An intelligent creative writing assistant powered by GitHub Copilot with advanced cognitive memory management
Project Catalyst is a sophisticated cognitive architecture system that transforms GitHub Copilot into an adaptive creative writing partner. It combines procedural memory (specialized techniques), episodic memory (complex workflows), and meta-cognitive awareness to provide increasingly intelligent assistance across poetry, essays, fiction, and literary analysis.
- 🧠 Cognitive Memory System - Learns and adapts from your creative process
- 📝 Genre-Aware Assistance - Specialized support for poetry, essays, fiction, and literary devices
- 🔄 Automatic Consolidation - Continuously improves through memory optimization
- 🎯 Workflow Automation - Structured processes for complex creative tasks
- 📊 Meta-Cognitive Monitoring - Tracks and optimizes creative performance
- 🎪 Voice Development - Helps maintain authentic authorial voice
- Visual Studio Code
- GitHub Copilot subscription
- Basic familiarity with creative writing
- Clone or download this repository to your local machine
- Open the project in VS Code
- Install recommended extensions (VS Code will prompt you)
- Verify setup by creating a test file with a creative writing extension (.poem, .essay, .story)
-
Test Genre Recognition:
# Create a poem file touch my-first-poem.poem.md # Ask Copilot for help @workspace Help me write a nature poem
-
Try Meta-Cognitive Commands:
meditate- Optimize cognitive architectureremember [insight]- Save important learnings@workspace Assess your creative writing assistance
-
Explore Workflows:
- Create different file types (.poem.md, .essay.md, .story.md, .fiction.md)
- Use
@workspacefor context-aware assistance - Try revision and feedback workflows
.github/
├── copilot-instructions.md # Global Creative Memory Hub
├── instructions/ # Procedural Memory (Genre Techniques)
│ ├── poetry-craft.instructions.md
│ ├── essay-writing.instructions.md
│ ├── fiction-narrative.instructions.md
│ ├── creative-style.instructions.md
│ ├── literary-devices.instructions.md
│ ├── revision-editing.instructions.md
│ ├── learning.instructions.md
│ └── meta-cognition.instructions.md
└── prompts/ # Episodic Memory (Complex Workflows)
├── poem-creation.prompt.md
├── essay-development.prompt.md
├── story-writing.prompt.md
├── character-development.prompt.md
├── world-building.prompt.md
├── creative-revision.prompt.md
├── inspiration-capture.prompt.md
├── workshop-feedback.prompt.md
├── consolidation.prompt.md
├── self-assessment.prompt.md
├── meta-learning.prompt.md
└── cognitive-health.prompt.md
- File Extensions:
.poem,.poem.md,.verse,.verse.md,*poetry*,*haiku*,*sonnet* - Specialized Techniques: Form and structure, sound devices, imagery, voice development
- Workflow:
poem-creation.prompt.mdguides you through inspiration → draft → revision → polish
- File Extensions:
.essay,.essay.md,*essay*,*reflection*,*personal* - Specialized Techniques: Personal voice, narrative structure, analysis, audience engagement
- Workflow:
essay-development.prompt.mdsupports topic exploration → structure → drafting → refinement
- File Extensions:
.story,.story.md,.fiction,.fiction.md,*novel*,*short* - Specialized Techniques: Plot structure, character development, dialogue, world-building
- Workflows: Multiple prompts for story writing, character development, and world-building
- File Patterns:
*metaphor*,*imagery*,*symbol*,*device*,*.metaphor.md,*.imagery.md,*.symbol.md,*.device.md - Specialized Techniques: Figurative language, symbolism, structural devices
- Support: Advanced craft technique guidance and literary device mastery
- @voice - Maintain authentic voice and consistent tone
- @craft - Apply literary techniques with intentional purpose
- @meditation - Auto-consolidate when capacity exceeded
- @flow - Prioritize emotional engagement over perfection
Specialized instruction files that activate based on your file type and content:
- Automatic genre recognition
- Context-appropriate technique suggestions
- Craft-specific revision guidance
Multi-phase workflow templates for sophisticated creative tasks:
- Structured creative processes
- Phase-by-phase guidance
- Tool integration for different workflow steps
Self-aware monitoring and optimization:
- Performance assessment capabilities
- Learning strategy evolution
- Cognitive architecture health monitoring
# In a .poem.md file
@workspace Help me improve the rhythm in this stanza
# In a .essay.md file
@workspace How can I make this opening more compelling?
# In a .story.md file
@workspace Develop this character's motivation# Character Development
@workspace Use character-development workflow for my protagonist
# Creative Revision
@workspace Apply creative-revision process to this draft
# Meta-Cognitive Commands
meditate # Optimize cognitive architecture
remember [specific insight] # Save learning to memory
@workspace assess performance # Evaluate creative assistance quality- Create
.poem.mdfiles → Activates poetry-craft techniques - Create
.essay.mdfiles → Activates essay-writing guidance - Create
.story.mdfiles → Activates fiction-narrative support - Work with
.draft.md,.revision.md,.edit.mdfiles → Activates revision-editing processes
The project includes optimized settings in .vscode/settings.json:
- Instruction file recognition enabled
- Creative writing formatting (72-column wrap)
- Spell checking for creative documents
- Markdown preview optimization
- Voice Development: Modify
creative-style.instructions.mdfor your personal style - Genre Focus: Adjust procedural memory files for your preferred genres
- Workflow Adaptation: Customize episodic memory prompts for your creative process
- Automatic: Triggers when working memory exceeds capacity
- Manual: Use
meditatecommand for optimization - Learning: System improves through session experience
- Self-assessment capabilities for creative output quality
- Learning strategy optimization
- Cognitive architecture health monitoring
- Pattern recognition in successful creative approaches
- Strategy adjustment based on effectiveness
- Continuous improvement through meta-cognitive feedback
This is a personal creative writing environment, but the cognitive architecture approach can be adapted for other domains:
- Fork the concept for your own creative or professional needs
- Adapt memory files for different writing genres or disciplines
- Share insights about cognitive architecture optimization
- Document improvements to memory consolidation strategies
- Study the instruction files for craft technique guidance
- Use episodic workflows for structured creative development
- Practice with different file types to explore genre techniques
- Explore
consolidation.prompt.mdfor memory optimization concepts - Study
meta-learning.prompt.mdfor learning strategy development - Use
cognitive-health.prompt.mdfor system maintenance
Instruction files not activating:
- Verify VS Code settings include instruction file support
- Check file extensions match the patterns in instruction files
- Restart VS Code after configuration changes
Workflows not triggering:
- Use
@workspaceprefix for context-aware assistance - Ensure you're working in appropriate file types
- Try explicit workflow requests: "Use poem-creation workflow"
Performance concerns:
- Run
meditatecommand for cognitive optimization - Use
@workspace assess performancefor system evaluation - Check
cognitive-health.prompt.mdfor maintenance guidance
- Meta-Cognitive: Ask about memory, meditation, consolidation features
- Creative Support: Request help with specific writing challenges
- System Health: Use cognitive-health workflow for performance issues
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.
- GitHub Copilot - The foundation AI that powers this cognitive architecture
- VS Code Team - For instruction file support and extensibility
- Creative Writing Community - For inspiration and craft knowledge
Ready to enhance your creative writing with adaptive AI assistance? Start by creating a .poem, .essay, or .story file and ask for help with @workspace!
Project Catalyst: Where artificial intelligence meets artistic expression ✨