Hmbown/CodeWhale · error

memory edits require non-empty evidence

Error message

memory edits require non-empty evidence

What it means

normalize_evidence requires every in-place memory edit (revise/retire) to carry non-empty evidence that passes the same normalization/bounds rules as a note. Empty, whitespace-only, or over-limit evidence is rejected: an unexplained rewrite of durable context is exactly what the journal is designed to prevent.

Solutions

1. Provide a meaningful, non-empty evidence string explaining why the memory is being revised or retired.
2. Keep evidence within the same limits as notes (line count/size) — trim verbose justification.
3. At the tool/UI layer, require an evidence field before submitting the edit.

Example fix

// before
memory.retire(scope, Some(ws), id, "")?;
// after
memory.retire(scope, Some(ws), id, "superseded by entry 42; fact no longer holds after refactor")?;

fn validate_evidence(evidence: &str) -> Result<()> {
    let t = evidence.trim();
    if t.is_empty() { bail!("evidence required for memory edits"); }
    Ok(())
}

match memory.retire(scope, ws, id, evidence) {
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("non-empty evidence") => {
        eprintln!("Provide a reason: why is this memory being retired?");
    }
    other => other?,
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling revise or retire with evidence = "" or whitespace, or evidence that fails normalize_note (e.g. exceeds size/line bounds after \r\n normalization); normalize_note returns Err and it is mapped to this message.

Common situations: Automated tooling calling retire without a reason; a UI that leaves the evidence field blank; programmatic cleanup scripts editing memories without justification.

Understand the failure class

Background: "must not be empty", "cannot be empty" — required-field validation errors across open-source libraries — this error's family across 41 libraries.

Related errors

• memory note is empty
• base URL cannot be empty
• browser URL cannot be empty
• classifier-approved read command was empty
• Codewhale runtime event file is empty.

AI-assisted analysis of Hmbown/CodeWhale@433685b202 (2026-09-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/15c06b542f9e17da. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at crates/tui/src/native_memory.rs:876

            several.len()
        ),
    }
}

/// The note body of a Markdown bullet, if the line is one.
fn bullet_text(line: &str) -> Option<&str> {
    let trimmed = line.trim();
    trimmed
        .strip_prefix("- ")
        .or_else(|| trimmed.strip_prefix("* "))
        .map(str::trim)
}

/// Evidence is required on every in-place edit and held to the same bounds
/// as a note. An unexplained rewrite of durable context is the thing the
/// journal exists to prevent.
fn normalize_evidence(evidence: &str) -> Result<String> {
    normalize_note(evidence).map_err(|_| anyhow!("memory edits require non-empty evidence"))
}

fn normalize_note(note: &str) -> Result<String> {
    let note = note.replace("\r\n", "\n").replace('\r', "\n");
    let note = note
        .lines()
        .map(str::trim)
        .filter(|line| !line.is_empty())
        .collect::<Vec<_>>()
        .join(" ");
    if note.is_empty() {
        bail!("memory note is empty");
    }
    if note.len() > MAX_NOTE_BYTES {
        bail!("memory note exceeds {MAX_NOTE_BYTES} bytes");
    }
    Ok(note.trim_start_matches('-').trim().to_string())
}

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