# How It Works

> Explain how claude-mem captures observations, when memory injection kicks in, and where data lives. Use when the user asks "how does claude-mem work?" or "what is this thing doing?".

- Skill: `thedixitjain/how-it-works` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds add thedixitjain/how-it-works`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/thedixitjain/how-it-works/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: AI & ML
- Author: thedixitjain (https://skillmd.com/u/thedixitjain)
- Updated: 2026-09-09
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/thedixitjain/how-it-works

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# How claude-mem works

## What it does

Every Read, Edit, and Bash that Claude makes turns into a compressed observation. Observations get summarized at session end. Relevant ones get auto-injected into future prompts so the next session starts with context from the last one — no re-explaining the codebase, no re-discovering decisions.

## When it kicks in

Memory injection starts on your second session in a project.

The first session in a fresh project seeds memory; subsequent sessions receive auto-injected context for relevant past work. Run `/learn-codebase` if you want to front-load the entire repo into memory in a single pass (~5 minutes, optional).

## Where data lives

Everything stays in ~/.claude-mem on this machine.

Nothing leaves your machine except calls to whichever AI provider you configured for compression (Claude / OpenRouter / Gemini). The SQLite database, vector index, logs, and settings all live under that directory and are removed cleanly on `npx claude-mem uninstall`.

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**Source:** [`thedotmack/claude-mem`](https://github.com/thedotmack/claude-mem) → `plugin/skills/how-it-works/SKILL.md`