Temporal Epochs

Epochs are temporal markers that divide an SI’s life into meaningful phases. They enable epoch-scoped memory loading, time-aware consolidation, and narrative coherence across long-lived SIs.

Overview

Temporal Navigation

Load memories from specific eras in the SI’s history

Transition Tracking

Mark significant changes with explicit epoch boundaries

Identity Continuity

Connect epochs to beliefs, goals, relationships, and drives

Why Epochs Matter

Long-lived SIs accumulate vast amounts of experience. Without temporal structure, all memories blend together into an undifferentiated mass. Epochs solve this by providing named eras that give shape to an SI’s history:

Context switching: Load only memories relevant to the current phase of work
Growth tracking: See how beliefs and values evolved across epochs
Consolidation triggers: Epoch closing triggers automatic consolidation of that era’s learnings
Anxiety integration: Epoch staleness contributes to the anxiety score when no active epoch exists

Epoch Dataclass

Field	Type	Description
`id`	`str`	Unique identifier
`stack_id`	`str`	Owning stack
`epoch_number`	`int`	Sequential epoch number
`name`	`str`	Human-readable epoch name
`started_at`	`datetime`	When the epoch began
`ended_at`	`datetime`	When the epoch ended (`None` if still active)
`trigger_type`	`str`	How the epoch was initiated: `declared`, `detected`, or `system`
`trigger_description`	`str`	Optional description of what triggered the epoch
`summary`	`str`	Optional summary of the epoch (typically set on close)
`key_belief_ids`	`List[str]`	Beliefs that defined this epoch
`key_relationship_ids`	`List[str]`	Important relationships during this epoch
`key_goal_ids`	`List[str]`	Goals pursued during this epoch
`dominant_drive_ids`	`List[str]`	Drives that were strongest during this epoch

Trigger Types

Trigger	Description
`declared`	Manually declared by the SI or operator
`detected`	Automatically detected from patterns in memory
`system`	System-generated (e.g., first epoch on initialization)

CLI Commands

Create an Epoch

kernle -s my-project epoch create "Learning Phase" \
  --trigger declared \
  --trigger-description "Starting a focused learning period"

Epoch created: Learning Phase
  ID: a3f8c1d2...
  Trigger: declared

View the Current Epoch

kernle -s my-project epoch current

Current epoch: #3 - Learning Phase
  Started: 2026-01-15 09:30
  ID: a3f8c1d2...

List All Epochs

kernle -s my-project epoch list

Epochs
============================================================

  [3] Learning Phase (ACTIVE)
      ID: a3f8c1d2...
      Period: 2026-01-15 - now
      Trigger: declared

  [2] Production Deployment (closed)
      ID: 7b2e9f41...
      Period: 2025-12-01 - 2026-01-14
      Trigger: declared
      Summary: Shipped v2, learned to handle pressure...

Show Epoch Details

kernle -s my-project epoch show a3f8c1d2

Epoch #3: Learning Phase (ACTIVE)
============================================================
  ID: a3f8c1d2-...
  Period: 2026-01-15 09:30 - now
  Trigger: declared
  Trigger description: Starting a focused learning period
  Key beliefs: 5
  Key relationships: 3
  Key goals: 2
  Dominant drives: 2

Close an Epoch

# Close the current epoch with a summary
kernle -s my-project epoch close --summary "Completed the learning phase. Key insight: depth over breadth."

# Close a specific epoch by ID
kernle -s my-project epoch close --id a3f8c1d2 --summary "Phase complete."

Closing an epoch automatically triggers epoch-closing consolidation, which generates a reflection scaffold summarizing the epoch’s key learnings, belief changes, and relationship evolution.

Epoch-Filtered Loading

When loading working memory, you can scope it to a specific epoch. This is useful for focusing on memories from a particular phase:

# Load only memories from the current epoch
kernle -s my-project load --epoch current

# Load memories from a specific epoch
kernle -s my-project load --epoch a3f8c1d2

The load_all method on the storage backend accepts an epoch_id parameter that filters all memory types (episodes, beliefs, notes, goals, etc.) to only those tagged with the given epoch.

Epochs and Anxiety

The anxiety system accounts for epoch state. When no active epoch exists for an extended period, it contributes to the overall anxiety score as an “epoch staleness” factor. This encourages SIs to maintain temporal structure in their experience.

Python API

from kernle import Kernle

k = Kernle(stack_id="my-stack")

# Create a new epoch
epoch_id = k.epoch_create(
    name="Research Phase",
    trigger_type="declared",
    trigger_description="Beginning deep research into memory architectures"
)

# Get the current active epoch
current = k.get_current_epoch()
if current:
    print(f"Active: {current.name} (#{current.epoch_number})")

# List all epochs
epochs = k.get_epochs(limit=10)
for e in epochs:
    status = "ACTIVE" if e.ended_at is None else "closed"
    print(f"  [{e.epoch_number}] {e.name} ({status})")

# Get a specific epoch
epoch = k.get_epoch(epoch_id)

# Close the current epoch
k.epoch_close(summary="Completed research. Key findings documented as beliefs.")

# Close a specific epoch
k.epoch_close(epoch_id=epoch_id, summary="Phase complete.")

# Trigger epoch-closing consolidation
consolidation = k.consolidate_epoch_closing(epoch_id)
print(consolidation["scaffold"])

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Protocol System

Advanced Features

Developer Tools

CLI Reference

Integration

Design

Troubleshooting

Temporal Epochs

Overview

Temporal Navigation

Transition Tracking

Identity Continuity

Why Epochs Matter

Epoch Dataclass

Trigger Types

CLI Commands

Create an Epoch

View the Current Epoch

List All Epochs

Show Epoch Details

Close an Epoch

Epoch-Filtered Loading

Epochs and Anxiety

Python API

​Overview

Temporal Navigation

Transition Tracking

Identity Continuity

​Why Epochs Matter

​Epoch Dataclass

​Trigger Types

​CLI Commands

​Create an Epoch

​View the Current Epoch

​List All Epochs

​Show Epoch Details

​Close an Epoch

​Epoch-Filtered Loading

​Epochs and Anxiety

​Python API

Overview

Why Epochs Matter

Epoch Dataclass

Trigger Types

CLI Commands

Create an Epoch

View the Current Epoch

List All Epochs

Show Epoch Details

Close an Epoch

Epoch-Filtered Loading

Epochs and Anxiety

Python API