Genome

The genome is a per-project index of architectural knowledge stored under .ashlrcode/genome/. When present, ashlr__grep routes queries through the genome instead of running ripgrep on raw files — cutting tokens ~84% on warm queries.

What is in the genome

The genome is organized into sections. Default sections:

Each section is a plain-text file at .ashlrcode/genome/<section>.md. You can add custom sections.

The propose/consolidate loop

Propose: After each tool call, ashlr checks whether the result contains useful architectural information. If yes, it calls ashlr__genome_propose to queue an update to the relevant section. Proposals are stored in .ashlrcode/genome/_pending/.

Consolidate: Periodically (or when you run /ashlr-genome-loop consolidate), pending proposals are merged into the genome sections. The merge can be:

• Heuristic (default): simple deduplication and append
• LLM-assisted (with Ollama or Pro): the LLM rewrites the section to integrate the new information coherently

Scribe loop settings

Controlled via ~/.ashlr/settings.json:

{
  "genomeAutoPropose": true,
  "genomeAutoConsolidate": true
}

Disable either to pause the loop without deleting the genome.

Team sharing

The genome directory is plain text and git-friendly. Commit .ashlrcode/genome/ to share the index with your team. Teammates get a warm genome on first checkout — no re-init required.

For automated genome updates on PRs (diff-based genome refresh), see Pro tier — backend.

Genome vs ripgrep

Related

• /ashlr-genome-init — initialize the index
• /ashlr-genome-loop — inspect and control the scribe loop
• Genome tools — ashlr__genome_propose, _consolidate, _status