path, safe summary, evidence summary, source item key, and source fingerprint metadata.

Memory-care issue types are stale, expired, undersourced, contradictory, missing-index-link, orphaned-card, oversized-card, and missing-frontmatter. Memory-care imports are review items only. Brigade does not edit memory cards automatically.

Chat Memory Sweep Producer

The chat-sweep producer reads this summary by default:

.brigade/chat-memory-sweeps/latest.json

Minimal sweep shape:

{
  "generated_at": "2026-05-26T22:09:00-04:00",
  "sessions": {
    "listed": 24,
    "reviewed": 10,
    "durable": 1
  },
  "issues": [
    {
      "id": "sweep-issue-1",
      "title": "Cron delivery failure",
      "summary": "Recent message delivery failed.",
      "kind": "incident",
      "source": "cron",
      "severity": "warning",
      "metadata": {
        "surface": "discord",
        "local_locator": "crawler://discord/example"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Run:

brigade work import chat-sweep
brigade work import triage

The producer writes imports with source chat-memory-sweep, preserving local locators and summary metadata. If an issue has actionable: true, task: true, or kind: "task", Brigade writes a task import with task metadata and acceptance criteria. The JSON output reports created, skipped, dismissed, and invalid counts for wrappers.

The producer omits raw private fields such as raw_text, raw_messages, messages, message_text, quotes, and transcript. Use summary, evidence_summary, and local evidence locators instead of copying private chat bodies into the inbox.

Chat Surface Export Producer

Local chat surface exports are configured in:

.brigade/chat-surfaces.toml

Run:

brigade chat surfaces init
brigade chat sweep validate .brigade/chat-surfaces/discord-export.json
brigade chat sweep ingest discord-export
brigade chat sweep import-issues discord-export

Each export finding must provide provider, surface_id, issue_id, issue_type, priority, confidence, safe_summary, evidence_summary, suggested_task_text, and acceptance_criteria. Supported provider families are discord-export, slack-export, telegram-export, clickclack-export, and generic-jsonl.

ingest writes normalized sweep JSON under .brigade/chat-memory-sweeps/, and import-issues routes actionable items through the existing source chat-memory-sweep import path. Raw private chat fields such as raw_text, raw_messages, message_text, messages, and transcript are rejected by default. Use safe summaries, channel labels, message ranges, confidence, and local evidence paths instead.