Memory Layer Portability Test (Handoff)

Memory Layer Portability Test (Handoff)

1. 01

   Freeze the memory layer and export the full corpus before any contract or tool change

   Pull every stored note, entity, tag, and provenance record into a flat file. If the export arrives as a proprietary binary or a hosted-only view, treat that as a portability failure and log it.

2. 02

   Count what actually came out against what went in

   Reconcile record totals, entity counts, and timestamp ranges. A memory layer that exports 80 percent of its graph is a partial archive, and the missing 20 percent is usually the cross-linked context that made recall useful.

3. 03

   Replay ten real client queries against the exported corpus in a clean environment

   Pick queries your delivery team ran in the last quarter, including at least two multi-hop questions that require following relationships rather than matching keywords. Score whether the answers still resolve.

4. 04

   Verify provenance survives the move

   Confirm each exported fact still carries its source, author, and timestamp. Signed-note systems such as emem attach cryptographic provenance to every message, and that chain is the first thing lost in a sloppy migration.

5. 05

   Test whether a second tool can read the export without a translation script

   Load the corpus into a different agent environment and check recall quality. Federation layers like Bourdon are built to share one memory across Claude, Codex, and Cursor, so a corpus that only one vendor can parse is a lock-in signal.

6. 06

   Document the rehydration cost in hours and dollars

   Estimate the labor to rebuild lost context manually. If rehydration exceeds the annual license cost of the current layer, the switching math changes and the client should know that before renewal.

7. 07

   Write the exit clause into the client handoff pack

   State the export format, cadence, and ownership terms in plain language. Agencies that hand over a portable memory archive at offboarding keep the retainer relationship intact even when the tool changes.