Critical Bug: Data Loss During Reinstallation

Version: memcord v2.3.0
Environment: macOS, Claude Code MCP integration
Severity: DATA LOSS - All user memory slots destroyed

Issue Description

When reinstalling memcord (via uv pip install -e .), ALL memory slots are permanently deleted without any backup, warning, or recovery mechanism.

Data Loss Scenario

1. User has 20+ memory slots with months of project history
2. Developer runs uv pip install -e . to upgrade/fix memcord
3. ALL memory slots completely destroyed (/memory_slots/ directory wiped)
4. No warning given to user about data loss
5. No automatic backup created before installation

Impact

• Complete loss of user's project history and session data
• Months of work can be lost in seconds
• No built-in recovery mechanism available
• Silent failure - user doesn't know data is gone until they check

Expected Behavior

Memcord should:

• Warn users before destroying data during reinstallation
• Create automatic backups of memory slots before any destructive operation
• Preserve existing data during upgrades/reinstalls
• Provide recovery mechanisms for accidental data loss

Suggested Solutions

1. Pre-Installation Backup

# Before installation, automatically backup
cp -r memory_slots/ memory_slots.backup.$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)/

2. Installation Warning

⚠️  WARNING: This operation may affect existing memory slots.
Continue? [y/N] 
Would you like to backup existing data first? [Y/n]

3. Recovery Commands

memcord_backup_create   # Manual backup
memcord_backup_restore  # Restore from backup
memcord_backup_list     # List available backups

Workaround Used

We recovered data using macOS Time Machine local snapshots:

tmutil listlocalsnapshots /
sudo tmutil mount [snapshot-name]
# Copy memory_slots from mounted snapshot

Additional Context

This happened during development when trying to fix the storage health bug in v2.3.0. The data loss was completely unexpected and could affect any memcord user doing development or troubleshooting.

This is a critical data safety issue that should be addressed to prevent user data loss.

Recommendation

Consider adding data preservation safeguards to protect users from accidental data loss during memcord operations.

Thank you for memcord - it's an excellent tool once we ensure user data safety!