From 46fa55ace1a96fcd28f3395491ad0d488b21c114 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Gustavo Madeira Santana <gumadeiras@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 2026 19:54:17 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] memory: narrow dreaming contamination heuristics

---
 .../src/short-term-promotion.test.ts          | 46 +++++++++++++++++++
 .../memory-core/src/short-term-promotion.ts   | 17 ++-----
 2 files changed, 51 insertions(+), 12 deletions(-)

diff --git a/extensions/memory-core/src/short-term-promotion.test.ts b/extensions/memory-core/src/short-term-promotion.test.ts
index e3bb05f2ad0..ce379000549 100644
--- a/extensions/memory-core/src/short-term-promotion.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/memory-core/src/short-term-promotion.test.ts
@@ -262,6 +262,36 @@ describe("short-term promotion", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it("keeps ordinary snippets that only quote dreaming prompt markers", async () => {
+    await withTempWorkspace(async (workspaceDir) => {
+      await recordShortTermRecalls({
+        workspaceDir,
+        query: "debug note",
+        results: [
+          {
+            path: "memory/2026-04-03.md",
+            source: "memory",
+            startLine: 1,
+            endLine: 1,
+            score: 0.75,
+            snippet:
+              "Debug note: quote Write a dream diary entry from these memory fragments for docs, but do not use dreaming-narrative-like labels in production.",
+          },
+        ],
+      });
+
+      const store = JSON.parse(
+        await fs.readFile(resolveShortTermRecallStorePath(workspaceDir), "utf-8"),
+      ) as { entries: Record<string, { snippet: string }> };
+      expect(Object.values(store.entries)).toEqual([
+        expect.objectContaining({
+          snippet:
+            "Debug note: quote Write a dream diary entry from these memory fragments for docs, but do not use dreaming-narrative-like labels in production.",
+        }),
+      ]);
+    });
+  });
+
   it("records recalls and ranks candidates with weighted scores", async () => {
     await withTempWorkspace(async (workspaceDir) => {
       await recordShortTermRecalls({
@@ -1063,6 +1093,22 @@ describe("short-term promotion", () => {
     ).toBe(true);
   });
 
+  it("does not treat ordinary candidate notes with daily-memory evidence as contaminated", () => {
+    expect(
+      __testing.isContaminatedDreamingSnippet(
+        "Candidate: move backups weekly. confidence: 0.76 evidence: memory/2026-04-08.md:1-1",
+      ),
+    ).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("treats transcript-style dreaming prompt echoes as contaminated", () => {
+    expect(
+      __testing.isContaminatedDreamingSnippet(
+        "[main/dreaming-narrative-light.jsonl#L1] Write a dream diary entry from these memory fragments:",
+      ),
+    ).toBe(true);
+  });
+
   it("skips direct candidates that exceed maxAgeDays during apply", async () => {
     await withTempWorkspace(async (workspaceDir) => {
       const applied = await applyShortTermPromotions({
diff --git a/extensions/memory-core/src/short-term-promotion.ts b/extensions/memory-core/src/short-term-promotion.ts
index 8562b1f4aa2..faf41fab9b8 100644
--- a/extensions/memory-core/src/short-term-promotion.ts
+++ b/extensions/memory-core/src/short-term-promotion.ts
@@ -32,13 +32,13 @@ const SHORT_TERM_LOCK_RELATIVE_PATH = path.join("memory", ".dreams", "short-term
 const SHORT_TERM_LOCK_WAIT_TIMEOUT_MS = 10_000;
 const SHORT_TERM_LOCK_STALE_MS = 60_000;
 const SHORT_TERM_LOCK_RETRY_DELAY_MS = 40;
-const DREAMING_NARRATIVE_PROMPT_PREFIX = "Write a dream diary entry from these memory fragments";
 // Repeated dreaming revisits should be able to clear the default promotion gate
 // without requiring separate organic recall traffic for the same snippet.
 const PHASE_SIGNAL_LIGHT_BOOST_MAX = 0.06;
 const PHASE_SIGNAL_REM_BOOST_MAX = 0.09;
 const PHASE_SIGNAL_HALF_LIFE_DAYS = 14;
-const DREAMING_NARRATIVE_RUN_PREFIX = "dreaming-narrative-";
+const DREAMING_TRANSCRIPT_PROMPT_LINE_RE =
+  /\[[^\]]*dreaming-narrative[^\]]*]\s*Write a dream diary entry from these memory fragments:?/i;
 const inProcessShortTermLocks = new Map<string, Promise<void>>();
 const ensuredShortTermDirs = new Map<string, Promise<void>>();
 
@@ -277,9 +277,8 @@ function isContaminatedDreamingSnippet(raw: string): boolean {
     return false;
   }
   if (
-    snippet.includes(DREAMING_NARRATIVE_PROMPT_PREFIX) ||
-    snippet.includes(PROMOTION_MARKER_PREFIX) ||
-    snippet.includes(DREAMING_NARRATIVE_RUN_PREFIX)
+    /<!--\s*openclaw-memory-promotion:/i.test(snippet) ||
+    DREAMING_TRANSCRIPT_PROMPT_LINE_RE.test(snippet)
   ) {
     return true;
   }
@@ -291,13 +290,7 @@ function isContaminatedDreamingSnippet(raw: string): boolean {
   );
   const hasStatus = /\bstatus:\s*staged\b/i.test(snippet);
   const hasRecalls = /\brecalls:\s*\d+\b/i.test(snippet);
-  if (hasEvidence && hasNarrativeLead) {
-    return true;
-  }
-  const structuredMarkers = [hasConfidence, hasEvidence, hasStatus, hasRecalls].filter(
-    Boolean,
-  ).length;
-  return hasNarrativeLead && structuredMarkers >= 2;
+  return hasNarrativeLead && hasConfidence && hasEvidence && hasStatus && hasRecalls;
 }
 
 function normalizeMemoryPath(rawPath: string): string {