Persistent memory for OpenCode and Claude Code. codemem captures what you work on across sessions, retrieves relevant context using hybrid search, and injects relevant context automatically in OpenCode.
- Local-first — everything lives in SQLite on your machine
- Hybrid retrieval — FTS5 BM25 lexical search + sqlite-vec semantic search, merged and re-ranked
- Automatic injection — the OpenCode plugin injects context into every prompt, no manual steps
- Claude Code plugin support — install from the codemem marketplace source
- Built-in viewer — browse memories, sessions, and observer output in a local web UI
- Peer-to-peer sync — replicate memories across machines without a central service
Prerequisites: Node.js 24+ and npm (or pnpm)
- Install the OpenCode plugin and MCP config:
npx -y codemem setup --opencode-only
- Restart OpenCode.
The OpenCode plugin manages backend execution automatically — no separate global install is required.
- Verify:
# Works on fresh installs (no global codemem needed)
npx -y codemem stats
npx -y codemem db raw-events-status
That's it. The plugin captures activity, builds memories, and injects context from here on.
If you want codemem available directly on your PATH for manual commands, install the CLI globally:
npm install -g codemem
OpenCode plugin and CLI are now split intentionally:
@codemem/opencode-plugin— OpenCode plugin packagecodemem— CLI and MCP commands
- Install codemem's Claude MCP config:
npx -y codemem setup --claude-only
- In Claude Code, add the codemem marketplace source and install the plugin:
/plugin marketplace add kunickiaj/codemem
/plugin install codemem
The Claude plugin starts MCP with the TS CLI (codemem mcp).
Claude hook ingestion is HTTP enqueue-first (POST /api/claude-hooks) and falls back to direct local DB enqueue via codemem claude-hook-ingest when the local server path is unavailable.
Claude hook events share the same raw-event queue pipeline used by OpenCode. UserPromptSubmit runs
capture ingest in the background and injects memory context via Claude additionalContext using
local pack generation by default, with optional HTTP /api/pack fallback.
Migrating from
opencode-mem? See docs/rename-migration.md.
Adapters hook into runtime event systems (OpenCode plugin and Claude hooks). They capture tool calls and conversation messages, flush them through an observer pipeline that produces typed memories, and surface retrieval context for future prompts.
sequenceDiagram
participant OC as OpenCode
participant PL as codemem plugin
participant ST as MemoryStore
participant DB as SQLite
OC->>PL: tool.execute.after events
OC->>PL: experimental.chat.system.transform
PL->>ST: build_memory_pack with shaped query
ST->>DB: FTS5 BM25 lexical search
ST->>DB: sqlite vec semantic search
ST->>ST: merge rerank and section assembly
ST-->>PL: pack text
PL->>OC: inject codemem context
Retrieval combines two strategies: keyword search via SQLite FTS5 with BM25 scoring and semantic similarity via sqlite-vec embeddings. In the pack-building path, results from both are merged, deduplicated, and re-ranked using recency and memory-kind boosts.
Injection happens automatically. The plugin builds a query from the current session context (first prompt, latest prompt, project, recently modified files), calls build_memory_pack, and appends the result to the system prompt via experimental.chat.system.transform.
Memories are typed — bugfix, feature, refactor, change, discovery, decision, exploration — with structured fields like facts, concepts, files_read, and files_modified that improve retrieval relevance. Low-signal events are filtered at multiple layers before persistence.
For architecture details, see docs/architecture.md.
| Group | Command | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Core | codemem stats |
Database statistics |
codemem recent |
Recent memories | |
codemem search <query> |
Search memories | |
codemem pack <context> |
Build a context-aware memory pack | |
codemem pack trace <context> |
Inspect retrieval and pack assembly for a manual query | |
codemem embed |
Backfill semantic embeddings | |
| Memory | codemem memory show <id> |
Print a memory item as JSON |
codemem memory forget <id> |
Deactivate a memory item | |
codemem memory remember |
Manually add a memory | |
codemem memory inject <context> |
Raw pack text for prompt injection | |
codemem memory export <output> |
Export memories by project | |
codemem memory import <file> |
Import memories (idempotent) | |
| Viewer | codemem serve [start|stop|restart] |
Launch / manage the web viewer |
| Sync | codemem sync enable|disable |
Enable or disable peer-to-peer sync |
codemem sync status |
Device info and peer health | |
codemem sync pair |
Generate or accept a pairing payload | |
codemem sync once |
Run one immediate sync pass | |
codemem sync doctor |
Diagnose sync configuration issues | |
codemem sync bootstrap |
Bootstrap sync from a peer snapshot | |
| Coordinator | codemem coordinator |
Self-hosted coordinator admin (groups, devices, invites) |
| Database | codemem db prune-memories |
Deactivate low-signal memories (--dry-run to preview) |
codemem db prune-observations |
Deactivate low-signal observations | |
codemem db backfill-tags |
Populate missing tags_text values |
|
codemem db raw-events-status |
Show raw-event queue status | |
| Config | codemem config |
View or update configuration |
codemem setup |
Interactive first-run setup | |
| Plumbing | codemem mcp |
MCP stdio server |
codemem claude-hook-ingest |
Claude hook event ingestion (stdin) |
Run codemem --help for the full list. Legacy top-level aliases (export-memories, import-memories, show, forget, remember) still work but are hidden from help.
To give the LLM direct access to memory tools (search, timeline, pack, remember, forget):
codemem setup --opencode-only
This updates your OpenCode config to install the plugin and register the MCP server. Restart OpenCode to activate.
Config resolution precedence for runtime commands is:
- explicit
CODEMEM_CONFIG - workspace-scoped config derived from
CODEMEM_RUNTIME_ROOTorCODEMEM_WORKSPACE_ID - legacy global config at
~/.config/codemem/config.json{c}
Environment variables still override file values once a config file has been selected.
Common overrides:
| Variable | Purpose |
|---|---|
CODEMEM_DB |
SQLite database path |
CODEMEM_INJECT_CONTEXT |
0 to disable automatic context injection |
CODEMEM_VIEWER_HOST, CODEMEM_VIEWER_PORT |
Host/port the plugin-managed viewer should start, probe, and restart |
CODEMEM_VIEWER_AUTO |
0 to disable auto-starting the viewer |
Viewer note:
- The plugin manages one explicit viewer target per runtime. If you run multiple viewers, give each one its own DB/runtime folder instead of sharing
viewer.pidstate next to the same SQLite file.
The viewer includes a grouped Settings modal (Connection, Processing, Device Sync) with shell-agnostic labels and an advanced-controls toggle for technical fields.
- Settings show effective values (configured or default) and only persist changed fields on save.
- The viewer HTTP service is intended for localhost-only use. It does not currently provide a general-purpose auth/session layer for safe public exposure.
Observer runtime/auth:
- Runtime options:
api_httpandclaude_sidecar. api_httpdefaults togpt-5.1-codex-mini(OpenAI path) unless you setobserver_model.- Anthropic direct API calls accept Anthropic model IDs/aliases. codemem maps the common Claude shorthand
claude-4.5-haikuto Anthropic's direct API aliasclaude-haiku-4-5; you can also set a pinned snapshot likeclaude-haiku-4-5-20251001explicitly. claude_sidecardefaults toclaude-4.5-haiku; if the selectedobserver_modelis unsupported by Claude CLI, codemem retries once with Claude's CLI default model.claude_sidecarcommand is configurable withclaude_command(CODEMEM_CLAUDE_COMMAND) as a JSON argv array.- Config file example:
"claude_command": ["wrapper", "claude", "--"] - Env var example:
CODEMEM_CLAUDE_COMMAND='["wrapper","claude","--"]'
- Config file example:
- Auth sources:
auto,env,file,command,none. observer_auth_commandmust be a JSON string array (argv), not a space-separated string.- Config file example:
"observer_auth_command": ["iap-auth", "--audience", "example"] - Env var example:
CODEMEM_OBSERVER_AUTH_COMMAND='["iap-auth","--audience","example"]'
- Config file example:
- Header templates support
${auth.token},${auth.type}, and${auth.source}(for exampleAuthorization: Bearer ${auth.token}). - Queue cadence is configurable with
raw_events_sweeper_interval_s(seconds) in Settings/config.
Share project knowledge with teammates or back up memories across machines.
# Export current project
codemem memory export project.json
# Import on another machine (idempotent, safe to re-run)
codemem memory import project.json --remap-project ~/workspace/myproject
See codemem memory export --help and codemem memory import --help for full options. Legacy top-level aliases still work but are hidden from help.
Replicate memories across devices without a central server.
codemem sync enable # generate device keys
codemem sync pair # generate pairing payload
codemem sync start # start the viewer-backed sync runtime
codemem sync once # run one immediate sync pass
The viewer now includes actor management for mapping multiple peers to one logical person, plus owned-memory visibility controls so project-filtered memories share by default while Only me stays a per-memory local override.
Project filters, peer-to-actor assignment, visibility controls, and config keys are documented in docs/user-guide.md.
For cross-network setups where peer addresses change frequently or mDNS does not cross VPN/network boundaries, codemem also supports optional coordinator-backed discovery with a self-hosted coordinator. The preferred deployment path is the built-in codemem coordinator service; see docs/coordinator-discovery.md.
Embeddings are stored in sqlite-vec and written automatically when memories are created. Use codemem embed to backfill existing memories. If sqlite-vec cannot load, keyword search still works.
Local development, npx, git install
pnpm install
pnpm build
pnpm run codemem --help
npx -y codemem stats
Start OpenCode inside the codemem repo directory — the plugin auto-loads from .opencode/plugin/.
- Architecture — data flow, retrieval, observer pipeline, design tradeoffs
- Coordinator-backed discovery — self-hosted cross-network peer discovery
- User guide — viewer usage, sync setup, troubleshooting
- Plugin reference — plugin behavior, env vars, stream reliability
- Migration guide — migrating from
opencode-mem - Contributing — development setup, tests, linting, releases