Claude Mem

Claude-Mem: AI Development Instructions

Claude-mem is a Claude Code plugin providing persistent memory across sessions. It captures tool usage, compresses observations using the Claude Agent SDK, and injects relevant context into future sessions.

Architecture

5 Lifecycle Hooks: SessionStart → UserPromptSubmit → PostToolUse → Summary → SessionEnd

Hooks (src/hooks/*.ts) - TypeScript → ESM, built to plugin/scripts/*-hook.js

Worker Service (src/services/worker-service.ts) - Express API on port 37777, Bun-managed, handles AI processing asynchronously

Database (src/services/sqlite/) - SQLite3 at ~/.claude-mem/claude-mem.db

Search Skill (plugin/skills/mem-search/SKILL.md) - HTTP API for searching past work, auto-invoked when users ask about history

Chroma (src/services/sync/ChromaSync.ts) - Vector embeddings for semantic search

Viewer UI (src/ui/viewer/) - React interface at http://localhost:37777, built to plugin/ui/viewer.html

Privacy Tags

• <private>content</private> - User-level privacy control (manual, prevents storage)

Implementation: Tag stripping happens at hook layer (edge processing) before data reaches worker/database. See src/utils/tag-stripping.ts for shared utilities.

Build Commands

npm run build-and-sync        # Build, sync to marketplace, restart worker

Configuration

Settings are managed in ~/.claude-mem/settings.json. The file is auto-created with defaults on first run.

File Locations

• Source: <project-root>/src/
• Built Plugin: <project-root>/plugin/
• Installed Plugin: ~/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/thedotmack/
• Database: ~/.claude-mem/claude-mem.db
• Chroma: ~/.claude-mem/chroma/

Exit Code Strategy

Claude-mem hooks use specific exit codes per Claude Code's hook contract:

• Exit 0: Success or graceful shutdown (Windows Terminal closes tabs)
• Exit 1: Non-blocking error (stderr shown to user, continues)
• Exit 2: Blocking error (stderr fed to Claude for processing)

Philosophy: Worker/hook errors exit with code 0 to prevent Windows Terminal tab accumulation. The wrapper/plugin layer handles restart logic. ERROR-level logging is maintained for diagnostics.

See private/context/claude-code/exit-codes.md for full hook behavior matrix.

Requirements

• Bun (all platforms - auto-installed if missing)
• uv (all platforms - auto-installed if missing, provides Python for Chroma)
• Node.js

Documentation

Public Docs: https://docs.claude-mem.ai (Mintlify) Source: docs/public/ - MDX files, edit docs.json for navigation Deploy: Auto-deploys from GitHub on push to main

Pro Features Architecture

Claude-mem is designed with a clean separation between open-source core functionality and optional Pro features.

Open-Source Core (this repository):

• All worker API endpoints on localhost:37777 remain fully open and accessible
• Pro features are headless - no proprietary UI elements in this codebase
• Pro integration points are minimal: settings for license keys, tunnel provisioning logic
• The architecture ensures Pro features extend rather than replace core functionality

Pro Features (coming soon, external):

• Enhanced UI (Memory Stream) connects to the same localhost:37777 endpoints as the open viewer
• Additional features like advanced filtering, timeline scrubbing, and search tools
• Access gated by license validation, not by modifying core endpoints
• Users without Pro licenses continue using the full open-source viewer UI without limitation

This architecture preserves the open-source nature of the project while enabling sustainable development through optional paid features.

Important

No need to edit the changelog ever, it's generated automatically.