Seed an AI-legible project memory map that stays small

One file (AGENTS.md) that bootstraps the rest: rules, the file map to create,
what belongs in each file, the first-session interview order, and the list of
anti-patterns that killed the previous map (1,308-line guide, 63 task files,
narrative history inline, sessions skimming 56k tokens of context).

Separates four kinds of content by read frequency:
  rules/invariants  -> AGENTS.md          (every session)
  subsystem truth   -> docs/ai/<topic>.md (only the matching one)
  lookups           -> environment.md     (grepped, never read)
  retired decisions -> decisions.md       (only when re-opening one)

Caps are enforced, not promised: scripts/verify.sh checks doc budgets before
the build, so a commit that pads a capped file fails. Proven both ways — it
passes clean and exits 1 on an over-cap file.

scripts/scope-check.sh blocks edits outside the declared file list.
templates/ holds fill-in skeletons for the seven files a project must create.

CC0: copy it, rename it, sell it, no attribution needed.

README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+# agent-memory-seed
+
+Seed for an AI-legible project memory map: **fork it, don't sync it.**
+
+Copy the files into a new repo, let the AI run the first-session interview, then delete the seed
+scaffolding. Every project owns its own copy from then on; improvements that prove out somewhere
+get brought back here deliberately, one at a time. Never try to keep the two in lockstep.
+
+## Why it exists
+
+Most "AI context" files die the same death: they grow. A rules file becomes a history file, a task
+list becomes a second source of truth, and every session pays to skim it — which is how stale facts
+survive. This seed is small because it separates four kinds of content that have four different
+read frequencies:
+
+| Kind | Home | Read |
+|---|---|---|
+| Rules + invariants | `AGENTS.md` | every session |
+| Subsystem truth | `docs/ai/<topic>.md` | only the one matching the task |
+| Lookups (hosts, paths, commands) | `docs/ai/environment.md` | grepped, never read |
+| Retired decisions | `docs/ai/decisions.md` | only when re-opening one |
+
+Caps are enforced by `scripts/verify.sh`, not promised: a commit that pads a capped file fails.
+
+## What's here
+
+```
+AGENTS.md              the seed: rules, file map, per-file contents, first-session order
+scripts/verify.sh      the one gate — doc budgets, clean build, tests, scope check
+scripts/scope-check.sh fails if a commit touches files outside the declared list
+templates/             fill-in skeletons the AI copies into the target project
+```
+
+## Use
+
+```bash
+git clone https://<host>/<owner>/agent-memory-seed.git <new-project>
+cd <new-project>
+rm -rf .git && git init -b main
+```
+
+Then, as the first prompt to the AI:
+
+> Read AGENTS.md and follow it. Ask me the first-session questions one at a time, then build the
+> memory map, then delete the seed scaffolding — `templates/` and the seed sections of README.
+
+`templates/` is input, not output: copy each skeleton to its real path (`templates/handoff.md` →
+`HANDOFF.md`) and fill it in. When the map is built, remove `templates/` and rewrite this README
+for the actual project.
+
+## The parts that matter most
+
+1. **The caps + the gate.** Everything else degrades politely; a file without a failing check
+   bloats silently.
+2. **`HANDOFF.md` is overwritten, never appended.** History belongs to `git log`.
+3. **A budget cut means moving detail out, never deleting a fact** — out to a subsystem doc, a
+   lookup sheet, the decisions log, or git.
+
+Anti-patterns and the full ruleset live in [`AGENTS.md`](AGENTS.md) §1 and §6.
+
+## License
+
+[CC0 1.0 Universal](LICENSE) — public domain. Copy it, rename it, sell it, no attribution needed.