How do I install the Engram Memory skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add jnmetacode/engram-memory in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Engram Memory safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Engram Memory?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Engram Memory free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free. This skill is licensed under MIT.

Who published Engram Memory?

jnMetaCode (@jnmetacode) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Engram Memory by jnmetacode — Agent Skill

Name: Engram Memory
Author: jnMetaCode

Engram Memory

Give the agent durable, local memory with engram — recall past decisions before answering, and persist new decisions, preferences and facts as they happen. Use when work spans sessions or the user says "remember".

jnMetaCode 02a3ff1 2.7 KB Updated Sep 17, 2026

File contents

engram-memory

You have access to a local, private memory layer (engram). Treat it as your long-term memory: read it before you answer, write to it when something durable happens. Everything stays on the user's machine.

Setup (once)

If the engram_recall / engram_remember MCP tools are available, use those. Otherwise use the CLI (zero install):

npx @jnmetacode/engram serve &          # HTTP API on :7077, or
npx @jnmetacode/engram mcp              # as an MCP server

When to RECALL

Before answering anything that may depend on prior context, search memory first:

"What did we decide about X?" / "Why did we choose Y?"
Resuming work after a gap ("where were we?")
Anything referencing a person, project, deadline, or preference you don't see in the current conversation.

npx @jnmetacode/engram recall "pricing decision" --since month

Quote the recalled passage with its citation (file/date) rather than paraphrasing from your own context — the citation is the point.

When to REMEMBER

Persist a memory when the conversation produces something with a shelf life:

A decision and its why ("we picked Postgres over SQLite because …")
A user preference ("always use pnpm", "no AI attribution in commits")
A fact that took effort to establish (a root cause, a benchmark number)

npx @jnmetacode/engram remember "2026-06-10: chose scoped npm names (@org/pkg) because unscoped were taken"

Rules for good memories:

One fact per memory. Atomic entries rank and recall better.
Date it. Lead with an absolute date — engram's ranking is time-aware.
Include the why, not just the what; the why is what future-you needs.
Don't store what the repo already records (code, git history, docs).

REINFORCE what proved right (self-improving recall)

When a recalled memory turned out to be the correct answer — the fix worked, the user confirmed — say so, and similar future queries will rank that source higher:

npx @jnmetacode/engram reinforce "staging deploy fails" deploy-notes

(MCP: the engram_reinforce tool, {query, source}.) Only reinforce verified answers; reinforcing guesses trains the memory to be confidently wrong. For the full improvement loop, see the self-evolve skill.

Verify it stuck

After remembering, do a quick recall of a keyword from the new memory. If it doesn't come back first, rewrite it more concretely.

---name: engram-memorydescription: Give the agent durable, local memory with engram — recall past decisions before answering, and persist new decisions, preferences and facts as they happen. Use when work spans sessions or the user says "remember".license: MIT---# engram-memoryYou have access to a local, private memory layer ([engram](https://github.com/jnMetaCode/engram)).Treat it as your long-term memory: **read it before you answer, write to it whensomething durable happens.** Everything stays on the user's machine.## Setup (once)If the `engram_recall` / `engram_remember` MCP tools are available, use those.Otherwise use the CLI (zero install):```bashnpx @jnmetacode/engram serve & # HTTP API on :7077, ornpx @jnmetacode/engram mcp # as an MCP server```## When to RECALLBefore answering anything that may depend on prior context, search memory first:- "What did we decide about X?" / "Why did we choose Y?"- Resuming work after a gap ("where were we?")- Anything referencing a person, project, deadline, or preference you don't see in the current conversation.```bashnpx @jnmetacode/engram recall "pricing decision" --since month```Quote the recalled passage **with its citation** (file/date) rather thanparaphrasing from your own context — the citation is the point.## When to REMEMBERPersist a memory when the conversation produces something with a shelf life:- A decision and its why ("we picked Postgres over SQLite because …")- A user preference ("always use pnpm", "no AI attribution in commits")- A fact that took effort to establish (a root cause, a benchmark number)```bashnpx @jnmetacode/engram remember "2026-06-10: chose scoped npm names (@org/pkg) because unscoped were taken"```Rules for good memories:1. **One fact per memory.** Atomic entries rank and recall better.2. **Date it.** Lead with an absolute date — engram's ranking is time-aware.3. **Include the why**, not just the what; the why is what future-you needs.4. Don't store what the repo already records (code, git history, docs).## REINFORCE what proved right (self-improving recall)When a recalled memory turned out to be the correct answer — the fix worked,the user confirmed — say so, and similar future queries will rank that sourcehigher:```bashnpx @jnmetacode/engram reinforce "staging deploy fails" deploy-notes```(MCP: the `engram_reinforce` tool, `{query, source}`.) Only reinforce*verified* answers; reinforcing guesses trains the memory to be confidentlywrong. For the full improvement loop, see the `self-evolve` skill.## Verify it stuckAfter remembering, do a quick `recall` of a keyword from the new memory. If itdoesn't come back first, rewrite it more concretely.

Frequently asked questions