List backlog entities from the active project substrate registry. Returns most recently observed items first, limited to 20 by default.

Get full details by ID. Accepts task IDs (TASK-0001, EPIC-0002), document paths (README.md, docs/adr/0001-example.md), or MCP resource URIs (mcp://backlog/resources/design.md). Works for any item regardless of status. Pass context:true when starting work on an entity to also see its relational neighborhood as stubs.

Delete an item permanently.

Search across all indexed backlog substrates and generic resources. Returns relevance-ranked results with match context. Use this for discovery; use backlog_list for filtering by status/type.

Use when you want backlog-mcp to validate and canonically persist an existing entity edit before reporting success. For ordinary repository prose edits, use your native Edit tool; reconciliation updates indexes and diagnostics afterward. Create and transition entities through the substrate-declared intent tools.

• The append command will add content to the end of the body, automatically adding a newline if needed. Notes for using the str_replace command:

• The old_str parameter should match EXACTLY one or more consecutive lines from the original body. Be mindful of whitespaces!

• If the old_str parameter is not unique in the body, the replacement will not be performed. Include enough context to make it unique.

• The new_str parameter should contain the edited lines that should replace the old_str

Dense session-start briefing: active tasks, current epics, project constraints (requirements as stubs, violated/at-risk first — treat these as standing product intent), recent completions (with evidence snippets), recent activity, and the home-wide unfiled work count. No focal entity required — use this at the start of every session to understand what you were working on. Optional scope narrows the entity sections to a folder, milestone, or epic; unfiled remains home-wide because parentless work has no subtree ancestry. Optional operation resumes a mid-flight operation document: its live state becomes the briefing's FOCUS centerpiece and the rest of the briefing yields budget to it.

Recall memories — knowledge and episodes captured across sessions. Returns STUBS (title + one-line digest + provenance) by default; expand interesting ones with backlog_get(MEMO-id), or pass full:true for bodies. Weigh a stub's trust BEFORE hydrating: age_days (on the knowledge's own timeline), uses/idle_days (recall demand), supersedes (this is a correction), derived (consolidator inference), kind (current/historical/plan/preference/timeless). Old + never-used = treat as hypothesis, not truth. Distinct from backlog_search (live entities). Use to answer "how do we deploy?", "have I hit this before?", "what did I finish about X?". Memories point back to source entities via entity_id.

Write a durable memory — a stable fact, a procedure, or a preference you should know next session. Use when you learn something worth keeping: "this repo deploys via wrangler", "Goga prefers terse evidence bullets". To CORRECT existing knowledge, pass supersedes (the old MEMO- id is expired, lineage kept) or state_key (previous holders of the same evolving fact are closed). The optional collision_candidates receipt is tri-state: [] means the advisory scan completed clean; a non-empty array means nearby facts deserve adjudication; absent means the advisory scan did not run or failed, not that the write failed. Do not use for task events — completions are captured automatically.

Retract memories — soft-expire them so recall stops returning them (the record stays auditable in the viewer). Use when knowledge is wrong or obsolete and there is no replacement (if there IS a replacement, use backlog_remember with supersedes instead). expired:true garbage-collects already-expired memories.

List clusters of episodic memories that are ripe for consolidation into durable knowledge. Consolidator workflow: (1) call this and take ripe bundles; (2) per bundle, read members (backlog_get on MEMO- ids for depth), then write ONE narrative memory via backlog_remember({ layer: "semantic"|"procedural", derived: true, entity_refs: [member MEMO- ids + key source entities], context }) — a self-contained story, not fragments; (3) retire the members via backlog_forget({ ids }) so they stop appearing here while staying auditable; (4) track your progress with a backlog_remember state_key like "consolidation.watermark.".

List structural contradictions in memory: sets of ≥2 LIVE memories that share one state_key (e.g. "db.primary"), which should never happen — a new memory with a state_key auto-expires the previous holder. Each set means two beliefs about the same fact are both active. Resolution is yours, never automatic: pick the correct member, then either backlog_remember({ content, state_key, supersedes: }) to record the right value and retire the rest, or backlog_forget({ ids: [] }) to expire the wrong ones. Read members with backlog_get for full context before deciding. Set candidates: true to list semantic collision candidates instead: nearby live facts that deserve review, never contradiction verdicts.

Use when ratifying an existing proposed ADR.

Use when attaching an artifact to a project item. parent_id is required.

Use when blocking a task with a reason.

Use when preserving a verbatim human directive as a chronological project prompt.

Use when recording an external technology, prior-art system, or benchmark this project builds on — with authoritative citations and the project's adopt/park/reject relationship to it.

Use when recording a human or system requirement in the current project.

Use when completing a task, optionally with evidence.

Use when creating a project work item. Pass parent_id when known; parentless work surfaces as unfiled at wakeup.

Use when creating a folder to organize project items. Pass parent_id when known; parentless work surfaces as unfiled at wakeup.

Use when pausing a scheduled intake.

Use when planning an epic that groups related work. Pass parent_id when known; parentless work surfaces as unfiled at wakeup.

Use when recording a proposed architectural decision in the current project.

Use when resuming a scheduled intake.

Use when scheduling recurring project intake. Pass parent_id when known; parentless work surfaces as unfiled at wakeup.

Use when starting active work on a task.

Use when a newer ADR replaces an accepted or living ADR while preserving lineage.

Use when creating a milestone for a project target. Pass parent_id when known; parentless work surfaces as unfiled at wakeup.