## 1. Project Overview & Quickstart (thedotmack/claude-mem)

Persistent memory compression system built for [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code).

| | | | --- | --- | --- ## Quick Start Install with a single command: ```bash npx claude-mem install ``` Or install for OpenCode: ```bash npx claude-mem install --ide opencode ``` Or install for Antigravity CLI ([setup guide](https://docs.claude-mem.ai/antigravity-cli/setup)): ```bash npx claude-mem install --ide antigravity ``` Or install from the plugin marketplace inside Claude Code: ```bash /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 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](https://openclaw.ai) gateways with a single command: ```bash curl -fsSL https://install.cmem.ai/openclaw.sh | bash ``` The installer handles dependencies, plugin setup, AI provider configuration, worker startup, and optional real-time observation feeds to Telegram, Discord, Slack, and more. See the [OpenClaw Integration Guide](https://docs.claude-mem.ai/openclaw-integration) for details. **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 `` 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 📚 **[View Full Documentation](https://docs.claude-mem.ai/)** - Browse on official website ### Getting Started - **[Installation Guide](https://docs.claude-mem.ai/installation)** - Quick start & advanced installation - **[Usage Guide](https://docs.claude-mem.ai/usage/getting-started)** - How Claude-Mem works automatically - **[Search Tools](https://docs.claude-mem.ai/usage/search-tools)** - Query your project history with natural language - **[Cloud Sync](https://docs.claude-mem.ai/cloud-sync)** - Back up your memories to cmem.ai — no daemon, the worker syncs on write ### Best Practices - **[Context Engineering](https://docs.claude-mem.ai/context-engineering)** - AI agent context optimization principles - **[Progressive Disclosure](https://docs.claude-mem.ai/progressive-disclosure)** - Philosophy behind Claude-Mem's context priming strategy ### Architecture - **[Overview](https://docs.claude-mem.ai/architecture/overview)** - System components & data flow - **[Architecture Evolution](https://docs.claude-mem.ai/architecture-evolution)** - The journey from v3 to v5 - **[Hooks Architecture](https://docs.claude-mem.ai/hooks-architecture)** - How Claude-Mem uses lifecycle hooks - **[Hooks Reference](https://docs.claude-mem.ai/architecture/hooks)** - 7 hook scripts explained - **[Worker Service](https://docs.claude-mem.ai/architecture/worker-service)** - HTTP API & Bun management - **[Database](https://docs.claude-mem.ai/architecture/database)** - SQLite schema & FTS5 search - **[Search Architecture](https://docs.claude-mem.ai/architecture/search-architecture)** - Hybrid search with Chroma vector database ### Configuration & Development - **[Configuration](https://docs.claude-mem.ai/configuration)** - Environment variables & settings - **[Development](https://docs.claude-mem.ai/development)** - Building, testing, contributing - **[Release Branches](https://docs.claude-mem.ai/branches)** - Stable, core-dev, and community-edge branch flow - **[Troubleshooting](https://docs.claude-mem.ai/troubleshooting)** - Common issues & solutions --- ## How It Works **Core Components:** 1. **5 Lifecycle Hooks** - SessionStart, UserPromptSubmit, PostToolUse, Stop, SessionEnd (6 hook scripts) 2. **Smart Install** - Cached dependency checker (pre-hook script, not a lifecycle hook) 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 See [Architecture Overview](https://docs.claude-mem.ai/architecture/overview) for details. --- ## 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) **How It Works:** - Claude uses MCP tools to search your memory - Start with `search` to get an index of results - Use `timeline` to see what was happening around specific observations - Use `get_observations` to fetch full details for relevant IDs - **~10x token savings** by filtering before fetching details **Available MCP Tools:** 1. **`search`** - Search memory index with full-text queries, filters by type/date/project 2. **`timeline`** - Get chronological context around a specific observation or query 3. **`get_observations`** - Fetch full observation details by IDs (always batch multiple IDs) **Example Usage:** ```typescript // Step 1: Search for index search(query="authentication bug", type="bugfix", limit=10) // Step 2: Review index, identify relevant IDs (e.g., #123, #456) // Step 3: Fetch full details get_observations(ids=[123, 456]) ``` See [Search Tools Guide](https://docs.claude-mem.ai/usage/search-tools) for detailed examples. --- ## Release Branches Stable releases ship from `main` and are published to npm. `core-dev` and `community-edge` are source-run branches for early reliability fixes and community integrations. See **[Release Branches](https://docs.claude-mem.ai/branches)** for the branch flow and non-stable run instructions. --- ## System Requirements - **Node.js**: 20.0.0 or higher - **Claude Code**: Latest version with plugin support - **Bun**: JavaScript runtime and process manager (auto-installed if missing) - **uv**: Python package manager for vector search (auto-installed if missing) - **SQLite 3**: For persistent storage (bundled) --- ### Windows Setup Notes If you see an error like: ```powershell npm : The term 'npm' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet ``` Make sure Node.js and npm are installed and added to your PATH. Download the latest Node.js installer from https://nodejs.org and restart your terminal after installation. --- ## Configuration Settings are managed in `~/.claude-mem/settings.json` (auto-created with defaults on first run). Configure AI model, worker port, data directory, log level, and context injection settings. See the **[Configuration Guide](https://docs.claude-mem.ai/configuration)** for all available settings and examples. ### Mode & Language Configuration Claude-Mem supports multiple workflow modes and languages via the `CLAUDE_MEM_MODE` setting. This option controls both: - The workflow behavior (e.g. code, chill, investigation) - The language used in generated observations #### How to Configure Edit your settings file at `~/.claude-mem/settings.json`: ```json { "CLAUDE_MEM_MODE": "code--zh" } ``` Modes are defined in `plugin/modes/`. To see all available modes locally: ```bash ls ~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/thedotmack/plugin/modes/ ``` #### Available Modes | Mode | Description | |------------|-------------------------| | `code` | Default English mode | | `code--zh` | Simplified Chinese mode | | `code--ja` | Japanese mode | Language-specific modes follow the pattern `code--[lang]` where `[lang]` is the ISO 639-1 language code (e.g., `zh` for Chinese, `ja` for Japanese, `es` for Spanish). > Note: `code--zh` (Simplified Chinese) is already built-in — no additional installation or plugin update is required. #### After Changing Mode Restart Claude Code to apply the new mode configuration. --- ## Development See the **[Development Guide](https://docs.claude-mem.ai/development)** for build instructions, testing, and contribution workflow. --- ## Troubleshooting If experiencing issues, describe the problem to Claude and the troubleshoot skill will automatically diagnose and provide fixes. See the **[Troubleshooting Guide](https://docs.claude-mem.ai/troubleshooting)** for common issues and solutions. --- ## Bug Reports Create comprehensive bug reports with the automated generator: ```bash cd ~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/thedotmack npm run bug-report ``` ## Contributing Contributions are welcome! Please: 1. Fork the repository 2. Create a feature branch 3. Make your changes with tests 4. Update documentation 5. Submit a Pull Request Claude-Mem ships from three branches: `main` (stable), `core-dev`, and `community-edge`. Only `main` is published to npm; the others are run from source. See [Release Branches](https://docs.claude-mem.ai/branches) for the strategy and local run instructions. See [Development Guide](https://docs.claude-mem.ai/development) for contribution workflow. --- ## License Claude-Mem is licensed under the Apache License 2.0. We chose Apache-2.0 because durable agentic memory should be easy to embed in developer tools, local agents, MCP servers, enterprise systems, robotics stacks, and production agent harnesses. See the [LICENSE](LICENSE) file for full details. See [docs/license.md](docs/license.md) and [docs/ip-boundary.md](docs/ip-boundary.md) for licensing scope and the open/commercial boundary. **Note on Ragtime**: The `ragtime/` directory is licensed under the **Apache License 2.0**. See [ragtime/LICENSE](ragtime/LICENSE) for details. --- ## Support - **Documentation**: [docs/](docs/) - **Issues**: [GitHub Issues](https://github.com/thedotmack/claude-mem/issues) - **Repository**: [github.com/thedotmack/claude-mem](https://github.com/thedotmack/claude-mem) - **Official X Account**: [@Claude_Memory](https://x.com/Claude_Memory) - **Official Discord**: [Join Discord](https://discord.com/invite/J4wttp9vDu) - **Author**: Alex Newman ([@thedotmack](https://github.com/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 ## 2. Official Technical Reference & Guides (thedotmack/claude-mem-docs) # Claude Memory System Documentation This repository contains the documentation for [claude-mem](https://github.com/thedotmack/claude-mem), built with [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com). ## 🚀 Development ### Prerequisites - Node.js 18+ - Mintlify CLI (`npm i mint`) ### Local Development ```bash # Install Mintlify CLI npm i mint # Start dev server mint dev # Or on a custom port mint dev --port 3333 ``` The documentation will be available at http://localhost:3000 (or your custom port). ## 📁 Structure ``` claude-mem-docs/ ├── mint.json # Mintlify configuration ├── introduction.mdx # Landing page ├── quickstart.mdx # Quick start guide ├── installation.mdx # Installation guide ├── concepts/ # Core concepts ├── configuration/ # Configuration guides ├── cli/ # CLI reference ├── api-reference/ # API documentation ├── guides/ # Tutorials and guides └── advanced/ # Advanced topics ``` ## 🎨 Customization Edit `mint.json` to: - Update navigation structure - Change colors and branding - Configure analytics - Add social links ## 📝 Writing Documentation Mintlify uses MDX format with special components: - `` - Feature cards - `` - Card layouts - `` - Tabbed content - `` - Step-by-step guides - `` - Collapsible sections - ``, ``, `` - Callouts ## 🚢 Deployment The documentation can be deployed to: - Mintlify hosting (recommended) - GitHub Pages - Netlify/Vercel - Custom domain ### Deploy to Mintlify ```bash mint deploy ``` ## 📄 License Documentation is licensed under MIT License. ## 🤝 Contributing Contributions are welcome! Please: 1. Fork the repository 2. Create a feature branch 3. Make your changes 4. Submit a pull request ## 🔗 Links - [claude-mem Repository](https://github.com/thedotmack/claude-mem) - [NPM Package](https://www.npmjs.com/package/claude-mem) - [Live Documentation](https://docs.claude-mem.com) (coming soon)