Markdown Format

Structure

---
# YAML Frontmatter (required)
id: uuid-here
type: semantic
created: 2026-01-15T10:30:00Z
---

# Title (optional, first H1)

Memory content in Markdown format.

## Relationships (optional section)

- relates-to [[Other Memory]]
- derived-from [[Source Memory]]

## Entities (optional section)

- mentions @[[Person Name]]
- uses @[[Technology Name]]

Frontmatter Schema

---
# === REQUIRED ===
id: 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000  # UUID v4
type: semantic                              # Base type: semantic|episodic|procedural
created: 2026-01-15T10:30:00Z              # ISO 8601 datetime

# === RECOMMENDED ===
modified: 2026-01-20T14:22:00Z             # Last modification
ontology:                                   # Applied ontology reference
  id: mif-base                             # Ontology identifier
  version: "1.0.0"                         # Ontology version
  uri: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zircote/MIF/main/ontologies/mif-base  # Ontology identifier (not a resolvable URL)
namespace: org/user/project                 # Hierarchical scope
title: "Human-readable title"               # Display title
tags:                                       # Classification
  - preference
  - ui

# === OPTIONAL: Temporal ===
temporal:
  valid_from: 2026-01-15T00:00:00Z         # When fact becomes valid
  valid_until: null                         # When fact expires (null = indefinite)
  recorded_at: 2026-01-15T10:30:00Z        # When recorded (transaction time)
  ttl: P90D                                 # Time-to-live (ISO 8601 duration)
  decay:
    model: exponential                      # Decay model
    halfLife: P7D                          # Half-life duration
    strength: 0.85                          # Current strength (0-1)
  access_count: 5                           # Times accessed
  last_accessed: 2026-01-20T14:22:00Z      # Last access time

# === OPTIONAL: Provenance ===
provenance:
  source_type: user_explicit                # How memory was created
  source_ref: conversation:conv_456         # Reference to source
  agent: claude-3-opus                      # Creating agent
  confidence: 0.95                          # Confidence score (0-1)
  trust_level: user_stated                  # Trust classification

# === OPTIONAL: Embedding ===
embedding:
  model: text-embedding-3-small             # Embedding model
  model_version: "2024-01"                  # Model version
  dimensions: 1536                          # Vector dimensions
  source_text: "User prefers dark mode"     # Text that was embedded
  # Note: Actual vectors stored externally or in JSON-LD format

# === OPTIONAL: Aliases ===
aliases:
  - "Dark Mode Preference"
  - "UI Theme Choice"

# === OPTIONAL: Extensions ===
extensions:
  subcog:
    domain: user
    hash: sha256:abc123...
  custom_provider:
    custom_field: value
---

Wiki-Link Syntax

MIF extends Obsidian wiki-link syntax for typed relationships:

# Basic link (RelatesTo relationship)
[[Other Memory]]

# Typed relationship
[[Other Memory|derives-from]]
[[Other Memory|supersedes]]

# Entity reference (prefixed with @)
@[[Person Name]]
@[[Technology Name|uses]]

# Block reference
[[Memory Name#^block-id]]

# With display text
[[Other Memory|derives-from|"See also"]]

Block References

Blocks can be referenced for granular linking:

This is an important statement. ^important-point

- Key insight about the system ^insight-1

Referenced as: [[Memory Name#^important-point]]

Citations (Level 3)

Citations provide structured references to external sources that inform, support, or relate to the memory content. Citations are a Level 3 (Full) optional feature.

Frontmatter Schema

# === OPTIONAL: Citations (Level 3) ===
citations:
  - type: article                          # REQUIRED: Source category
    title: "Memory Systems in AI Agents"   # REQUIRED: Citation title
    url: https://arxiv.org/abs/2024.12345  # REQUIRED: Valid URL
    role: supports                         # REQUIRED: Relationship to memory
    author: "@[[Jane Smith|Person]]"       # OPTIONAL: Entity ref or text
    date: 2024-06-15                       # OPTIONAL: Publication date
    accessed: 2026-01-20                   # OPTIONAL: Access date
    relevance: 0.95                        # OPTIONAL: Relevance score (0-1)
    note: "Foundational paper on semantic memory"  # OPTIONAL: Annotation

Citation Fields

Field	Required	Type	Description
type	REQUIRED	Enum	Source category (see Citation Types)
title	REQUIRED	String	Citation title
url	REQUIRED	URI	Valid URL or URI
role	REQUIRED	Enum	Relationship to memory (see Citation Roles)
author	OPTIONAL	String	Entity reference or plain text
date	OPTIONAL	Date	Publication date (ISO 8601)
accessed	OPTIONAL	Date	Access date (ISO 8601)
relevance	OPTIONAL	Decimal	Relevance score (0.0-1.0)
note	OPTIONAL	String	Free-form annotation

Citation Types

Type	Description	Example
article	Journal article, blog post	arXiv paper, Medium article
book	Published book	O’Reilly book, academic text
paper	Conference/research paper	ACM paper, IEEE publication
website	General website	Documentation site, homepage
documentation	Technical documentation	API docs, user guides
repository	Code repository	GitHub repo, GitLab project
video	Video content	YouTube tutorial, conference talk
podcast	Podcast episode	Tech podcast, interview
specification	Technical specification	W3C spec, RFC document
dataset	Data source	Kaggle dataset, research data
tool	Software tool or service	SaaS product, CLI tool
other	Miscellaneous source	Catch-all category

Custom types MAY use namespace prefixes: acme:internal-memo, research:lab-notes

Citation Roles

Role	Description	Use Case
supports	Provides supporting evidence	Confirming research, alignment
refutes	Contradicts or disputes	Opposing viewpoint, correction
background	General context/reference	Related reading, foundation
methodology	Method or approach source	Technique borrowed, framework
contradicts	Conflicts with claims	Disagreement, alternative view
extends	Builds upon cited work	Evolution, expansion
derived	Direct derivation source	Adapted from, based on
source	Primary source material	Original data, quote
example	Illustrative example	Case study, demo
review	Critical review/analysis	Critique, evaluation

Custom roles MAY use namespace prefixes: research:replicates, legal:cites-precedent

Body Section Syntax

An optional ## Citations section MAY appear in the memory body for detailed annotations. When present, corresponding entries MUST exist in frontmatter.

## Citations

- [Memory Systems in AI Agents](https://arxiv.org/abs/2024.12345) by @[[Jane Smith|Person]] (2024)
  - **Type**: article
  - **Role**: supports
  - **Relevance**: 0.95
  - Foundational paper on semantic memory structures. Introduces bi-temporal
    model that informed MIF's temporal design.

- [Obsidian Help](https://help.obsidian.md/) by @[[Obsidian Team|Organization]]
  - **Type**: documentation
  - **Role**: background
  - **Accessed**: 2026-01-18
  - Reference for wiki-link syntax and block references.

Author Entity References

Authors MAY use wiki-link syntax to reference MIF entities:

# Single author entity
author: "@[[Jane Smith|Person]]"

# Multiple authors (comma-separated)
author: "@[[Jane Smith|Person]], @[[John Doe|Person]]"

# Organization author
author: "@[[Anthropic|Organization]]"

# Plain text (no entity reference)
author: "Jane Smith et al."

Citation Validation

Implementations SHOULD validate citations according to these rules:

Required Field Constraints:

Field	Constraint
type	MUST be a value from Citation Types or a custom namespaced type (e.g., acme:memo)
title	MUST be a non-empty string
url	MUST be a valid URI (http, https, or custom schemes)
role	MUST be a value from Citation Roles or a custom namespaced role (e.g., legal:precedent)

Optional Field Constraints:

Field	Constraint
author	SHOULD be entity reference(s) @[[Name|Type]] or plain text; multiple authors comma-separated
date	MUST be ISO 8601 date format (YYYY-MM-DD)
accessed	MUST be ISO 8601 date format (YYYY-MM-DD)
relevance	MUST be decimal between 0.0 and 1.0 inclusive
note	SHOULD be under 1000 characters; longer notes SHOULD use body section

Validation Errors:

Error	Severity	Action
Missing required field	Error	Reject citation
Invalid type value	Warning	Accept with type: "other" fallback
Invalid role value	Warning	Accept with role: "background" fallback
Malformed URL	Error	Reject citation
relevance out of range	Warning	Clamp to 0.0-1.0
Invalid date format	Warning	Accept as plain text

Compression (Level 3)

Compression allows large memories to be summarized while preserving the original content. Compression is typically applied by garbage collection processes to reduce memory footprint while retaining semantic value.

Compression Fields

Field	Required	Type	Description
summary	OPTIONAL	String	Concise 2-3 sentence summary (max 500 characters)
compressed_at	OPTIONAL	DateTime	When compression was applied (ISO 8601)

Frontmatter Schema:

# === OPTIONAL: Compression (Level 3) ===
summary: "User prefers dark mode for reduced eye strain during extended coding sessions. Applies to IDE, terminal, and web applications."
compressed_at: 2026-01-24T10:00:00Z

Compression Criteria

Implementations MAY apply compression when memories meet these criteria:

Condition	Threshold
Age AND Size	Age > 30 days AND content > 100 lines
Decay AND Size	Strength < 0.3 AND content > 100 lines

Compression Behavior

• The content field SHOULD be replaced with the compressed summary
• The original content MAY be preserved in extensions.original_content
• The summary field contains the generated summary text
• The compressed_at timestamp indicates when compression occurred
• Compressed memories retain all other metadata (relationships, entities, etc.)

Compression Validation

Field	Constraint
summary	MUST be 500 characters or fewer
compressed_at	MUST be ISO 8601 datetime format