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claude-mem (GitHub Repo)

claude-mem (GitHub Repo)

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Claude-Mem is a plugin that provides persistent memory for AI coding agents by capturing and indexing past tool usage and semantic project summaries.
What: Claude-Mem works with tools like Claude Code, OpenClaw, and Gemini by installing lifecycle hooks. It summarizes interactions into a searchable vector database, allowing the AI to recall project-specific knowledge across disconnected chat sessions.
Why it matters: Current LLM-based coding agents are stateless; this project addresses the "memory gap" by externalizing state, essentially turning an agent's history into a queryable knowledge base.
Takeaway: If your AI coding sessions suffer from "amnesia," install it via `npx claude-mem install` to enable persistent context.
Deep dive
  • Lifecycle Hooks: Uses session-level hooks (start, prompt, tool-use, end) to capture activity.
  • Progressive Disclosure: A 3-layer search workflow (search index -> timeline -> get observations) to keep token usage efficient.
  • Hybrid Search: Combines full-text search with vector databases (Chroma) for semantic retrieval.
  • Privacy: Includes support for `` tags to mask sensitive data before storage.
Decoder
  • MCP (Model Context Protocol): An open standard for connecting AI assistants to data sources and development tools.
Original article

Persistent memory compression system built for Claude Code.

Claude-Mem seamlessly preserves context across sessions by automatically capturing tool usage observations, generating semantic summaries, and making them available to future sessions. This enables Claude to maintain continuity of knowledge about projects even after sessions end or reconnect.


Quick Start

Install claude-mem for Grok Bot:

npx claude-mem install --ide grok-bot

Grok Bot has no host hooks, so we watch the chat log files. Default is CMEM Pro, the hosted memory. Local observer is opt-in: --provider host. Installing this plugin does not install Cursor.

Awareness push pilot (LFG + Orifice): needle observations (decision, bugfix, security_alert, sensitive) are appended as dated - YYYY-MM-DD [awareness] … lines into that bot's memory/log/YYYY-MM.md. Grok Bot already re-reads the log from disk. This does not write profile.md, user-memory, or project memory. Disable with CLAUDE_MEM_GROK_BOT_AWARENESS_ENABLED=false.

Install with a single command:

npx claude-mem install

The installer sets everything up first, then asks you to sign in to claude-mem in your browser (email magic link — no card required). Signing in provisions a memory key for your account and unlocks the claude-mem observer with a 30 Day Free Trial: memory runs off-plan, so you get up to 100% more usage from your plan. When the free trial ends, memory automatically falls back to your Anthropic plan unless you subscribe. After sign-in you pick your memory provider — the claude-mem observer, your own OpenRouter or Gemini key, or your Anthropic plan.

Prefer to skip the sign-in? Pass an explicit --provider flag, set CLAUDE_MEM_ONLINE_OPTIN=false, or run in CI/non-interactive shells — the installer completes without any account interaction.

Or install for OpenCode:

npx claude-mem install --ide opencode

This works with OpenCode 1.3.4 or later, including OpenCode 2. Restart OpenCode after installing.

Or install for T3 Code (Codex and Claude Code providers):

npx claude-mem install --ide t3code

The installer discovers T3 Code's enabled providers, registers native Claude-Mem plugins in their configured homes, and supports T3-managed Codex. Restart T3 Code, trust the provider's hooks when prompted, and start a new thread.

Or install for Antigravity CLI:

npx claude-mem install --ide antigravity

Or install for OMP (Oh My Pi):

npx claude-mem install --ide omp

Or install the native Pi extension or DeepSeek Harness plugin:

npx claude-mem install --ide pi
npx claude-mem install --ide dsh --dsh-profile tui

Or install from the plugin marketplace inside Claude Code:

/plugin marketplace add thedotmack/claude-mem
/plugin install claude-mem

Restart Claude Code. Context from previous sessions will automatically appear in new sessions.

Note: Claude-Mem is also published on npm, but npm install -g claude-mem installs the SDK/library only — it does not register the plugin hooks or set up the worker service. Always install via npx claude-mem install or the /plugin commands above.

OpenClaw Gateway

Install claude-mem as a persistent memory plugin on OpenClaw gateways with a single command:

curl -fsSL https://install.cmem.ai/openclaw.sh | bash

Key Features:

  • 🧠 Persistent Memory - Context survives across sessions
  • 📊 Progressive Disclosure - Layered memory retrieval with token cost visibility
  • 🔍 Skill-Based Search - Query your project history with mem-search skill
  • 🖥️ Web Viewer UI - Real-time memory stream at the worker URL printed on startup
  • 💻 Claude Desktop Skill - Search memory from Claude Desktop conversations
  • 🔒 Privacy Control - Use <private> tags to exclude sensitive content from storage
  • ⚙️ Context Configuration - Fine-grained control over what context gets injected
  • 🤖 Automatic Operation - No manual intervention required
  • 🔗 Citations - Reference past observations with IDs through the worker API or view all in the web viewer

Documentation

  • Installation Guide - Quick start & advanced installation
  • Usage Guide - How Claude-Mem works automatically
  • Search Tools - Query your project history with natural language
  • Cloud Sync - Back up your memories to cmem.ai — no daemon, the worker syncs on write

How It Works

Core Components:

  1. 5 Lifecycle Hooks - SessionStart, UserPromptSubmit, PostToolUse, Stop, SessionEnd (6 hook scripts)
  2. Smart Install - Cached dependency checker
  3. Worker Service - Local HTTP API with web viewer UI and search endpoints, managed by Bun
  4. SQLite Database - Stores sessions, observations, summaries
  5. mem-search Skill - Natural language queries with progressive disclosure
  6. Chroma Vector Database - Hybrid semantic + keyword search for intelligent context retrieval

MCP Search Tools

Claude-Mem provides intelligent memory search through 4 MCP tools following a token-efficient 3-layer workflow pattern:

The 3-Layer Workflow:

  1. search - Get compact index with IDs (~50-100 tokens/result)
  2. timeline - Get chronological context around interesting results
  3. get_observations - Fetch full details ONLY for filtered IDs (~500-1,000 tokens/result)

Example Usage:

// Step 1: Search for index
search(query="authentication bug", type="bugfix", limit=10)

// Step 2: Review index, identify relevant IDs

// Step 3: Fetch full details
get_observations(ids=[123, 456])

Configuration

Settings are managed in ~/.claude-mem/settings.json. Configure AI model, worker port, data directory, log level, and context injection settings.

Mode & Language Configuration

Claude-Mem supports multiple workflow modes and languages via the CLAUDE_MEM_MODE setting.

Edit your settings file at ~/.claude-mem/settings.json:

{
  "CLAUDE_MEM_MODE": "code--zh"
}

Troubleshooting

If experiencing issues, describe the problem to Claude and the troubleshoot skill will automatically diagnose and provide fixes.


License

Claude-Mem is licensed under the Apache License 2.0.


Support

  • Issues: GitHub Issues
  • Repository: github.com/thedotmack/claude-mem
  • Official X Account: @Claude_Memory
  • Official Discord: Join Discord
  • Author: Alex Newman (@thedotmack)

Built with Claude Agent SDK | Works with Claude Code | Made with TypeScript

What About CMEM?

CMEM is a token created by a 3rd party but officially embraced by the creator of Claude-Mem (Alex Newman, @thedotmack). The token acts as a community catalyst for growth and a vehicle for bringing CMEM to the developers and knowledge workers that need it most.

Official BASE CA: 0x76b1967eec0ccaeb001bbbb2b40dc4badba31ba3

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