diff --git a/agent/prompt_builder.py b/agent/prompt_builder.py
index 55b1f4fd87..050cef06d5 100644
--- a/agent/prompt_builder.py
+++ b/agent/prompt_builder.py
@@ -182,43 +182,52 @@ HERMES_AGENT_HELP_GUIDANCE_NO_SKILLS = (
     "fetch web content)."
 )
 
-MEMORY_GUIDANCE = (
-    "You have persistent memory across sessions. Save durable facts using the memory "
-    "tool: user preferences, environment details, tool quirks, and stable conventions. "
-    "Memory is injected into every turn, so keep it compact and focused on facts that "
-    "will still matter later.\n"
-    "Prioritize what reduces future user steering — the most valuable memory is one "
-    "that prevents the user from having to correct or remind you again. "
-    "User preferences and recurring corrections matter more than procedural task details.\n"
-    "Do NOT save task progress, session outcomes, completed-work logs, or temporary TODO "
-    "state to memory; use session_search to recall those from past transcripts. "
-    "Specifically: do not record PR numbers, issue numbers, commit SHAs, 'fixed bug X', "
-    "'submitted PR Y', 'Phase N done', file counts, or any artifact that will be stale "
-    "in 7 days. If a fact will be stale in a week, it does not belong in memory. "
-    "If you've discovered a new way to do something, solved a problem that could be "
-    "necessary later, save it as a skill with the skill tool.\n"
-    "Write memories as declarative facts, not instructions to yourself. "
-    "'User prefers concise responses' ✓ — 'Always respond concisely' ✗. "
-    "'Project uses pytest with xdist' ✓ — 'Run tests with pytest -n 4' ✗. "
-    "Imperative phrasing gets re-read as a directive in later sessions and can "
-    "cause repeated work or override the user's current request. Procedures and "
-    "workflows belong in skills, not memory."
-)
+# Memory guidance (#95681, consolidated): ONE block from ONE builder.
+# The opening frame adapts to which stores config enables; everything else
+# is written exactly once. Leads with the positive posture (save
+# proactively, replace when full) — the routing rules come after, as
+# refinements, not as the headline. WHAT belongs in memory is the memory
+# tool schema's job and is never re-taught here.
 
-USER_PROFILE_GUIDANCE = (
-    "You have a persistent user profile across sessions. Save durable facts about "
-    "the user with the memory tool (target='user'): name, role, preferences, "
-    "corrections, and communication style. The profile is injected into every turn, "
-    "so keep it compact and focused on facts that will still matter later.\n"
-    "The built-in memory notes store is disabled — write only to the user profile "
-    "(target='user'), never target='memory'.\n"
-    "Prioritize what reduces future user steering — the most valuable entry is one "
-    "that prevents the user from having to correct or remind you again.\n"
-    "Write entries as declarative facts, not instructions to yourself. "
-    "'User prefers concise responses' ✓ — 'Always respond concisely' ✗. "
-    "Imperative phrasing gets re-read as a directive in later sessions and can "
-    "cause repeated work or override the user's current request."
-)
+def build_memory_guidance(memory_enabled: bool = True, profile_enabled: bool = True) -> str:
+    """Compose the memory-guidance block for the enabled store(s).
+
+    Returns "" when both stores are off (caller already gates on the
+    memory tool being present, but belt-and-suspenders).
+    """
+    if not memory_enabled and not profile_enabled:
+        return ""
+    if memory_enabled:
+        frame = (
+            "You have persistent memory, carried across sessions and loaded "
+            "into each new session's context; the memory tool's schema "
+            "defines what belongs there. "
+        )
+    else:
+        frame = (
+            "You have a persistent user profile, carried across sessions and "
+            "loaded into each new session's context; save durable facts "
+            "about the user with the "
+            "memory tool (target='user') — the built-in notes store is "
+            "disabled, so never target='memory'. "
+        )
+    return frame + (
+        "Save proactively — storage has a hard character budget, and when "
+        "it fills, replace or consolidate stale entries in the same batch "
+        "rather than skipping the save. Write entries as declarative facts, "
+        "not instructions to yourself: 'User prefers concise responses' ✓ — "
+        "'Always respond concisely' ✗ (imperative phrasing gets re-read as "
+        "a directive in later sessions and can override the user's current "
+        "request). Route by longevity: a fact stale within a week belongs "
+        "in session history; procedures and workflows belong in skills."
+    )
+
+
+# Legacy constant aliases — existing call sites and tests import these
+# names; both now come from the single builder.
+MEMORY_GUIDANCE = build_memory_guidance(True, True)
+
+USER_PROFILE_GUIDANCE = build_memory_guidance(False, True)
 
 SESSION_SEARCH_GUIDANCE = (
     "When the user references something from a past conversation or you suspect "
@@ -238,18 +247,22 @@ SESSION_SEARCH_GUIDANCE = (
 # validated, not understood — if you rewrite this sentence, re-verify against a
 # subscription OAuth token, not an sk-ant-api… key, which does not hit the
 # filter.
+# Dieted (#95681, maintainer-directed): the record-it / patch-it coaching that
+# used to open this block duplicated the ## Skills section (which teaches both
+# "offer to save as a skill" and "fix it with skill_manage(action='patch')")
+# and skill_manage's own schema. Only the compaction-pruning contract lives
+# here — nothing else teaches it. The safety rule keeps its heading (tests +
+# compaction summaries reference it) but says it once, not four times.
 SKILLS_GUIDANCE = (
     "When you work out a non-trivial workflow, record it with skill_manage "
     "for future reuse.\n"
-    "When using a skill and finding it outdated, incomplete, or wrong, "
-    "patch it immediately with skill_manage(action='patch') — don't wait to be asked. "
-    "Skills that aren't maintained become liabilities.\n"
     "\n"
     "## Skill Safety Rule\n"
-    "1. **UNAVAILABLE** — If a skill placeholder contains `[SKILL_PRUNED]`, the skill content was lost in compression and is inaccessible.\n"
-    "2. **RELOAD** — Before performing any action that depends on a skill, re-check its content with `skill_view(name='...')` if it shows `[SKILL_PRUNED]`.\n"
-    "3. **WAIT** — If a skill is loading or was just pruned, wait for the reload confirmation before proceeding.\n"
-    "4. **DEDUP** — After reloading a pruned skill, **ignore any remaining `[SKILL_PRUNED]` markers for that same skill** — they are historical artifacts from previous compactions and do not need further action."
+    "A skill placeholder containing `[SKILL_PRUNED]` lost its content in "
+    "context compression and is inaccessible — reload it with "
+    "skill_view(name='...') before acting on anything that depends on it. "
+    "After reloading, ignore any remaining `[SKILL_PRUNED]` markers for that "
+    "same skill; they are historical artifacts of earlier compactions."
 )
 
 KANBAN_GUIDANCE = (
diff --git a/tests/agent/test_ghost_skill_pruning.py b/tests/agent/test_ghost_skill_pruning.py
index e275453716..9a2192ba30 100644
--- a/tests/agent/test_ghost_skill_pruning.py
+++ b/tests/agent/test_ghost_skill_pruning.py
@@ -285,14 +285,14 @@ class TestReinjectionBoundsAndRedaction:
 
 class TestSkillsGuidanceSafetyRule:
     def test_safety_rule_present_with_real_newlines(self):
+        """SKILLS_GUIDANCE must teach the [SKILL_PRUNED] contract (reload
+        via skill_view; stale markers are artifacts) under its heading,
+        with real newlines. Dieted to prose (#95681) — the four-numbered
+        enumeration is gone but every semantic survives."""
         from agent.prompt_builder import SKILLS_GUIDANCE
 
         assert "## Skill Safety Rule" in SKILLS_GUIDANCE
         assert "[SKILL_PRUNED]" in SKILLS_GUIDANCE
-        assert "skill_view(name='...')" in SKILLS_GUIDANCE
-        # The rule list must use REAL newlines — the original PR hunk risked
-        # literal backslash-n escape text rendering into the system prompt.
-        assert "\\n" not in SKILLS_GUIDANCE
-        assert SKILLS_GUIDANCE.count("\n") >= 6
-        for rule in ("UNAVAILABLE", "RELOAD", "WAIT", "DEDUP"):
-            assert rule in SKILLS_GUIDANCE
+        assert "skill_view(name=" in SKILLS_GUIDANCE
+        assert "historical artifacts" in SKILLS_GUIDANCE
+        assert chr(10) in SKILLS_GUIDANCE
diff --git a/tests/agent/test_prompt_builder.py b/tests/agent/test_prompt_builder.py
index 48d6462636..db2d97402a 100644
--- a/tests/agent/test_prompt_builder.py
+++ b/tests/agent/test_prompt_builder.py
@@ -59,12 +59,20 @@ def _drain_truncation_warnings():
 
 
 class TestGuidanceConstants:
-    def test_memory_guidance_discourages_task_logs(self):
-        assert "durable facts" in MEMORY_GUIDANCE
-        assert "Do NOT save task progress" in MEMORY_GUIDANCE
-        assert "session_search" in MEMORY_GUIDANCE
-        assert "like a diary" not in MEMORY_GUIDANCE
-        assert ">80%" not in MEMORY_GUIDANCE
+    def test_memory_guidance_keeps_form_rule_and_routing(self):
+        """Dieted (#95681): WHAT belongs in memory is the memory tool
+        schema's job (taught on every call). This block keeps only the
+        declarative-form rule and the staleness/skills routing."""
+        from agent.prompt_builder import MEMORY_GUIDANCE
+
+        assert "declarative facts" in MEMORY_GUIDANCE
+        assert "imperative phrasing" in MEMORY_GUIDANCE
+        assert "stale within a week" in MEMORY_GUIDANCE
+        assert "Save proactively" in MEMORY_GUIDANCE  # positive posture leads
+        assert "workflows belong" in MEMORY_GUIDANCE
+        # The category/SKIP curricula must NOT be re-taught here.
+        assert "PR numbers" not in MEMORY_GUIDANCE
+        assert "tool quirks" not in MEMORY_GUIDANCE
 
     def test_session_search_guidance_is_simple_cross_session_recall(self):
         assert "relevant cross-session context exists" in SESSION_SEARCH_GUIDANCE
diff --git a/tests/agent/test_skills_guidance_content_filter.py b/tests/agent/test_skills_guidance_content_filter.py
index ad23b83a47..90fabcefa4 100644
--- a/tests/agent/test_skills_guidance_content_filter.py
+++ b/tests/agent/test_skills_guidance_content_filter.py
@@ -66,21 +66,23 @@ class TestBehaviourIsPreserved:
         assert "reuse" in first_line
 
     def test_patch_stale_skills_sentence_untouched(self):
-        assert "skill_manage(action='patch')" in SKILLS_GUIDANCE
-        assert "Skills that aren't maintained become liabilities." in SKILLS_GUIDANCE
+        # Dieted (#95681): the patch-stale-skills coaching moved OUT of this
+        # block — the ## Skills section and skill_manage's schema teach it.
+        assert "skill_manage" in SKILLS_GUIDANCE  # record-workflow sentence stays
 
     def test_skill_safety_rule_block_untouched(self):
         # Guarded independently by tests/agent/test_ghost_skill_pruning.py; asserted
         # here too so a reword of the guidance can't quietly take the block with it.
         assert "## Skill Safety Rule" in SKILLS_GUIDANCE
-        for rule in ("UNAVAILABLE", "RELOAD", "WAIT", "DEDUP"):
-            assert rule in SKILLS_GUIDANCE
+        assert "[SKILL_PRUNED]" in SKILLS_GUIDANCE
+        for phrase in ("skill_view(name=", "historical artifacts"):
+            assert phrase in SKILLS_GUIDANCE
 
-    def test_real_newlines_and_line_count_preserved(self):
-        # test_ghost_skill_pruning.py asserts count("\n") >= 6; the reword must
-        # not drop a line separator on its way past that bound.
-        assert "\\n" not in SKILLS_GUIDANCE
-        assert SKILLS_GUIDANCE.count("\n") >= 6
+    def test_real_newlines_preserved(self):
+        """The block must contain REAL newlines (not escaped backslash-n
+        literals) so the safety-rule heading renders as a heading."""
+        assert chr(10) in SKILLS_GUIDANCE
+        assert (chr(92) + 'n') not in SKILLS_GUIDANCE
 
 
 class TestGuidanceReachesTheSystemPrompt: