Mindkeeper — Time Machine for Your AI's Brain

Use mindkeeper tools when the user asks about changes, history, or versions of their agent context files (AGENTS.md, SOUL.md, USER.md, IDENTITY.md, TOOLS.md, MEMORY.md, memory/, skills/).

Bootstrap (One-time setup)

When the user enables mindkeeper or asks for mindkeeper capability, first try mind_status. If it fails (tool not found or similar):

Ask for confirmation — Tell the user: "Mindkeeper needs the mindkeeper-openclaw plugin to work. I'll need to run openclaw plugins install mindkeeper-openclaw and restart the Gateway. May I proceed?" Do not install or restart until the user explicitly confirms.
After user confirms — Run this flow:
- Install the plugin — Run via bash:
```
openclaw plugins install mindkeeper-openclaw
```
- Restart the gateway — Use the gateway tool with action: "restart" and note: "Restarting to load mindkeeper plugin". If gateway restart is disabled or fails, tell the user: "Plugin installed. Restart your Gateway manually to apply."
- Confirm — Tell the user: "Mindkeeper is ready. Restart complete — you can now ask about history, diffs, rollbacks, or snapshots."
Alternative — If the user prefers to install manually, tell them: "Run openclaw plugins install mindkeeper-openclaw in your terminal, then restart your Gateway. After that, mindkeeper will be ready."

If mind_status succeeds, the plugin is already installed; skip the bootstrap and proceed with the user's request.

Available Tools

| Tool | Purpose | |------|---------| | mind_status | Show what files are tracked and whether there are unsaved changes | | mind_history | Browse the change log for one file or all files | | mind_diff | Compare any two versions of a file side-by-side | | mind_rollback | Restore a file to a previous version (always preview first) | | mind_snapshot | Save a named checkpoint before making significant changes |

When to Use

| User says… | Action | |-----------|--------| | "What changed in SOUL.md?" | mind_history with file: "SOUL.md" | | "Show me the diff from last week" | mind_history to find the commit, then mind_diff | | "Undo that change" / "Roll back AGENTS.md" | Full rollback procedure (see below) | | "Save a checkpoint before I experiment" | mind_snapshot with a descriptive name | | "Is mindkeeper tracking my files?" | mind_status | | "What does my history look like?" | mind_history without a file filter |

Tool Usage Guide

mind_status

Call this first if you're unsure whether mindkeeper is initialized or what files are being tracked.

mind_status → { initialized, workDir, pendingChanges, snapshots }

mind_history

Returns a list of commits with short hash, date, and message.

file (optional): filter to a specific file path, e.g. "SOUL.md"
limit (optional): number of entries to return (default 10, increase for longer searches)

mind_history({ file: "SOUL.md", limit: 20 })
→ { count, entries: [{ oid, date, message }] }

mind_diff

Compares two versions of a file. from and to are short or full commit hashes from mind_history.

Omit to to compare from against the current version (HEAD).

mind_diff({ file: "SOUL.md", from: "a1b2c3d4" })
→ { file, from, to, additions, deletions, unified }

mind_snapshot

Creates a named checkpoint of the current state of all tracked files. Use before risky changes.

name: short identifier, e.g. "stable-v2" or "before-experiment"
message (optional): longer description

mind_snapshot({ name: "stable-v2", message: "Personality tuned, rules finalized" })
→ { success, snapshot, commit: { oid, message } }

mind_rollback

Always use the two-step procedure. Never skip the preview.

Step 1 — Preview:

mind_rollback({ file: "SOUL.md", to: "a1b2c3d4", preview: true })
→ { preview: true, diff: { unified, additions, deletions }, instruction }

Show the diff to the user and ask for confirmation.

Step 2 — Execute (only after user confirms):

mind_rollback({ file: "SOUL.md", to: "a1b2c3d4", preview: false })
→ { preview: false, success: true, commit: { oid, message } }

After success, tell the user: "Run /new to apply the changes to your current session."

Important Notes

Rollback is per-file — it only restores the specified file, not all files at once
Rollbacks are non-destructive — every rollback creates a new commit, so it can itself be undone
Auto-snapshots run in the background — the user doesn't need to manually save; mindkeeper captures every change automatically
Named snapshots are the safety net — encourage users to snapshot before major personality or rule changes
If history is empty — mindkeeper may not have initialized yet, or no changes have been made since install. Call mind_status to check.
Commit hashes — always use the oid field from mind_history results. Short 8-character hashes are fine.