Context Memory Skill

Saves and searches past Claude Code sessions so context, decisions, and code persist across conversations.

Trigger Phrases

Activate this skill when the user says:

• •"remember this" / "save this session" / "store this for later"
• •"recall" / "search past sessions"
• •"what did we discuss about..."
• •"find previous work on..."
• •"look up past decisions about..."
• •"context memory"

Do NOT activate for:

• •General file storage or note-taking requests
• •Bookmark or URL management
• •Requests about Claude's built-in memory features

Database Location

• •Database: ~/.claude/context-memory/context.db
• •Scripts: ~/.claude/skills/context-memory/scripts/

Commands

/remember [note]

Save the current session with an optional annotation.

/recall <query> [options]

Search past sessions.

• •--project: Limit to current project
• •--detailed: Include full message content and code snippets
• •--limit N: Maximum results (default: 10)

Examples

Example 1: Save after a debugging session

User says: /remember "Fixed the JWT refresh bug" Actions:

1. •Analyze conversation, generate structured summary
2. •Extract topics: debugging, jwt, authentication
3. •Select key messages capturing the problem and fix
4. •Write JSON with all fields and save via --json Result: "Session saved. Summary: Fixed JWT refresh token expiration bug by adding clock skew tolerance. Topics: debugging, jwt, authentication. Messages: 8 saved. Snippets: 1 saved. Note: Fixed the JWT refresh bug."

Example 2: Find past work on a topic

User says: "what did we discuss about database migrations?" Actions:

1. •Run db_search.py "database migrations" --format markdown
2. •Present matching sessions with summaries and topics Result: Sessions displayed with brief summaries. Offer --detailed for full context.

Example 3: Deep dive into a past session

User says: /recall authentication --detailed Actions:

1. •Run db_search.py "authentication" --detailed --format markdown
2. •Present full summaries, key messages, and code snippets Result: Complete session context with decisions, messages, and code excerpts in expandable sections.

Saving a Session

When the user wants to save/remember the current session:

1. •

   Generate a structured summary:

   • •brief: One-line summary of what was accomplished
   • •detailed: 2-3 paragraph detailed summary
   • •key_decisions: List of important decisions made
   • •problems_solved: List of problems that were resolved
   • •technologies: List of technologies/tools used
   • •outcome: success | partial | abandoned
2. •

   Extract 3-8 relevant topics (lowercase, e.g., "authentication", "react", "debugging")

3. •

   Identify significant code snippets worth preserving

4. •

   Select 5-15 key messages that capture the problem, decisions, and solutions

5. •

   Pipe the JSON via stdin using --json -:

python "~/.claude/skills/context-memory/scripts/db_save.py" --json - << 'ENDJSON'
{
  "session_id": "<UNIQUE_ID>",
  "project_path": "<PROJECT_PATH>",
  "messages": [
    {"role": "user", "content": "..."},
    {"role": "assistant", "content": "..."}
  ],
  "summary": {
    "brief": "One-line summary",
    "detailed": "Full 2-3 paragraph summary...",
    "key_decisions": ["Decision 1", "Decision 2"],
    "problems_solved": ["Problem 1"],
    "technologies": ["python", "sqlite"],
    "outcome": "success"
  },
  "topics": ["topic1", "topic2"],
  "code_snippets": [
    {
      "code": "def example(): pass",
      "language": "python",
      "description": "What this does",
      "file_path": "src/example.py"
    }
  ],
  "user_note": "User's note or null"
}
ENDJSON

Important: Always use --json - (stdin) for /remember saves. This avoids temp file issues on Windows. The CLI args path (--brief, --topics) only saves a subset of fields and leaves --detailed recall empty.

1. •Report back: confirmation, brief summary, topics extracted, message/snippet counts, user note included.

Searching Past Sessions

When the user wants to recall/search past sessions:

1. •Run the search:

python "~/.claude/skills/context-memory/scripts/db_search.py" "<QUERY>" --format markdown [--project "$(pwd)"] [--detailed] [--limit N]

1. •

   Present results in a clear, scannable format.

2. •

   If results are insufficient, offer to:

   • •Broaden the search query
   • •Remove the --project filter
   • •Search with --detailed for deeper content

Output Format

# Context Memory Results
**Query**: "authentication"
**Results**: 3 sessions

---
## 1. 2026-01-15 | my-app (Match #1)
**Summary**: Implemented JWT auth with refresh token rotation
**Topics**: authentication, JWT, security, Node.js
**Decisions**:
- Use RS256 for token signing
- 15-minute access token expiry

<details><summary>Full Context</summary>
[Detailed content here]
</details>

Error Handling

• •Database doesn't exist: Auto-created on first save. To manually init: python ~/.claude/skills/context-memory/scripts/db_init.py
• •Database locked: Another process may be using it. Ask the user to check for other Claude Code instances and retry.
• •Save fails: Check file permissions on ~/.claude/context-memory/. The directory must be writable.
• •Search returns no results: Suggest broader terms, remove --project filter, or try related keywords.
• •Empty database (fresh install): Show "No sessions stored yet. Use /remember to save your first session."

Best Practices

1. •When saving: Always use --json for full data. Always ask user if they want to add a note/annotation
2. •When searching: Start with tier 1 (summaries), offer detailed search if needed
3. •Topics: Use consistent, lowercase topic names
4. •Summaries: Focus on the "why" not just the "what"
5. •Code snippets: Only save truly reusable or significant code

Related Files

• •Schema Reference — Full database schema
• •Scripts in scripts/ directory