Turn one coding fix into reviewed memory before buying an agent-memory service
Keep one reusable lesson, its source revision and a clear expiry rule in three ongoing-free local tools.
A portable lesson card: one fictional failure, a bounded fix, a source revision, a counterexample, a review decision and an expiry trigger.
It does not install Beacon, capture real agent sessions, run an external model or claim a tested fix. The visual is an editorial illustration, not a provider screenshot or customer result.
About this guide & its examples
This original FreeStack exercise uses a fictional date-formatting bug to plan reusable project knowledge. Official sources checked 3 November 2026.
Illustrations are FreeStack concepts, not provider screenshots. Check the free limits below and test your own files before delivery.
Free boundaries before you start
What’s free, whether you need an account, and when we last checked.
Visual Studio Code · checked 2026-11-03
VS Code remains free for private and commercial use. Microsoft's distribution uses its product licence; the published source is MIT-licensed. Extensions, Settings Sync, Copilot, remote services and deployment infrastructure have separate terms and limits.
No Microsoft account is required for core local editing. Optional sync, Copilot, marketplace or hosted services can require accounts.
Git · checked 2026-11-03
Free GPLv2 distributed version-control software for local repositories, with no provider project or history quota. Remote hosting, backup, access control and large-file storage are separate services.
No account is required for a local Git repository. Any remote host or sync service can require an account.
Vale · checked 2026-11-03
Free MIT-licensed local prose linter with no provider document or word quota. Style packages, editor integrations and continuous-integration compute are separate, and automated rules still need editorial review.
No Vale account is required for local command-line use. Registries, repositories and CI services may require separate accounts.
A small example to aim for
Date display: scope before reuse
Keep the source.
Review before reuse.
Evidence · applicability · counterexample · reviewer · retirement rule
FreeStack editorial illustration · not a Beacon screenshot, executed test or customer result.
Illustrative example · adapt it to your project.
Jump to a step
Define the lesson worth keeping
Choose one narrow observation: a fictional cafe menu displayed a machine-formatted date where the brief required a readable UK date. Write the symptom, expected behaviour and affected component in a Markdown file. Exclude client names, real traces, credentials and production data. Record what would make the lesson irrelevant, such as replacing the date component. A memory should solve a repeated decision, not preserve an entire conversation.
Keep evidence separate from advice
Create evidence.md and lesson.md. In the fictional evidence file, describe the input, observed output and proposed change, marking every example synthetic. In the lesson, state a conditional recommendation rather than a global instruction: when this component formats this date field, use the agreed display format. Link to the evidence filename and the relevant source revision. A confident paragraph without a traceable origin is not ready to reuse.
Add the case where the rule should not apply
Write two review cases: the cafe display uses the readable format; an ISO date in an exported machine-readable file stays unchanged. Name who reviews the distinction. Ask the reviewer to reject any lesson that changes every date everywhere. Record expected results as requirements, not test results; this guide has not executed them. A counterexample makes the scope easier to understand before an agent can retrieve the note.
Review wording with a small local check
Use Vale with a deliberately small ruleset to flag vague words and ambiguous instructions. Inspect suggestions manually. A style linter cannot prove the fix works, establish that a memory is safe or make a false statement true. Keep unresolved technical questions in the review section rather than polishing them into certainty. Include the ruleset and tool version in your note.
Version the approved note and define retirement
Use Git to create a named checkpoint only after a person has reviewed the lesson, evidence pointer and counterexample. Record reviewer, date, applicable component and retirement condition. Store raw logs outside the reusable note. When the component changes, review or retire the lesson instead of silently allowing obsolete advice to persist. A commit is history on a disk; independent backup and access control remain separate.
Pay for a demonstrated memory requirement
Stay with the three-tool route while occasional notes and one reviewer are sufficient. FreeStack editorial upgrade triggers: repeated cross-agent retrieval, consented trace capture, searchable team memory, managed retention, formal review history or approved evaluator calls. Count the actual repeated work and inspect the data destination before buying a service. Automated distillation, agent subscriptions and hosted storage are not included in this toolkit.
Your workflow, connected.
Follow the steps and carry the output into the next stage. These are suggested handoffs, not automatic integrations.
- 02Attach the source
VS Code core editing is free for private and commercial use. Git is GPLv2 local software. Hosted repositories, AI extensions and model access are separate.
Evidence pointer + conditional advice - 04Check the language
Vale is MIT-licensed local software with no provider word quota. Style packages and CI services have their own terms.
Reviewed wording + open questions
Provider information
Check current plans and documentation before committing to a workflow.
A couple of useful questions
Do I need an AI agent for this guide?
No. The output is a reviewed, portable lesson. An agent-memory product can be considered later when retrieval or trace handling becomes a measured requirement.
What is free?
VS Code core, local Git and Vale have ongoing-free software routes, with no provider note, word or history quota for this exercise. Hardware, storage, backup, hosting, models and external services are separate.
Does this create a Beacon skill?
No. It is a smaller FreeStack learning workflow. It does not reproduce Beacon's capture, evaluator, MCP or promotion system.
What does Save this toolkit do?
It uses FreeStack's existing save flow for the three catalogue tools. Browser-local saves remain on that device; sign in for account storage. It does not copy files, run checks or buy a plan.
What would you try?
Share your result or ask a specific question about this workflow.
Join the conversation