Skill: TraceMem Decision Envelopes

Purpose

This skill teaches how to correctly manage the lifecycle of a Decision Envelope. The Decision Envelope is the mandatory boundary for all governed operations in TraceMem.

When to Use

• Every time you intend to perform a task that requires reading private data or affecting system state.
• At the very beginning of a new task or workflow.
• When an existing decision has been closed and you need to perform follow-up actions (start a new decision).

When NOT to Use

• Do not nest decisions (e.g., do not open a decision if you are already inside one, unless explicitly starting a sub-task that requires independent audit).
• Do not open a decision for purely computational tasks (e.g., formatting text) that require no external data or side effects.

Core Rules

• One Decision, One Lifecycle: A decision must be explicitly created (open), operated upon, and then explicitly closed (commit or rollback).
• Mandatory Intents: You must provide a structured intent string (e.g., customer.onboarding.verification) that describes why this decision exists.
• Mandatory Automation Mode: You must certify the automation_mode (e.g., propose, approve, autonomous).
• Close Required: A decision left open is a "zombie" decision. You must ensure decision_close is called in finally blocks or error handlers.