Collapse ??? web-search and ?: state into one ??? memory verb

[FrancoisChastel]

Why

The CLI had grown to five commands — , ? ?? ??? ?: — but two of them weren't orthogonal:

• ??? was just ? with a "web-first" system prompt
• ?: (the colon-glyph state verb) split memory ops from the rest

This collapses them into one ??? verb whose meaning matches its shape: three question marks reads as "I'm trying to remember…".

New shape

Four commands, each one job:

,    <english>                propose shell commands (sticky session)
?    <q>                      ask (model picks tools — incl. web)
?    --web <q>                force web-first this turn
??   [start/stop/...]         llama-server control
???  <q>                      memory: bare query = archive search
???  --add <fact>             pin a long-term fact
???  --list / --drop <n>      facts mgmt
???  --status / --help
???  --ask / --comma <q>      narrow recall to one type of session

No bare-word verbs on ??? — everything other than a recall query is a flag. Bare words (??? list) are unambiguously recall queries.

Why this is the win

1. One asking verb. ? is the question. Web search is a tool the agent has — forcing it is a flag (--web/-w), not a sibling command.
2. ??? gets a coherent role. "Three question marks" reads as "I'm trying to remember…". Bare ??? what was that grep flag is the most natural recall syntax; flags kick in only for fact management.
3. Zero new glyphs invented. No ?:, no ?., no ?!. Four commands total.
4. Drops one entry-point. shellllm-search is gone; the system prompt that made ??? web-first becomes a one-flag variant of ?.
5. No subcommand/query ambiguity. Every operation on ??? other than recall is a flag.

Filter flags on ???

Recall hits across all session types by default. Filter when needed:

??? --ask docker volumes        # only `?` sessions
??? --comma docker volumes      # only `,` sessions
??? docker volumes              # both

Combining a filter with a mode flag errors (facts are global, not per-command).

Validation

• Mode flags are mutually exclusive
• Filter flags are mutually exclusive
• Filter + mode → error
• Per-mode extra-arg checks (--list takes no args; --drop takes exactly one; etc.)

Cuts vs. adds

Deleted (no deprecation redirects — clean cut):

• src/shellllm/search.py
• src/shellllm/state.py
• tests/test_state.py
• Entry points: shellllm-search, shellllm-state
• Zsh: SHELLLM_SEARCH, _shellllm_search_fn, alias ?:

Added:

• src/shellllm/recall.py
• tests/test_recall.py
• tests/test_ask_web_flag.py
• Entry point: shellllm-recall
• Zsh: SHELLLM_RECALL, _shellllm_recall_fn

Test plan

• ruff check clean
• ruff format --check clean
• 181 tests pass
• End-to-end through real zsh: ??? --add, ??? --list, ??? <bare query>, ??? --ask, mutually-exclusive flag rejection, ?: confirmed removed
• Manual: drive ? --web against a running llama-server to confirm the web-first system prompt actually fires