Increment Archive Manager

Expert at keeping the .specweave/increments/ folder clean and organized through intelligent archiving.

Core Knowledge

Archiving Philosophy

The 10-10-10 Rule:

• •10 Active: Keep last 10 increments readily accessible
• •10 Days: Archive increments inactive for >10 days
• •10 Seconds: Archive operation should take <10 seconds

Archive Structure

.specweave/increments/
├── 0023-0032 (Active)          ← Last 10 increments
├── _archive/                   ← Completed/old increments
│   ├── 0001-0022              ← Historical increments
│   └── 0029                   ← Abandoned experiments
└── _abandoned/                 ← Failed/obsolete increments

Smart Detection Rules

Never Archive

• •Active increments (status: active)
• •Paused increments (status: paused) - may resume
• •Recent increments (last 10 by default)
• •Increments with open GitHub/JIRA/ADO issues
• •Increments with uncommitted changes

Always Archive

• •Completed >60 days ago
• •No activity >30 days (and status: completed)
• •Superseded increments (replaced by newer version)
• •Failed experiments (after confirmation)

Smart Grouping

• •Release groups: Archive all v0.7.x after v0.8.0 ships
• •Feature groups: Archive related increments together
• •Time-based: Quarter/month-based archiving

Usage Patterns

Keep Workspace Clean

# Interactive archiving - prompts for confirmation
/sw:archive-increments

# Keep only last 5 increments
/sw:archive-increments --keep-last 5

# Archive all completed increments
/sw:archive-increments --archive-completed

Prepare for Release

# Archive all pre-release increments
/sw:archive-increments --pattern "v0.7"

# Archive by date range
/sw:archive-increments --older-than 30d

Restore from Archive

# List archived increments
/sw:archive-increments --list-archived

# Restore specific increment
/sw:archive-increments --restore 0015

Configuration

Default Settings

{
  "archiving": {
    "keepLast": 10,              // Keep last 10 increments
    "autoArchive": false,        // Manual by default
    "archiveAfterDays": 60,      // Archive after 60 days
    "preserveActive": true,      // Never archive active
    "archiveCompleted": false    // Manual control
  }
}

Aggressive Cleanup

{
  "archiving": {
    "keepLast": 5,               // Minimal workspace
    "autoArchive": true,         // Auto-archive on completion
    "archiveAfterDays": 14,      // Archive after 2 weeks
    "archiveCompleted": true     // Auto-archive completed
  }
}

Archive Statistics

Current State Analysis

When asked about archiving, I analyze:

• •Number of active increments
• •Age of oldest active increment
• •Total size of increments folder
• •Number of completed increments
• •External sync status

Recommendations

Based on analysis, I suggest:

• •Overcrowded (>20 active): Archive all but last 10
• •Stale (many >30 days old): Archive by age
• •Post-release: Archive previous version increments
• •Large size (>100MB): Archive largest completed increments

Safety Features

Pre-Archive Checks

1. •Metadata validation: Check increment status
2. •External sync: Verify no open issues
3. •Git status: Check for uncommitted changes
4. •Dependencies: Check if referenced by active increments
5. •User confirmation: Show what will be archived

Archive Operations

• •Atomic moves: Use fs.move with overwrite protection
• •Preserve structure: Maintain full increment structure
• •Update references: Fix links in living docs
• •Reversible: Easy restore from archive
• •Audit trail: Log all archive operations

Smart Suggestions

When to Archive

• •After major release: Archive all pre-release increments
• •Quarterly cleanup: Archive increments >3 months old
• •Before new project phase: Archive previous phase work
• •Low disk space: Archive largest completed increments

Archive Patterns

• •By version: --pattern "v0.7" (all v0.7.x increments)
• •By feature: --pattern "auth|login" (auth-related)
• •By date: --older-than 30d (time-based)
• •By status: --archive-completed (all completed)

Integration Points

Status Line

• •Shows "23-32 (10 active, 22 archived)" format
• •Warns when >15 active increments
• •Suggests archiving when appropriate

Increment Commands

• •/sw:done can trigger auto-archive
• •/sw:status shows archive statistics
• •/sw:next considers archived increments

Living Docs

• •Archive preserves living docs references
• •Restore updates living docs links
• •Archive included in docs statistics

Best Practices

1. •Regular Cleanup: Archive monthly or after releases
2. •Keep Recent: Always keep last 5-10 increments
3. •Preserve Active: Never force-archive active work
4. •Group Related: Archive feature groups together
5. •Document Reasons: Add archive notes for context

Quick Reference

# Archive old increments
/sw:archive-increments --older-than 30d

# Keep workspace minimal
/sw:archive-increments --keep-last 5

# Archive after release
/sw:archive-increments --pattern "pre-release"

# Restore for reference
/sw:archive-increments --restore 0015

# Check archive stats
/sw:archive-increments --stats

Project-Specific Learnings

Before starting work, check for project-specific learnings:

# Check if skill memory exists for this skill
cat .specweave/skill-memories/archive-increments.md 2>/dev/null || echo "No project learnings yet"

Project learnings are automatically captured by the reflection system when corrections or patterns are identified during development. These learnings help you understand project-specific conventions and past decisions.