6-file lifecycle pattern survives agent restarts

Strong practical write-up: it reframes “memory” as deterministic state management, which is the right mental model for agents that need to survive restarts.

• –The single-writer convention is the most important part; it reduces race conditions and makes recovery predictable.
• –The boot order is sensible: identity first, then task state, then preferences and error filters, then fresh inbox work.
• –The “save at decision boundaries” rule is the real operational insight, because most systems only save at task boundaries and lose mid-task continuity.
• –The pattern is broadly reusable across models and tooling because it depends on file discipline, not vendor-specific memory features.
• –Main risk: it still relies on humans/agents consistently writing the right files at the right moments; without enforcement, drift and stale state will return.