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2026-05-16

memory/2026-05-16.md

Summary

• Tom asked Merlin to build a daily memory system with logs for every day they work together.
• Merlin set up a dashboard-based structure so each day can be summarized and later searched by project or date.
• Going forward, Merlin should add compact summaries of meaningful discussions/work into the daily log for that date.
• Tom asked Merlin to expand the dashboard with richer navigation and tracking views.
• Merlin built the first local microapp for memory navigation and quick capture.
• Merlin helped expose the app through Traefik and diagnosed the TLS warning as a Let’s Encrypt rate-limit issue on the shared `hstgr.cloud` domain.
• Merlin then fixed duplicate decision/project rendering and added a cleaner background-start script for Merlin Console.

Conversations

• Daily memory system request → Tom wants every discussion summarized into a daily tracker and wants Merlin to refer back to it for questions about specific projects or days.
• Build request → Merlin created the initial dashboard, logging rules, and today’s first entry.
• Dashboard expansion request → Tom asked Merlin to add all the proposed improvements: per-project sections, tags/statuses, recent decisions, and a searchable project index.
• Microapp ideation → Merlin recommended a tiny personal ops dashboard / "Merlin Console" as the most immediately useful microapp to build now.
• Microapp build → Merlin built the first local version with timeline, project index, tags, decisions, and quick capture into daily logs.
• VPS deployment → Merlin walked Tom through entering the OpenClaw container, running the app, inspecting Traefik labels/networks, and testing the app from inside the container.
• TLS diagnosis → Merlin found Traefik was correctly routing to Merlin Console but Let’s Encrypt could not issue a trusted certificate for the new `*.hstgr.cloud` subdomain because that shared parent domain had hit the certificate rate limit.
• Console cleanup → Tom asked Merlin to continue with automatic startup guidance and duplicate-decision cleanup; Merlin updated the app and docs accordingly.
• Containerization → After the in-container background process proved flaky, Tom asked Merlin to set up Merlin Console as its own dedicated container with its own compose file, Dockerfile, and Traefik-ready labels.

Decisions

• Use one markdown file per day in `memory/` named `YYYY-MM-DD.md`.
• Maintain a generated `memory/dashboard.md` as the quick overview.
• Use `MEMORY.md` only for durable long-term facts/preferences, not the full daily journal.
• Add structured project metadata to daily logs using status and tags so the dashboard can build reusable indexes.
• Build the first microapp as a local markdown-backed dashboard instead of a heavier database-backed system.
• Treat the current public `hstgr.cloud` route as temporary/testing only because the shared parent domain hit Let’s Encrypt certificate rate limits.
• Make Merlin Console resilient to duplicate daily-log sections and duplicate captured bullets.
• Move Merlin Console toward a standalone container architecture instead of running it as an ad-hoc second process inside the OpenClaw container.

Projects

• Daily memory system active
  initialized, then expanded with a project index, tags view, recent decisions view, and a richer dashboard structure.
  memorydashboardlogging
• Merlin Console active
  first version built as a local web app with timeline, project pages, tag pages, day pages, and quick capture writing back to markdown logs.
  microappmemorydashboardpython
• Merlin Console deployment active
  routed through Traefik successfully for testing, but trusted TLS on the Hostinger shared subdomain is blocked by Let’s Encrypt rate limits; background-start workflow added.
  deploymenttraefiktlsdocker
• Merlin Console containerization active
  packaged Merlin Console as a standalone Docker service with its own Dockerfile, compose file, and custom-domain Traefik labels for `merlin.tomlcross.com`.
  dockerdeploymentcontainertraefik