PR #60743: memory: add recent continuity snapshots

• Repository: openclaw/openclaw
• Author: iHow1
• State: open | merged: False
• Link: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw/pull/60743

Description (problem / solution / changelog)

Summary

Describe the problem and fix in 2–5 bullets:

• Problem: long-running sessions can keep transcripts and memory archives but still lose the clearest current in-flight state across /new, /reset, and compaction.
• Why it matters: the next turn can feel detached even when history exists, which shows up as partial continuity loss rather than missing storage.
• What changed: add an additive memory/recent continuity layer with latest.md plus timestamped snapshots, wire it into reset/new, compact-before, and post-compaction recovery, and place the continuity helpers under the current packages/memory-host-sdk layout used by upstream main.
• What did NOT change (scope boundary): no retrieval ranking changes, no rollback journal/promotion, no dream/background scheduler, and no replacement of QMD/vector memory/transcripts.

Change Type (select all)

• Bug fix
• Feature
• Refactor required for the fix
• Docs
• Security hardening
• Chore/infra

Scope (select all touched areas)

• Gateway / orchestration
• Skills / tool execution
• Auth / tokens
• Memory / storage
• Integrations
• API / contracts
• UI / DX
• CI/CD / infra

Linked Issue/PR

• Closes #
• Related #60742
• This PR fixes a bug or regression

Root Cause (if applicable)

For bug fixes or regressions, explain why this happened, not just what changed. Otherwise write N/A. If the cause is unclear, write Unknown.

• Root cause: N/A
• Missing detection / guardrail: N/A
• Contributing context (if known): N/A

Regression Test Plan (if applicable)

For bug fixes or regressions, name the smallest reliable test coverage that should catch this. Otherwise write N/A.

• Coverage level that should have caught this:
  • Unit test
  • Seam / integration test
  • End-to-end test
  • Existing coverage already sufficient
• Target test or file: N/A
• Scenario the test should lock in: N/A
• Why this is the smallest reliable guardrail: N/A
• Existing test that already covers this (if any): N/A
• If no new test is added, why not: feature slice, not a regression fix

User-visible / Behavior Changes

• /new and /reset still write archive notes, and now also write a recent continuity snapshot.
• session:compact:before writes a recent continuity snapshot without requiring a full archive note.
• Post-compaction recovery can read the recent continuity layer before broader history.

Diagram (if applicable)

Before:
[active work] -> [reset/compact] -> [broad history survives] -> [current task state is less obvious]

After:
[active work] -> [recent continuity snapshot] -> [reset/compact] -> [recent state restored first]

Security Impact (required)

• New permissions/capabilities? (Yes/No) No
• Secrets/tokens handling changed? (Yes/No) No
• New/changed network calls? (Yes/No) No
• Command/tool execution surface changed? (Yes/No) No
• Data access scope changed? (Yes/No) Yes
• If any Yes, explain risk + mitigation:
  • The runtime now writes an additional recent continuity file in the existing workspace memory area.
  • Mitigation: additive only, same workspace boundary, no new external transport, and no broader retrieval/promotion behavior in this slice.

Repro + Verification

Environment

• OS: macOS
• Runtime/container: local development checkout
• Model/provider: N/A for core file-writing/recovery wiring; continuity extraction helper covered in local test flow
• Integration/channel (if any): none
• Relevant config (redacted): default local workspace memory flow

Steps

1. Trigger /new or /reset on a session with active work state.
2. Trigger session:compact:before and inspect the resulting workspace memory files.
3. Run post-compaction recovery context generation.

Expected

• memory/recent/latest.md and snapshots reflect the current in-flight task state.
• Recovery helpers surface recent continuity before broader history.

Actual

• Local tests pass for continuity parsing/rendering, archive/reset wiring, compaction safeguard context, and post-compaction refresh.

Evidence

Attach at least one:

• Failing test/log before + passing after
• Trace/log snippets
• Screenshot/recording
• Perf numbers (if relevant)

Focused validation run locally:

• packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/continuity.test.ts
• src/hooks/bundled/session-memory/handler.test.ts
• src/auto-reply/reply/post-compaction-context.test.ts
• src/agents/pi-hooks/compaction-safeguard.test.ts
• Result: 4 files, 132 tests passed
• tsc -p tsconfig.json --noEmit passed

Human Verification (required)

What you personally verified (not just CI), and how:

• Verified scenarios:
  • recent continuity documents render and parse round-trip
  • material-change detection avoids noisy snapshot rewrites
  • reset/new paths continue archive writes and add continuity writes
  • post-compaction helpers and safeguard summaries include recent continuity
• Edge cases checked:
  • timestamp-only changes do not force rewrites
  • compact-before path can write continuity without full archive note
• What you did not verify:
  • live rollout against an actively running production workspace

Review Conversations

• I replied to or resolved every bot review conversation I addressed in this PR.
• I left unresolved only the conversations that still need reviewer or maintainer judgment.

If a bot review conversation is addressed by this PR, resolve that conversation yourself. Do not leave bot review conversation cleanup for maintainers.

Compatibility / Migration

• Backward compatible? (Yes/No) Yes
• Config/env changes? (Yes/No) No
• Migration needed? (Yes/No) No
• If yes, exact upgrade steps:

Risks and Mitigations

• Risk:
  • Recent continuity snapshots could add noise if written too often.
  • Mitigation:
    • material-change detection avoids rewriting on trivial timestamp-only changes.
• Risk:
  • Review scope could sprawl into broader memory architecture discussion.
  • Mitigation:
    • this slice is intentionally limited to recent continuity only, with follow-up work kept out of this PR.

Changed files

• packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/continuity.test.ts (added, +180/-0)
• packages/memory-host-sdk/src/host/continuity.ts (added, +637/-0)
• src/agents/pi-hooks/compaction-safeguard.test.ts (modified, +35/-0)
• src/agents/pi-hooks/compaction-safeguard.ts (modified, +34/-7)
• src/auto-reply/reply/post-compaction-context.test.ts (modified, +73/-0)
• src/auto-reply/reply/post-compaction-context.ts (modified, +55/-21)
• src/hooks/bundled/session-memory/handler.test.ts (modified, +154/-17)
• src/hooks/bundled/session-memory/handler.ts (modified, +200/-59)
• src/hooks/llm-session-memory.ts (added, +192/-0)