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?".
Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.
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---
name: mem-how-it-works
description: 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?".
---
> **This skill needs claude-mem, which is installed separately.** From this skill's folder, run `python3 scripts/sfp_app.py status` to see whether it is installed and running. If it is not, run `python3 scripts/sfp_app.py install` to get the plan (it changes nothing), tell the user what it will do, and run it again with `--yes` only after they agree. `start` runs it when it is installed but stopped.
# 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). Local installs contact cmem.ai once, at signup, to create the sign-in link; nothing else is sent to cmem.ai. The SQLite database, vector index, logs, and settings all live under that directory and are removed cleanly on `npx claude-mem uninstall`.
