recall

Recall — Semantic Knowledge Search

Recall searches the Distillery knowledge base using natural language queries and returns ranked results with full provenance.

When to Use

• Finding relevant knowledge entries on a topic
• Searching past decisions, discussions, or bookmarks
• Invoked via /recall <query> or phrases like "what do we know about X"
• Filtering by type, author, or project (e.g., /recall caching --type session)

Process

Step 1: Check MCP

See CONVENTIONS.md — skip if already confirmed this conversation.

Step 2: Prompt for Query if None Provided

If /recall was invoked with no arguments, ask: "What would you like to search for in the knowledge base?" Wait for the response.

Step 3: Parse Arguments and Filters

Parse invocation arguments for optional filter flags (any order):

Flag	Parameter	Description
--type	<entry_type>	Filter by entry type (e.g., session, bookmark, minutes)
--author	<name>	Filter by author identifier
--project	<name>	Filter by project name
--limit	<n>	Override default result limit (default: 10)

Remaining text after removing flags is the query string.

Example: /recall caching --type session --author Alice --limit 5 → query: "caching", filters: type=session, author=Alice, limit: 5

Valid entry_type values: session, bookmark, minutes, meeting, reference, idea, inbox.

Step 4: Search the Knowledge Base

Call distillery_search with the parsed query, limit, and any filters. Only include filter parameters that were explicitly provided — do not pass empty or null values.

Step 5: Display Results

If results are returned, display each using the Output Format below.

If no results found, display: No results found for "<query>". followed by suggestions to broaden terms, remove filters, or check that entries exist on the topic.

Output Format

Multiple results — show a header first:

Found <count> result(s) for "<query>"<filter_summary>:

Where <filter_summary> summarises active filters (e.g., (type: session, author: Alice)), omitted if none.

Each result (ordered by similarity, highest first):

## <similarity_score>% — [<entry_type>]

<full content of the entry>

ID: <entry_id> | Author: <author> | Project: <project> | <created_at>
Tags: <tag1>, <tag2>, ...

• Similarity score — percentage, rounded to nearest whole number
• Entry type badge — in square brackets (e.g., [session])
• Full content — complete, never truncated
• Provenance line — always present: ID: <id> | Author: <author> | Project: <project> | <created_at>
• Tags — only if the entry has tags; omit the line entirely otherwise

Separate results with ---.

Rules

• Always show provenance (ID, author, project, created_at) for every result
• Default limit is 10; respect --limit override
• Parse filter flags before treating remaining text as the query
• Do not include unused filter parameters in the distillery_search call
• Show full entry content — do not truncate
• Omit the Tags line for entries with no tags; do not show Tags: (none)
• On MCP errors, see CONVENTIONS.md error handling — display and stop
• No retry loops — if search fails, report and stop (per CONVENTIONS.md)
• If --type is given an invalid value, list valid types before calling the API