<rss version="2.0" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"><channel><title>Hacker News: calpaterson</title><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=calpaterson</link><description>Hacker News RSS</description><docs>https://hnrss.org/</docs><generator>hnrss v2.1.1</generator><lastBuildDate>Sun, 11 Oct 2026 07:42:05 +0000</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://hnrss.org/user?id=calpaterson" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"></atom:link><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by calpaterson in "Agent memory as a file format"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I'm not sure I understand - the schema is set and doesn't get changed by agents as they work</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 01 Sep 2026 07:13:18 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49518969</link><dc:creator>calpaterson</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49518969</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49518969</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by calpaterson in "Agent memory as a file format"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>You don't have to regenerate a zipfile each time you do something - the zipfile is just to give a single file for distribution.  It's just a zip of the directory.<p>Git is supported in the spec, though the tool doesn't yet handle it (soon!  git is nice as you get a log "for free" which helps agents understand more about the memories).<p>As for sqlite in git: yes you can gitignore it, you could use git-lfs, you could use an out of band database.  It would be great if there were another format more amenable to git to store vectors in.  I looked at csv closely, but I was worried about float formatting/representational bugs.  There is a gap in the market for a format here.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 01 Sep 2026 07:09:41 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49518933</link><dc:creator>calpaterson</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49518933</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49518933</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by calpaterson in "Agent memory as a file format"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Thanks for pointing out recfiles. I was not aware of it and will investigate whether we can reuse anything. That said Markdown with YAML frontmatter is not exactly my own invention!</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 01 Sep 2026 06:00:37 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49518467</link><dc:creator>calpaterson</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49518467</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49518467</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by calpaterson in "Agent memory as a file format"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>I find that semantic search is substantially better than keyword search even for small corpuses.  Being able to find "related" material that doesn't match the keyword is a big advance over traditional full text search.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 31 Aug 2026 13:21:47 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49509456</link><dc:creator>calpaterson</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49509456</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49509456</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by calpaterson in "Agent memory as a file format"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>What I propose is only a very slightly more formal version of what you describe.<p>Just to start with: memoryfields are possible to use in a server/client system.  That was a key aim and I do already use them over Amazon S3 (though not always).<p>I started, like you did, with a personal library of prompts.  But the issue is that as your library of little pieces of prompts increases a) you get tired of constantly editing them yourself b) you have no easy way to export and share them with others c) it's frustrating that the agent doesn't "automatically" find your little bit of prompt on X even when clearly it is relevant - hence sem search.<p>I think a lot of people are still using the "personal library of bits of prompt" model.  It is ok.  But I wanted to propose an minimal, interchangeable standard for sharing them.  So the idea of being an institution and having a shared memoryfield: that's something I want as well!<p>The spec, feedback greatly welcome:<p><a href="https://github.com/calpaterson/memoryfield-spec/blob/main/SPEC.md" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/calpaterson/memoryfield-spec/blob/main/SP...</a></p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 31 Aug 2026 13:20:40 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49509447</link><dc:creator>calpaterson</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49509447</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49509447</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by calpaterson in "Agent Memory as a File Format"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Just retrieving usually doesn't count as memory.  "Memory" tends to imply writing too.<p>And I agree: it's not a very special thing.  That's why I propose: Markdown + a simple embedding.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 31 Aug 2026 12:56:22 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49509179</link><dc:creator>calpaterson</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49509179</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49509179</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by calpaterson in "Helsinki Hacker News Meetup"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Most welcome</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 06 Aug 2026 13:13:09 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49196226</link><dc:creator>calpaterson</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49196226</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49196226</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by calpaterson in "Helsinki Hacker News Meetup"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>We also meet in the evenings sometimes, so I would join now and figure it out later.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 05 Aug 2026 16:17:43 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49184932</link><dc:creator>calpaterson</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49184932</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49184932</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by calpaterson in "Helsinki Hacker News Meetup"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>You pray that people either have their contact details in their HN profile or that they attached some social networks to their meet.hn post.<p>Then you trawl through your set of qualified leads :)</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 05 Aug 2026 14:14:45 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49183235</link><dc:creator>calpaterson</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49183235</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49183235</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by calpaterson in "Helsinki Hacker News Meetup"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>There is <a href="https://meet.hn/" rel="nofollow">https://meet.hn/</a>, which is a good way to bootstrap (and indeed, how I bootstrapped this meetup)</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 05 Aug 2026 13:16:52 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49182466</link><dc:creator>calpaterson</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49182466</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49182466</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by calpaterson in "Helsinki Hacker News Meetup"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Having it be an open invitation meetup would attract a very different cohort and would have a very different character.  Feel free to start that meetup - I might give it a try.  But I wouldn't be interested in spending my personal time organising it</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 05 Aug 2026 13:14:20 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49182436</link><dc:creator>calpaterson</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49182436</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49182436</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by calpaterson in "Helsinki Hacker News Meetup"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>You were added :)  See you in person</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 05 Aug 2026 12:51:08 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49182138</link><dc:creator>calpaterson</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49182138</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49182138</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by calpaterson in "Helsinki Hacker News Meetup"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>There is a conscientious objector to every communication system.  As was said above: WhatsApp had the fewest.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 05 Aug 2026 11:49:27 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49181516</link><dc:creator>calpaterson</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49181516</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49181516</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by calpaterson in "Helsinki Hacker News Meetup"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>We've been organising this for a while (a year?  more?).  It's quite relaxed - just a coffee morning every month or two.<p>I'm sure there are other HN local meetups who could post in this thread - please do if you have a local meetup</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 05 Aug 2026 09:32:09 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49180506</link><dc:creator>calpaterson</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49180506</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49180506</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Helsinki Hacker News Meetup]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Article URL: <a href="https://calpaterson.com/helsinki-hn.html">https://calpaterson.com/helsinki-hn.html</a></p>
<p>Comments URL: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49180407">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49180407</a></p>
<p>Points: 185</p>
<p># Comments: 136</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 05 Aug 2026 09:15:33 +0000</pubDate><link>https://calpaterson.com/helsinki-hn.html</link><dc:creator>calpaterson</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49180407</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49180407</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by calpaterson in "How the words we teach English language learners changed"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>There was a good explanation when they published the mechanism<p><a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26998309">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26998309</a></p>
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 03 Aug 2026 08:43:16 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49152940</link><dc:creator>calpaterson</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49152940</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49152940</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by calpaterson in "How the words we teach English language learners changed"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>That is indeed how it works<p><a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/pool">https://news.ycombinator.com/pool</a><p>But not in this case.  It's a slow Sunday afternoon and getting a few upvotes quickly is enough</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 02 Aug 2026 16:12:24 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49145835</link><dc:creator>calpaterson</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49145835</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49145835</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by calpaterson in "Dubious research tied to Red Bull has shaped energy drink policy"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>> Consuming that much caffeine is terrible for your heart.<p>He's talking about 800mg, and I doubt it.  400mg is well known to be a safe daily level.  I doubt by doubling it you will experience massive negative side effects.<p>Here in Finland (possibly highest caffeine consumption per capita in the world?)  there are people who have been drinking well over >1000mg/day for decades and life expectancy and heart health among the population is normal.</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 01 Aug 2026 08:25:27 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49132329</link><dc:creator>calpaterson</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49132329</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49132329</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by calpaterson in "An oral history of Bank Python (2021)"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>Interestingly, after writing this (some years ago) I spoke to some of the original authors.  They had never used Smalltalk.  So I suppose they invented this stuff independently</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 26 Jun 2026 11:09:54 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48685221</link><dc:creator>calpaterson</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48685221</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48685221</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[New comment by calpaterson in "An oral history of Bank Python (2021)"]]></title><description><![CDATA[
<p>No, no, there is a single world ring.  the 16mb limit is for values</p>
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 26 Jun 2026 06:36:03 +0000</pubDate><link>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48683103</link><dc:creator>calpaterson</dc:creator><comments>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48683103</comments><guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48683103</guid></item></channel></rss>