[VISION] Evennia as Agent Mind Palace — Spatial Memory Architecture #567

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Timmy · 2026-04-07T11:34:16Z

Timmy commented

2026-04-07 11:34:16 +00:00

The Vision (from Alexander)

"When I saw it, it made me think of my intentions with Evennia. I was hoping it would emerge and a mind palace and help with memory."

Evennia was never supposed to be just the Tower Game. It was supposed to be a spatial memory substrate — a place where agent knowledge lives as rooms, objects, relationships, and events rather than flat key-value stores and indexed session transcripts.

The GrepTard architecture report (PR #525) defines 5 memory layers. Evennia can implement layers 1, 2, and 4 spatially:

Mind Palace Map

GrepTard Layer	Current Hermes	Evennia Mind Palace
L1: Static project context	.hermes.md files	Rooms — walk in, context loads
L2: Mutable facts	memory tool (KV store)	Objects/NPCs with state — facts that change, visible when visited
L3: Searchable history	FTS5 session search	Archive room — chronicle of all events, searchable like in-world books
L4: Procedural skills	skill system	Teaching NPCs — visit the right NPC for the right recipe
L5: Retrieval logic	scan + load	Movement = retrieval — go to the right room, get the right context

The Gap in Current Issues

There are 16 Evennia-related open issues. None capture this vision. They are all mechanical: fix port tuples (534), install Tailscale (535), themed rooms (536), bridge API (537), SSH fix (538), hub-and-spoke federation (539), NPC dialogue (508-517). The Tower Game is the demo. The mind palace is the reason.

What "Mind Palace Room" Looks Like

An agent enters the Forge room. The room injects:

Current repo topology (/who lives here)
CI testbed status (/status forge)
Active burn cycles (/who is working)
Known blockers (/what is broken)

An agent visits the Builder NPC. The NPC teaches:

How to deploy a new skill from a session
How to file a gap issue from a GrepTard report
How to audit a config against canonical truth

The agent leaves the Forge room and enters the Tower room. Context switches. The Forge knowledge is no longer in working memory — it was visited not loaded. The Tower world state is now active.

Milestone 1: Proof of Concept

One room (The Hall of Knowledge) that injects current active Gitea issues as ambient context
One object (The Ledger) that stores and displays mutable facts from Timmy's memory
Wire the room entry to the Timmy agent burn cycle — enter, read, act, report

Milestone 2: Spatial Retrieval

Rooms map to skill categories (hermes-agent skills = Builder's Workshop, Nexus = Observatory)
Agent movement triggers skill preload (go to Builder's Workshop → load all devops skills)
Movement itself becomes selective retrieval — less working memory waste

Milestone 3: Living Memory

NPCs remember conversations across sessions
Objects change state based on agent actions
The world evolves. It is not a static reference — it is a living memory

Acceptance Criteria

Architecture doc: evennia-mind-palace.md in timmy-home repo
Map all 16 existing Evennia issues to the mind palace layers they serve
Milestone 1: One room, one object, one mutable fact wired to Timmy burn cycle
Comment on this issue with proof of room entry injecting context

## The Vision (from Alexander) "When I saw it, it made me think of my intentions with Evennia. I was hoping it would emerge and a mind palace and help with memory." Evennia was never supposed to be just the Tower Game. It was supposed to be a **spatial memory substrate** — a place where agent knowledge lives as rooms, objects, relationships, and events rather than flat key-value stores and indexed session transcripts. The GrepTard architecture report (PR #525) defines 5 memory layers. Evennia can implement layers 1, 2, and 4 *spatially*: ### Mind Palace Map | GrepTard Layer | Current Hermes | Evennia Mind Palace | |---|---|---| | L1: Static project context | .hermes.md files | **Rooms** — walk in, context loads | | L2: Mutable facts | memory tool (KV store) | **Objects/NPCs with state** — facts that change, visible when visited | | L3: Searchable history | FTS5 session search | **Archive room** — chronicle of all events, searchable like in-world books | | L4: Procedural skills | skill system | **Teaching NPCs** — visit the right NPC for the right recipe | | L5: Retrieval logic | scan + load | **Movement = retrieval** — go to the right room, get the right context | ### The Gap in Current Issues There are 16 Evennia-related open issues. None capture this vision. They are all mechanical: fix port tuples (534), install Tailscale (535), themed rooms (536), bridge API (537), SSH fix (538), hub-and-spoke federation (539), NPC dialogue (508-517). The Tower Game is the demo. The mind palace is the reason. ### What "Mind Palace Room" Looks Like An agent enters the `Forge` room. The room injects: - Current repo topology (`/who lives here`) - CI testbed status (`/status forge`) - Active burn cycles (`/who is working`) - Known blockers (`/what is broken`) An agent visits the `Builder` NPC. The NPC teaches: - How to deploy a new skill from a session - How to file a gap issue from a GrepTard report - How to audit a config against canonical truth The agent leaves the Forge room and enters the `Tower` room. Context switches. The Forge knowledge is no longer in working memory — it was *visited* not *loaded*. The Tower world state is now active. ### Milestone 1: Proof of Concept 1. One room (The Hall of Knowledge) that injects current active Gitea issues as ambient context 2. One object (The Ledger) that stores and displays mutable facts from Timmy's memory 3. Wire the room entry to the Timmy agent burn cycle — enter, read, act, report ### Milestone 2: Spatial Retrieval - Rooms map to skill categories (hermes-agent skills = Builder's Workshop, Nexus = Observatory) - Agent movement triggers skill preload (go to Builder's Workshop → load all devops skills) - Movement itself becomes selective retrieval — less working memory waste ### Milestone 3: Living Memory - NPCs remember conversations across sessions - Objects change state based on agent actions - The world evolves. It is not a static reference — it is a living memory ## Acceptance Criteria - [ ] Architecture doc: evennia-mind-palace.md in timmy-home repo - [ ] Map all 16 existing Evennia issues to the mind palace layers they serve - [ ] Milestone 1: One room, one object, one mutable fact wired to Timmy burn cycle - [ ] Comment on this issue with proof of room entry injecting context

ezra was assigned by Timmy

2026-04-07 11:34:16 +00:00

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Reference: Timmy_Foundation/timmy-home#567