claude-mem README

The project's README from github.com/thedotmack/claude-mem. As one markdown file: README.md.


Grok Mem
Vercel OSS Program Greptile, code review partner SerpApi

Claude-Mem is now Grok Mem. The package is still claude-mem.

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Grok Mem is how Grok Bots remember. Sits next to Grok's own memory. Does not replace it.

Grok mem

License Version Node Mentioned in Awesome Claude Code

thedotmack/claude-mem | Trendshift


Claude-Mem Preview Star History Chart

Quick Start • How It Works • Search Tools • Documentation • Configuration • Troubleshooting • License

Grok Mem is how Grok Bots remember the work. Grok already remembers you. Grok Mem remembers what the bot did, what we decided, what to do next. Those notes come back in the next chat.


Quick Start

Install Grok Mem for Grok Bot. The package name is still claude-mem.

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: memory that runs off-plan, free for your first 30 days, 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

Or install for Antigravity CLI (setup guide):

npx claude-mem install --ide antigravity

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

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 for details.

Key Features:


Documentation

📚 View Full Documentation - Browse on official website

Getting Started

Best Practices

Architecture

Configuration & Development


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 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:

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:

// 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 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 for the branch flow and non-stable run instructions.


System Requirements


Windows Setup Notes

If you see an error like:

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 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:

How to Configure

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

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

Modes are defined in plugin/modes/. To see all available modes locally:

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 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 for common issues and solutions.


Bug Reports

Create comprehensive bug reports with the automated generator:

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 for the strategy and local run instructions.

See Development Guide 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 file for full details. See docs/license.md and 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 for details.


Support


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

claude-mem (thedotmack/claude-mem)

claude-skills
Searching Database…

101.6K ·GitHub
What is this?Claude-Mem gives coding agents persistent memory across sessions: it captures everything your agent does, compresses it with AI, and injects the relevant context back into future sessions.
Is this a standalone app or a plugin for my agent?It is a plugin/worker system that hooks into your coding agent's lifecycle (session start, prompt submit, tool use, session end) and runs a local worker service with SQLite and a Chroma vector database behind the scenes.
What do I need running on my machine for it to work?You need Node.js 20+ and a Claude Code (or other supported agent) with plugin support; Bun and uv are auto-installed if missing, and SQLite 3 is bundled.
Does the free hosted memory provider cost anything?Sign-in unlocks the hosted 'claude-mem observer' memory for free for the first 30 days; after the trial ends it falls back to using your own Anthropic plan unless you subscribe.
Which coding agents does it support?It works with Claude Code, OpenClaw, Codex, Gemini, Hermes, Copilot, OpenCode and more, with dedicated install paths for OpenCode, Antigravity CLI, and OpenClaw gateways.
Does it run on Windows as well as Mac/Linux?Yes, it runs cross-platform; the README even includes Windows-specific setup notes about adding Node.js/npm to PATH.
Does it need a daemon running to sync memories?No daemon is required; the worker process syncs memories to the cloud on write when using Cloud Sync.
Can I keep my memory data fully local instead of using the hosted service?Yes, a local observer mode is opt-in via the --provider host flag, and you can also use your own OpenRouter/Gemini key or your Anthropic plan instead of the hosted CMEM Pro service.
How does memory search actually work under the hood?Claude-Mem exposes 4 MCP tools (search, timeline, getObservations, plus the index workflow) following a 3-layer, token-efficient pattern: search returns a compact index (~50-100 tokens/result), timeline gives chronological context, and getObservations fetches full details only for filtered IDs, saving roughly 10x tokens versus fetching everything.
Can I exclude sensitive information from being stored?Yes, the Privacy Control feature lets you use tags to exclude sensitive content from being saved into memory.
What is the CMEM token mentioned in the README?CMEM is a third-party community token embraced (but not issued) by the project's creator, acting as a community growth catalyst; it is unrelated to the core open-source software itself.
Is there a UI to view what the agent remembers?Yes, a Web Viewer UI shows a real-time memory stream at the worker URL printed on startup, and there's also a Claude Desktop skill for searching memory from desktop conversations.
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