diff --git a/docs/scratchpads/tess-m4-003-operator-plugins.md b/docs/scratchpads/tess-m4-003-operator-plugins.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..90c690d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/scratchpads/tess-m4-003-operator-plugins.md
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+# TESS-M4-003 — Operator Plugin Foundations
+
+- **Task:** TESS-M4-003 / TESS-MEM-001
+- **Branch/base:** `feat/tess-operator-plugins` rebased on `origin/main` `76325ca3`
+- **Scope:** first leaf-package memory/retrieval slice only; no durable inbox ownership, gateway integration, or Mosaic catalog implementation.
+
+## Handoff
+
+Coder4's uncommitted implementation was preserved first in commit `5b99c821` before review. The completion pass corrected the contract so namespace is injected configuration rather than caller-selected scope data, storage keys include tenant/owner/session via collision-safe tuple encoding, and malformed runtime scope values fail closed.
+
+## Delivered boundary
+
+- `OperatorMemoryPlugin` exposes `capture`, `search`, `recent`, `stats`, and `startupContext` through `MemoryAdapter` only.
+- Scope is server-derived `{tenantId, ownerId, sessionId}`; adapter and namespace are configuration, not operation input.
+- Capture redacts before persistence and records configured instance/namespace/source provenance.
+- Wildcard retrieval is documented at the `MemoryAdapter` boundary and implemented by the keyword adapter.
+- Startup context uses a bounded 64-result candidate window, then prioritizes project and flat-file provenance before slicing the configured output limit.
+- No `Tess` identity is hardcoded in storage keys or defaults; tests use configured `Nova`.
+
+## Verification
+
+- `pnpm --filter @mosaicstack/memory test` — PASS (32 tests)
+- `pnpm --filter @mosaicstack/memory typecheck` — PASS
+- `pnpm --filter @mosaicstack/memory lint` — PASS
+- `pnpm --filter @mosaicstack/memory build` — PASS
+- Codex code review — APPROVE after remediation
+- Codex security review — no findings after runtime scope-validation remediation
diff --git a/docs/tess/M4-003-OPERATOR-PLUGIN-SKETCH.md b/docs/tess/M4-003-OPERATOR-PLUGIN-SKETCH.md
index 0baf49e..5bacf6a 100644
--- a/docs/tess/M4-003-OPERATOR-PLUGIN-SKETCH.md
+++ b/docs/tess/M4-003-OPERATOR-PLUGIN-SKETCH.md
@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@
 
 ## Memory/retrieval slice — TESS-MEM-001
 
-Introduce a transport-neutral `OperatorMemoryPlugin` in `packages/memory`. The plugin receives a server-derived `{tenantId, ownerId, sessionId}` scope and delegates to a registered `MemoryAdapter`; adapter and namespace are injected configuration, never caller input. Its operations are `capture`, `search`, `recent`, `stats`, and `startupContext`. Results carry configured instance, provenance, and namespace metadata. Capture/redaction occurs before adapter persistence; startup context is bounded and ordered so project/flat-file truth can take precedence over retrieved material.
+Introduce a transport-neutral `OperatorMemoryPlugin` in `packages/memory`. The plugin receives a server-derived `{tenantId, ownerId, sessionId}` scope and delegates to a registered `MemoryAdapter`; adapter and namespace are injected configuration, never caller input. Its operations are `capture`, `search`, `recent`, `stats`, and `startupContext`. Results carry configured instance, provenance, and namespace metadata. Capture/redaction occurs before adapter persistence; startup context uses a bounded candidate window ordered so project/flat-file truth takes precedence within returned material.
 
-Registration remains replaceable-adapter based: `registerOperatorMemoryAdapter(kind, factory)` and `createOperatorMemoryPlugin(config)` resolve a configured adapter. Identity and namespace are configuration/scope data; no interaction-agent name is embedded in keys or defaults.
+Registration remains replaceable-adapter based: the existing `registerMemoryAdapter(kind, factory)` / `createMemoryAdapter(config)` seam supplies the injected adapter to `createOperatorMemoryPlugin(config)`. Identity and namespace are configuration data; no interaction-agent name is embedded in keys or defaults.
 
 ## Remaining plugin foundations — TESS-PLG-001
 
@@ -14,4 +14,4 @@ Registration remains replaceable-adapter based: `registerOperatorMemoryAdapter(k
 
 ## First implementation boundary
 
-The first PR slice should add the operator-memory plugin contract, config-driven factory registration, scope isolation, provenance-bearing retrieval, and tests for namespace isolation plus a differently named configured instance. Durable inbox/outbox remains owned by the existing `DurableSessionCoordinator`; this plugin only supplies bounded context/capture at lifecycle boundaries.
+The first PR slice should add the operator-memory plugin contract, configuration-injected adapter seam, scope isolation, provenance-bearing retrieval, and tests for namespace isolation plus a differently named configured instance. Durable inbox/outbox remains owned by the existing `DurableSessionCoordinator`; this plugin only supplies bounded context/capture at lifecycle boundaries.
diff --git a/packages/memory/src/adapters/keyword.test.ts b/packages/memory/src/adapters/keyword.test.ts
index 2a0ac85..a56b800 100644
--- a/packages/memory/src/adapters/keyword.test.ts
+++ b/packages/memory/src/adapters/keyword.test.ts
@@ -274,6 +274,20 @@ describe('KeywordAdapter', () => {
       expect(results).toHaveLength(1);
     });
 
+    it('should return all scoped insights for the explicit wildcard query', async () => {
+      await adapter.storeInsight({
+        userId: 'u1',
+        content: 'A literal * marker is still ordinary content',
+        source: 'chat',
+        category: 'technical',
+        relevanceScore: 0.7,
+      });
+
+      const results = await adapter.searchInsights('u1', '*');
+      expect(results).toHaveLength(4);
+      expect(results.every((result) => result.score === 1)).toBe(true);
+    });
+
     it('should return empty for empty query', async () => {
       const results = await adapter.searchInsights('u1', '   ');
       expect(results).toHaveLength(0);
diff --git a/packages/memory/src/adapters/keyword.ts b/packages/memory/src/adapters/keyword.ts
index 7575076..ea188e7 100644
--- a/packages/memory/src/adapters/keyword.ts
+++ b/packages/memory/src/adapters/keyword.ts
@@ -132,19 +132,23 @@ export class KeywordAdapter implements MemoryAdapter {
     opts?: { limit?: number; embedding?: number[] },
   ): Promise<InsightSearchResult[]> {
     const limit = opts?.limit ?? 10;
-    const words = query
-      .toLowerCase()
-      .split(/\s+/)
-      .filter((w) => w.length > 0);
+    const normalizedQuery = query.trim();
+    const matchAll = normalizedQuery === '*';
+    const words = matchAll
+      ? []
+      : normalizedQuery
+          .toLowerCase()
+          .split(/\s+/)
+          .filter((word) => word.length > 0);
 
-    if (words.length === 0) return [];
+    if (words.length === 0 && !matchAll) return [];
 
     const rows = await this.storage.find<InsightRecord>(INSIGHTS, { userId });
 
     const scored: InsightSearchResult[] = [];
     for (const row of rows) {
       const content = row.content.toLowerCase();
-      let score = 0;
+      let score = matchAll ? 1 : 0;
       for (const word of words) {
         if (content.includes(word)) score++;
       }
diff --git a/packages/memory/src/operator-memory-plugin.test.ts b/packages/memory/src/operator-memory-plugin.test.ts
index adfd2a3..26649db 100644
--- a/packages/memory/src/operator-memory-plugin.test.ts
+++ b/packages/memory/src/operator-memory-plugin.test.ts
@@ -55,6 +55,24 @@ describe('OperatorMemoryPlugin', () => {
     ]);
   });
 
+  it('rejects an incomplete runtime scope before it can produce a shared storage key', async () => {
+    const memory = adapter();
+    const plugin = createOperatorMemoryPlugin({
+      adapter: memory,
+      instanceId: 'Nova',
+      namespace: 'operator-memory',
+      redact: (value) => value,
+    });
+
+    await expect(
+      plugin.capture(
+        { tenantId: 'tenant-a', ownerId: 'owner-a', sessionId: ' ' },
+        { content: 'note', source: 'test', category: 'note' },
+      ),
+    ).rejects.toThrow('Operator memory session ID is required');
+    expect(memory.storeInsight).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
   it('uses a differently named configured instance in retrieval provenance', async () => {
     const memory = adapter();
     memory.searchInsights.mockResolvedValue([
@@ -76,6 +94,31 @@ describe('OperatorMemoryPlugin', () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it('orders startup context with project and flat-file truth before retrieved material', async () => {
+    const memory = adapter();
+    memory.searchInsights.mockResolvedValue([
+      { id: 'retrieval', content: 'retrieval', score: 1 },
+      { id: 'flat-file', content: 'flat-file', score: 1, metadata: { source: 'flat-file' } },
+      { id: 'project', content: 'project', score: 1, metadata: { source: 'project' } },
+    ]);
+    const plugin = createOperatorMemoryPlugin({
+      adapter: memory,
+      instanceId: 'Nova',
+      namespace: 'operator-memory',
+      maxStartupContext: 2,
+      redact: (value) => value,
+    });
+
+    const context = await plugin.startupContext({
+      tenantId: 'tenant-a',
+      ownerId: 'owner-a',
+      sessionId: 'session-a',
+    });
+
+    expect(context.map((result) => result.id)).toEqual(['project', 'flat-file']);
+    expect(memory.searchInsights).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.any(String), '*', { limit: 64 });
+  });
+
   it('redacts content before adapter persistence and records configured provenance metadata', async () => {
     const memory = adapter();
     const plugin = createOperatorMemoryPlugin({
diff --git a/packages/memory/src/operator-memory-plugin.ts b/packages/memory/src/operator-memory-plugin.ts
index 766536f..698d904 100644
--- a/packages/memory/src/operator-memory-plugin.ts
+++ b/packages/memory/src/operator-memory-plugin.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 import type { Insight, InsightSearchResult, MemoryAdapter } from './types.js';
 
+const STARTUP_CONTEXT_CANDIDATE_LIMIT = 64;
+
 /** Immutable server-derived boundary; callers never choose an adapter namespace. */
 export interface OperatorMemoryScope {
   readonly tenantId: string;
@@ -38,8 +40,44 @@ export interface OperatorMemoryPlugin {
 }
 
 function scopedUserId(scope: OperatorMemoryScope, namespace: string): string {
+  const normalizedScope = normalizeScope(scope);
   // JSON tuple encoding avoids delimiter collisions between independently scoped IDs.
-  return JSON.stringify([namespace, scope.tenantId, scope.ownerId, scope.sessionId]);
+  return JSON.stringify([
+    namespace,
+    normalizedScope.tenantId,
+    normalizedScope.ownerId,
+    normalizedScope.sessionId,
+  ]);
+}
+
+function normalizeScope(scope: OperatorMemoryScope): OperatorMemoryScope {
+  if (typeof scope !== 'object' || scope === null) {
+    throw new Error('Operator memory scope is required');
+  }
+  return Object.freeze({
+    tenantId: requiredScopeId(scope.tenantId, 'tenant ID'),
+    ownerId: requiredScopeId(scope.ownerId, 'owner ID'),
+    sessionId: requiredScopeId(scope.sessionId, 'session ID'),
+  });
+}
+
+function requiredScopeId(value: unknown, field: string): string {
+  if (typeof value !== 'string' || value.trim().length === 0) {
+    throw new Error(`Operator memory ${field} is required`);
+  }
+  return value.trim();
+}
+
+function compareStartupContext(left: OperatorMemoryResult, right: OperatorMemoryResult): number {
+  return (
+    startupSourcePriority(left.provenance.source) - startupSourcePriority(right.provenance.source)
+  );
+}
+
+function startupSourcePriority(source: string): number {
+  if (source === 'project') return 0;
+  if (source === 'flat-file') return 1;
+  return 2;
 }
 
 function normalizeConfig(config: OperatorMemoryConfig): OperatorMemoryConfig {
@@ -82,7 +120,7 @@ export function createOperatorMemoryPlugin(config: OperatorMemoryConfig): Operat
     ).map(mapResult);
   return {
     async capture(scope, input) {
-      return config.adapter.storeInsight({
+      return pluginConfig.adapter.storeInsight({
         userId: scopedUserId(scope, pluginConfig.namespace),
         content: pluginConfig.redact(input.content),
         source: input.source,
@@ -106,7 +144,11 @@ export function createOperatorMemoryPlugin(config: OperatorMemoryConfig): Operat
       };
     },
     async startupContext(scope) {
-      return search(scope, '*', pluginConfig.maxStartupContext);
+      const maxStartupContext = pluginConfig.maxStartupContext ?? 8;
+      // Prioritize authoritative sources within a bounded candidate window.
+      const candidateLimit = Math.max(maxStartupContext, STARTUP_CONTEXT_CANDIDATE_LIMIT);
+      const context = await search(scope, '*', candidateLimit);
+      return [...context].sort(compareStartupContext).slice(0, maxStartupContext);
     },
   };
 }
diff --git a/packages/memory/src/types.ts b/packages/memory/src/types.ts
index 47f9bf0..22aeb41 100644
--- a/packages/memory/src/types.ts
+++ b/packages/memory/src/types.ts
@@ -49,6 +49,10 @@ export interface MemoryAdapter {
   // Insights
   storeInsight(insight: NewInsight): Promise<Insight>;
   getInsight(id: string): Promise<Insight | null>;
+  /**
+   * Searches within one scoped user ID. The reserved `*` query returns scoped
+   * recent/all results rather than performing backend-specific wildcard parsing.
+   */
   searchInsights(
     userId: string,
     query: string,