A tech pack that gives Claude Code persistent memory across sessions (formerly "Continuous Learning"). Claude Code forgets everything the moment a session ends — this pack captures debugging discoveries, architectural decisions, and project conventions into a searchable knowledge base, so Claude gets increasingly effective at your codebase instead of starting from zero every time.
identifier: memory
requires: mcs >= 2026.4.12
brew install mcs-cli/tap/mcs # 1. install mcs
mcs pack add mcs-cli/memory # 2. register this pack
mcs sync --global # 3. install globally (~/.claude)
mcs doctor # 4. verify everything is healthyPrerequisites: macOS, Claude Code, and Ollama (local embeddings runtime). mcs installs the rest (Node, gh, jq) automatically.
Global is the recommended scope — this pack has no per-project config, so installing once makes memory available in every project automatically. To scope it to a single repo instead, run mcs sync from inside that repo.
flowchart LR
A[Session start] --> B[Search the KB]
B --> C[Work session]
C --> D[Capture learnings & decisions]
D --> E[(.claude/memories/)]
E --> F["Ollama embeddings<br/>semantic index"]
F -. re-index on session start / change .-> B
- Session starts — a hook re-indexes
.claude/memories/into a local vector store (Ollamanomic-embed-text), in the background. - Before any task — Claude is instructed to search the knowledge base first, surfacing relevant past learnings and decisions.
- Before delegating — sub-agents can't see the parent's KB results, so they'd rediscover everything from scratch. A gate hook closes that gap from both ends: it requires the findings to be pasted into the sub-agent's prompt, and tells any discovery agent to search the KB itself if they weren't. Configurable per project, from a reminder up to a hard block.
- During work — a prompt-submit hook reminds Claude to notice when the current interaction produces knowledge worth saving.
- After valuable work — the
continuous-learningskill extracts structured memories, checks for duplicates, and writes them to.claude/memories/. - Next session — the new memories are indexed and surfaced again. The loop compounds: debugging patterns aren't rediscovered, decisions aren't re-litigated, conventions aren't re-explained.
Installing this pack asks one question: how strictly the gate in step 3 should hold the rule. It's the only prompt in the pack, and the answer is remembered at sync time.
| Mode | When a discovery sub-agent is spawned without KB findings | Pick it when |
|---|---|---|
warn (default) |
Claude gets a reminder; the agent runs anyway | You want the nudge, never an interruption |
enforce |
The spawn is denied, naming what's missing and how to retry | You want the rule actually held |
observe |
Nothing is said, the decision is logged | You want to see how often it would fire before switching it on |
off |
Nothing at all — no gating, no sub-agent briefing | You've opted out; the instruction stays in CLAUDE.local.md, nothing checks it |
enforce cannot wedge a session: denials are budgeted per turn, so a spawn always gets through eventually even if the rule is never satisfied. Every mode except off also briefs discovery sub-agents at startup and records its decisions to .claude/.kb-gate.log.
To change the answer later, re-run mcs sync — the mode is baked into the installed hook, not read from a setting at runtime.
| Component | What it does |
|---|---|
| docs-mcp-server (MCP) | Read-only semantic search over .claude/memories/, backed by local Ollama embeddings |
| continuous-learning (skill) | Extracts learnings and decisions from a session into structured memory files |
| memory-audit (skill) | Reviews existing memories and flags stale or duplicate entries to keep the KB lean |
| sync-memories.sh (hook) | Indexes/re-indexes memories on session start and when they change mid-session |
| continuous-learning-activator.sh (hook) | Reminds Claude to check for extractable knowledge after each prompt |
| kb-gate.sh (hook) | Keeps the KB lookup ahead of delegated discovery: warns or blocks when a sub-agent is spawned without the findings in its prompt, and tells discovery sub-agents the KB exists so they search it instead of sweeping files blind |
autoMemoryEnabled: false (setting) |
Disables Claude Code's built-in memory in favor of this system |
Memories come in two flavors, both stored as version-controlled, human-readable markdown:
- Learnings — non-obvious discoveries from debugging, e.g.
learning_orm_batch_insert_memory_spike.md. Template: Problem → Trigger Conditions → Solution → Verification → Example → Notes. - Decisions — deliberate architecture/convention choices, e.g.
decision_testing_snapshot_strategy.md. ADR-inspired template: Decision → Context → Options Considered → Choice → Consequences.
memory/
├── techpack.yaml # Manifest — defines all components
├── config/settings.json # Disables built-in auto-memory
├── hooks/
│ ├── sync-memories.sh # Ollama health + memory indexing/reindexing
│ ├── continuous-learning-activator.sh # Knowledge extraction reminder
│ └── kb-gate.sh # Keeps KB lookups ahead of delegated discovery
├── skills/
│ ├── continuous-learning/ # Extraction rules + memory templates
│ └── memory-audit/ # Audit workflow (KEEP/DROP/UPDATE)
└── templates/
└── continuous-learning.md # "Search KB before any task"
shared-memories extends this pack by auto-syncing .claude/memories/ across teammates via a dedicated git repo. Install both together for team-shared memory — mcs-cli/memory captures and retrieves, shared-memories distributes.
| Pack | Description |
|---|---|
| dev | Foundational settings, plugins, and git workflows |
| ios | Xcode integration, simulator management, and Apple documentation |
- MCS — the configuration engine
- Creating Tech Packs
- Tech Pack Schema
MIT