Write Record JSON

On disk:

• Project scope — <project>/.agents/drwn/write-record.json (resolveProjectWriteRecordPath, cli/core/write-record.ts:19-21)
• Machine scope — ~/.agents/drwn/global-write-record.json (cli/core/store-paths.ts:151)

Purpose: the ledger of drwn-owned paths written by drwn write. Drives cleanup of stale managed paths and lets doctor report what drwn last wrote without guessing ownership. See Ownership and Write Records for the discipline this enforces.

Type

WriteRecord (cli/core/write-record.ts:7-17).

Example

{
  "writeRecordVersion": 1,
  "lastWriteAt": "2026-06-02T14:32:11.402Z",
  "lastWriteHarnessVersion": "0.5.0",
  "managedPaths": [
    {
      "path": "/Users/me/.claude/skills/reviewer",
      "kind": "managed-directory",
      "contentHash": "sha256-a3f1c0e8b2a4..."
    },
    {
      "path": "/Users/me/.claude/settings.json",
      "kind": "managed-fields",
      "fields": ["mcpServers"],
      "fieldHashes": {
        "mcpServers": "f3a1c0e8b2a4..."
      }
    },
    {
      "path": "/Users/me/.cursor/mcp.json",
      "kind": "managed-content",
      "contentHash": "sha256-b7d2e1f9c3a5..."
    }
  ]
}

Top-Level Fields

Field	Type	Required	Meaning	Enforced at
writeRecordVersion	literal 1	yes	Schema version. loadWriteRecord returns null if anything else.	cli/core/write-record.ts:29-30
lastWriteAt	ISO-8601 string	yes	Timestamp of the most recent successful write.	Written at cli/core/sync.ts:207-209
lastWriteHarnessVersion	string	yes	drwn version string for the most recent write.	cli/core/sync.ts:207-209
managedPaths	ManagedPath[]	yes	The drwn-owned path ledger. Must be an array; otherwise the record is treated as missing.	cli/core/write-record.ts:29-30

ManagedPath Variants

ManagedPath is a discriminated union on kind (cli/core/write-record.ts). All variants share path (absolute on-disk path that drwn owns).

managed-directory

{ "path": "<absolute path>", "kind": "managed-directory", "contentHash": "sha256-<hex>" }

A skill directory drwn copied into a downstream tool path (e.g. ~/.claude/skills/reviewer). contentHash is a sha256 of the directory tree as drwn last wrote it. Drift detection compares the current tree against this hash.

managed-content

{ "path": "<absolute path>", "kind": "managed-content", "contentHash": "sha256-<hex>" }

A file drwn wrote directly and owns entirely (Cursor's mcp.json). contentHash is a sha256 of the file content. Cleanup removes the file when it is no longer in the desired set and the hash still matches.

managed-fields

{
  "path": "<absolute path>",
  "kind": "managed-fields",
  "fields": ["mcpServers"],
  "fieldHashes": { "mcpServers": "<sha256 hex>" }
}

A user-owned config file (Claude settings.json, Codex config.toml) where drwn manages specific top-level keys. fields names the keys drwn owns; fieldHashes carries the canonical hash of each managed key as drwn last wrote it. Drift detection compares these hashes against the in-file _drwn meta block on the next write — see Ownership and Write Records.

symlink (legacy)

{ "path": "<absolute path>", "kind": "symlink", "target": "<absolute path>" }

A legacy symlink entry from write records produced before the copy-based materialization migration. New writes use managed-directory for skills. Retained for backward compat with existing write records.

generated-symlink (legacy)

{ "path": "<absolute path>", "kind": "generated-symlink", "generatedPath": "<absolute path>" }

A legacy generated-sidecar symlink entry. New writes use managed-content for Cursor. Retained for backward compat with existing write records.

Atomic Save

saveWriteRecord (cli/core/write-record.ts:38-55) persists the record with a four-step discipline so an interrupted write never leaves the ledger torn:

1. Write to <record>.tmp.
2. fsync the temp file descriptor.
3. rename to the final path.
4. fsync the parent directory.

If the process dies before step 3, the old record remains intact and the next run still knows what drwn previously owned.

Reader Locations

Reader	What it does
cli/core/write-record.ts:23-36 (loadWriteRecord)	Parses, validates writeRecordVersion === 1 and Array.isArray(managedPaths), returns null on any failure
cli/core/sync.ts:207-209	Writes a fresh record at the end of every drwn write
cli/core/diagnostics.ts:175-176	Surfaces lastWriteAt and lastWriteHarnessVersion in doctor output
cli/core/write-record.ts:57-79 (diffWriteRecord)	Computes toRemove / toAdd / toVerify against the previous record

Related

• Ownership and Write Records — the ownership discipline that consumes this file
• Materialization — the write pipeline that produces these records
• Diagnostics Model — how doctor reads the record