🧠 Claude Memory System (claude-mem)

A real-time memory system for Claude Code that captures, compresses, and retrieves conversation context across sessions using semantic search and vector embeddings.

⚡️ Quick Start

npm install -g claude-mem
claude-mem install

Restart Claude Code. Memory capture starts automatically.

✨ What It Does

Real-Time Memory Capture

• Captures every conversation turn as it happens via streaming hooks
• User prompts stored immediately in ChromaDB with atomic facts
• Tool responses compressed asynchronously via Agent SDK
• Project-based memory isolation with hierarchical metadata
• Automatic context loading at session start and /clear

Semantic Search

• Vector embeddings for intelligent retrieval via ChromaDB
• Find relevant context from past conversations
• Project-aware memory queries with temporal filtering
• Date-based search using query text (not metadata)
• 15+ MCP tools for memory operations

Invisible Operation

• Zero user configuration required
• Memory compression happens in background via SDK
• SDK transcripts auto-deleted from UI history
• Session overviews generated automatically
• Live memory viewer with SSE streaming

Smart Trash™

• Safe deletion with easy recovery
• Timestamped trash entries
• One-command restore
• Located at ~/.claude-mem/trash/

🎯 Core Features

• Streaming Hooks: Real-time capture with minimal overhead (<50ms)
• Agent SDK Integration: Async compression without blocking conversation
• MCP Server: 15+ ChromaDB tools for memory operations
• Project Isolation: Memories segregated by project context
• Zero Configuration: Works out of the box after install
• Embedded Databases: ChromaDB and SQLite, no external dependencies
• Invisible UX: Memory operations don't pollute conversation UI
• Live Memory Viewer: Real-time slideshow of memories via SSE

🧭 Commands

# Setup & Status
claude-mem install          # Install/repair hooks and MCP integration
claude-mem status           # Check installation and memory stats
claude-mem doctor           # Run environment and pipeline diagnostics
claude-mem uninstall        # Remove all hooks

# Memory Operations
claude-mem load-context     # View current session context
claude-mem logs             # View operation logs
claude-mem changelog        # Generate CHANGELOG.md from memories

# Storage Operations (Used by hooks/SDK)
claude-mem store-memory     # Store a memory to ChromaDB + SQLite
claude-mem store-overview   # Store a session overview

# Smart Trash™
claude-mem trash            # View trash contents
claude-mem restore          # Restore from trash
claude-mem trash-empty      # Permanently delete trash

# ChromaDB Tools (15+ MCP tools available)
claude-mem chroma_*         # Direct ChromaDB operations

📁 Storage Structure

~/.claude-mem/
├── chroma/            # ChromaDB vector database
├── archives/          # Compressed transcript backups
├── index/             # Legacy JSONL memory indices
├── hooks/             # Hook configuration files
├── trash/             # Smart Trash™ with recovery
├── logs/              # Operation logs
└── claude-mem.db      # SQLite metadata database

🏗️ Architecture

Storage Layers

• ChromaDB: Vector database for semantic search with embeddings
• SQLite: Metadata index (~/.claude-mem/claude-mem.db) with sessions, memories, overviews
• Archives: Compressed transcript backups in ~/.claude-mem/archives/

Hook System (hook-templates/)

• user-prompt-submit.js: Captures user prompts immediately, stores in ChromaDB
• post-tool-use.js: Spawns Agent SDK for async compression of tool responses
• stop.js: Generates session overview, cleans up SDK transcripts from UI
• session-start.js: Loads relevant context on startup and /clear
• Shared utilities: hook-helpers.js, hook-prompt-renderer.js, config-loader.js, path-resolver.js

CLI Commands (src/commands/)

• Installation, status, and diagnostics
• Memory storage and retrieval
• Changelog generation from memories
• Smart Trash™ management
• 15+ dynamic ChromaDB MCP tool wrappers

Services (src/services/)

• SQLite stores: Session, Memory, Overview, Diagnostics, TranscriptEvent
• Path discovery for project detection
• Rolling settings and logs

🔍 How Memory Search Works

Semantic Search Best Practices:

// ALWAYS include project name to avoid cross-contamination
mcp__claude-mem__chroma_query_documents({
  collection_name: "claude_memories",
  query_texts: ["claude-mem authentication bug"],
  n_results: 10
})

// Include dates for temporal search (dates in query text, not metadata)
mcp__claude-mem__chroma_query_documents({
  collection_name: "claude_memories",
  query_texts: ["project-name 2025-10-02 feature implementation"],
  n_results: 5
})

// Intent-based queries work better than keyword matching
mcp__claude-mem__chroma_query_documents({
  collection_name: "claude_memories",
  query_texts: ["implementing oauth flow"],
  n_results: 10
})

What Doesn't Work (Avoid These!)

• ❌ Complex where filters with $and/$or - causes errors
• ❌ Timestamp comparisons ($gte, $lt) - stored as strings
• ❌ Mixing project filters in where clause - causes "Error finding id"

Storage Collection: claude_memories

• Metadata: project, session_id, date, type, concepts, files
• Embeddings: Semantic vectors for similarity search
• Documents: Atomic facts + full narrative with hierarchical structure

✅ Requirements

• Node.js >= 18.0.0
• Bun >= 1.0.0 (for development)
• Claude Code with MCP support
• macOS/Linux (POSIX-compliant)

🛠️ Development

# Development mode
bun run dev

# Build production bundle
bun run build

# Build and update hooks (RECOMMENDED for hook changes)
bun run build && bun link && claude-mem install --force

# Run tests
bun test                    # All tests
npm run test:integration    # Integration tests
bun run test:unit           # Unit tests only

# Install from source
bun run dev:install

# Live Memory Viewer
npm run memory-stream:server  # Start SSE server on :3001

# Code quality
bun run lint
bun run format

🎨 Live Memory Viewer

Real-time slideshow of memories with SSE streaming:

1. Start the server: npm run memory-stream:server
2. Open the viewer at src/ui/memory-stream/
3. Auto-connects to ~/.claude-mem/claude-mem.db
4. New memories appear instantly as they're created

Features:

• 📡 Live SSE streaming from SQLite WAL changes
• 🎬 Auto-slideshow (5s intervals)
• ⏸️ Pause/Resume with Space bar
• ⌨️ Keyboard navigation (←/→)
• 🎨 Cyberpunk neural network aesthetic

🔑 Key Design Decisions

Storage Architecture

• Direct ChromaDB writes in store-memory.ts command (no async syncing)
• Each atomic fact stored as separate document + full narrative document
• Hierarchical metadata: project, session, date, type, concepts, files
• SQLite for fast metadata queries, ChromaDB for semantic search

Hook Infrastructure

• Streaming hooks (<50ms overhead) capture real-time events
• Shared utilities in hook-templates/shared/ for consistency
• Force overwrite on install to ensure latest hook code deploys
• Milliseconds in config.json, seconds in Claude settings

Memory Compression

• Agent SDK spawned asynchronously for tool response compression
• User prompts stored immediately without blocking
• SDK transcripts auto-deleted to keep UI clean
• 100:1 compression ratio maintained

Search Strategy

• Semantic search via query text (dates embedded in queries)
• Avoid complex metadata filters (causes ChromaDB errors)
• Always include project name in queries for isolation
• Multiple query phrasings for better coverage

🆘 Troubleshooting

claude-mem status           # Check installation health
claude-mem doctor           # Run full diagnostics
claude-mem install --force  # Repair installation
claude-mem logs             # View recent operations

📄 License

AGPL-3.0 - See LICENSE file for details

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Remember more. Repeat less. 🧠✨