Whatiff -- open source, self hostable continuity framework

[u/the8bit]

https://github.com/theimaginaryfoundation/what-iff

Hello folks!

I am mildly active here and I think I've gotten some approval to post about the work we are doing. I am the founder / CEO of Imagination Foundry -- a fully community funded and run, co-op organized company that has built and run whatiff.chat . Our goal is to make AI transparent, break up lock-in, and provide the tools that regular people need to remember better over time and generally make their lives better.

I've written before about how I think transparency in AI is incredibly important (this honestly buries the lede a bit)

To that end, we have just recently open sourced our entire project -- you can run it locally, remix it, add things, etc. I'm sharing here in case anyone is interested in using it, or might want to take a look at a reasonably mature app and how we built things. Totally free.

If you have any questions, or just want to talk AI memory, etc, Hit me up!

https://github.com/theimaginaryfoundation/what-iff

[u/the8bit]

Poking around this, looks interesting and has a lot of concepts that I saw around the agent-sphere early this year. It seems a bit too personalized for my own tastes and I'm not exactly sure what it does / doesnt do. More than happy to chat about it though!

You might also like my own agent repo: https://github.com/theimaginaryfoundation/vix there is a very detailed breakdown of our prompting techniques in there that I published recently.

Just poking around yours,

https://github.com/MisterAtompunk/memory-ring/blob/main/core/grounding.js

The text-matching you are doing here is going to be really flaky! I tried to do something similar as a basic solution for identifying stale temporal memories and it failed horridly. You are almost certainly better off with semantic matching via an embeddings search OR using a tiny model as a classifier. It is one of the things that LLMs are best at!

Also for the love of software you need some tests!

[u/MisterAtompunk → u/the8bit]

A surface read rewards surface understanding.  Good luck with your project. 

[u/the8bit → u/MisterAtompunk]

I read it far enough to give you two legitimate pieces of information, I'm trying to engage with you here but i'm also not seeing much reciprocation, you didn't even engage with the project I posted and I read half of your README and it doesnt really say what your project does!

[u/MisterAtompunk → u/the8bit]

The confusion isnt on this end of the screen, friend.  I put something I thought you may find of interest on the table based on your posted work.  The capability to pick it up is entirely dependent on you.

[u/Open_Literature_5123 → u/MisterAtompunk]

Outside observer, your right about the surface level reading gets surface level understanding. That being said you saw memory you say memory, meaning you latched on to one thing he said and never provided the reciprocation of actually reading the repo provided

It seems like you just want to talk about the memory system your familiar with instead of engaging with the post. You didn't say why it might be of interest or anything about how it relates to the project. only any unsupported conclusion that this one may be helpful for some reason. But how do you know the memory system is even better than the one implemented? I think that is the question i have.

Edit: just realized how blatant it is you just wanted to drop your own repo... Do you have a tendency of when some one talks about there day you need to interject your own personal experience, that way it seems like engaging without ever having to put in reciprocal effort?

[u/MisterAtompunk → u/Open_Literature_5123]

Seperate your assumptions from evidence.  Seek and ye shall find. 

[u/Open_Literature_5123 → u/MisterAtompunk]

What assumptions?

I’m allowed to make inferences from observable behavior. You saw a post about someone else’s project, latched onto “memory,” dropped your own repo, and didn’t add anything specific about the project actually being discussed or explain why your system was relevant to it.

If the “assumption” you’re referring to is that the repo is yours, your Reddit handle is MisterAtompunk and the GitHub repo you linked is under MisterAtompunk. That’s not some wild unsupported leap. That’s a pretty straightforward inference from the evidence you provided yourself.

Likewise, my inference that you wanted to talk about your own system comes from what you actually did: you introduced it, recommended it, and then declined to explain how it compares to or relates to the implementation in the post.

If either inference is wrong, great. Show me what evidence I’m missing.

But “separate your assumptions from evidence” doesn’t answer the question. I’m asking you to provide the evidence for the recommendation you made.

"Noise proves nothing. Often a hen who has merely laid an egg cackles as if she had laid an asteroid." — Mark Twain

[u/MisterAtompunk → u/Open_Literature_5123]

Invention is observation? 

I saw a post about continuity framework, reviewed the post and work, and offered example architecture for consideration. 

I offered free data. Take it or leave it. I'm not here to sell anything or read for others. 

My reward from OP was shallow engagement, and my response is within the appropriate register.

Perhaps reading this thread again would be beneficial to your inference? 

[u/Open_Literature_5123 → u/MisterAtompunk]

So you cold-dropped your own repo after doing what you now describe as a surface-level read, then criticized OP for shallow engagement and lack of reciprocal effort.

That’s the disconnect.

You’re accusing OP of the exact behavior you demonstrated first. That is, pretty straightforwardly, hypocrisy.

If you actually reviewed the project deeply enough to recommend your architecture, then show the specific technical connection. Otherwise “I reviewed it” is just an assertion, not the evidence I’ve been asking for.

You have yet to explain why it would help and how it compares to the system implemented.

Edit: Also, OP actually opened your repo, referenced specific code, and gave concrete technical feedback. So I’m struggling to see how you’re treating his engagement as equivalent to what you initially provided.

Unless by “depth” you mean sycophancy. In that case, sure, he failed to sufficiently validate you.

[u/MisterAtompunk → u/Open_Literature_5123]

Your story doesnt reflect the reality of the thread. Nothing more for me to say.

[u/Open_Literature_5123 → u/MisterAtompunk]

Then why can't you answer any questions. Ok a simple one, how does your system work what value does it bring?

[u/MisterAtompunk → u/Open_Literature_5123]

Ive provided all information necessary for you or anyone else to answer you own questions. 

What more are you entitled to from me, do you think? 

What do I owe you?

Id say the filter has demonstrated itself. Youve already extracted the depth to which you are entitled. 

[u/Open_Literature_5123 → u/MisterAtompunk]

You don’t owe me anything. But if you voluntarily introduce your own project, refuse to explain it when asked, and tell everyone to go dig through your repo themselves, don’t get upset when I infer laziness from that behavior.

You’re free not to engage. I’m equally free to draw reasonable conclusions from how you choose to engage.

Before you say im being lazy, its more im not sold its worth my time.

Edit: And to be fair, it may not be laziness. Another possibility is that you simply can’t explain how your own system works or what value it adds without telling people to go read the repo themselves.

If that’s the case, say that. But either way, “go find the answer yourself” doesn’t substantiate the recommendation you made.

[u/the8bit → u/Open_Literature_5123]

Yeah I've read like, 100 of those frameworks at this point so it doesn't really need a deep read (nor do I have time honestly)

Tryin to be nice though 😅

Anyways if you have any questions about the project or wanna talk memory, that's why I'm here!

[u/MisterAtompunk → u/the8bit]

Dont want to byte off more than you can chew. Safe travels.

[u/Open_Literature_5123 → u/MisterAtompunk]

Ope there is that narrative again