--- title: "Dreaming (experimental)" summary: "Background memory consolidation with light, deep, and REM phases plus a Dream Diary" read_when: - You want memory promotion to run automatically - You want to understand what each dreaming phase does - You want to tune consolidation without polluting MEMORY.md --- # Dreaming (experimental) Dreaming is the background memory consolidation system in `memory-core`. It helps OpenClaw move strong short-term signals into durable memory while keeping the process explainable and reviewable. Dreaming is **opt-in** and disabled by default. ## What dreaming writes Dreaming keeps two kinds of output: - **Machine state** in `memory/.dreams/` (recall store, phase signals, ingestion checkpoints, locks). - **Human-readable output** in `DREAMS.md` (or existing `dreams.md`) and optional phase report files under `memory/dreaming//YYYY-MM-DD.md`. Long-term promotion still writes only to `MEMORY.md`. ## Phase model Dreaming uses three cooperative phases: | Phase | Purpose | Durable write | | ----- | ----------------------------------------- | ----------------- | | Light | Sort and stage recent short-term material | No | | Deep | Score and promote durable candidates | Yes (`MEMORY.md`) | | REM | Reflect on themes and recurring ideas | No | These phases are internal implementation details, not separate user-configured "modes." ### Light phase Light phase ingests recent daily memory signals and recall traces, dedupes them, and stages candidate lines. - Reads from short-term recall state, recent daily memory files, and redacted session transcripts when available. - Writes a managed `## Light Sleep` block when storage includes inline output. - Records reinforcement signals for later deep ranking. - Never writes to `MEMORY.md`. ### Deep phase Deep phase decides what becomes long-term memory. - Ranks candidates using weighted scoring and threshold gates. - Requires `minScore`, `minRecallCount`, and `minUniqueQueries` to pass. - Rehydrates snippets from live daily files before writing, so stale/deleted snippets are skipped. - Appends promoted entries to `MEMORY.md`. - Writes a `## Deep Sleep` summary into `DREAMS.md` and optionally writes `memory/dreaming/deep/YYYY-MM-DD.md`. ### REM phase REM phase extracts patterns and reflective signals. - Builds theme and reflection summaries from recent short-term traces. - Writes a managed `## REM Sleep` block when storage includes inline output. - Records REM reinforcement signals used by deep ranking. - Never writes to `MEMORY.md`. ## Session transcript ingestion Dreaming can ingest redacted session transcripts into the dreaming corpus. When transcripts are available, they are fed into the light phase alongside daily memory signals and recall traces. Personal and sensitive content is redacted before ingestion. ## Dream Diary Dreaming also keeps a narrative **Dream Diary** in `DREAMS.md`. After each phase has enough material, `memory-core` runs a best-effort background subagent turn (using the default runtime model) and appends a short diary entry. This diary is for human reading in the Dreams UI, not a promotion source. ## Deep ranking signals Deep ranking uses six weighted base signals plus phase reinforcement: | Signal | Weight | Description | | ------------------- | ------ | ------------------------------------------------- | | Frequency | 0.24 | How many short-term signals the entry accumulated | | Relevance | 0.30 | Average retrieval quality for the entry | | Query diversity | 0.15 | Distinct query/day contexts that surfaced it | | Recency | 0.15 | Time-decayed freshness score | | Consolidation | 0.10 | Multi-day recurrence strength | | Conceptual richness | 0.06 | Concept-tag density from snippet/path | Light and REM phase hits add a small recency-decayed boost from `memory/.dreams/phase-signals.json`. ## Scheduling When enabled, `memory-core` auto-manages one cron job for a full dreaming sweep. Each sweep runs phases in order: light -> REM -> deep. Default cadence behavior: | Setting | Default | | -------------------- | ----------- | | `dreaming.frequency` | `0 3 * * *` | ## Quick start Enable dreaming: ```json { "plugins": { "entries": { "memory-core": { "config": { "dreaming": { "enabled": true } } } } } } ``` Enable dreaming with a custom sweep cadence: ```json { "plugins": { "entries": { "memory-core": { "config": { "dreaming": { "enabled": true, "timezone": "America/Los_Angeles", "frequency": "0 */6 * * *" } } } } } } ``` ## Slash command ``` /dreaming status /dreaming on /dreaming off /dreaming help ``` ## CLI workflow Use CLI promotion for preview or manual apply: ```bash openclaw memory promote openclaw memory promote --apply openclaw memory promote --limit 5 openclaw memory status --deep ``` Manual `memory promote` uses deep-phase thresholds by default unless overridden with CLI flags. Explain why a specific candidate would or would not promote: ```bash openclaw memory promote-explain "router vlan" openclaw memory promote-explain "router vlan" --json ``` Preview REM reflections, candidate truths, and deep promotion output without writing anything: ```bash openclaw memory rem-harness openclaw memory rem-harness --json ``` ## Key defaults All settings live under `plugins.entries.memory-core.config.dreaming`. | Key | Default | | ----------- | ----------- | | `enabled` | `false` | | `frequency` | `0 3 * * *` | Phase policy, thresholds, and storage behavior are internal implementation details (not user-facing config). See [Memory configuration reference](/reference/memory-config#dreaming-experimental) for the full key list. ## Dreams UI When enabled, the Gateway **Dreams** tab shows: - current dreaming enabled state - phase-level status and managed-sweep presence - short-term, long-term, and promoted-today counts - next scheduled run timing - an expandable Dream Diary reader backed by `doctor.memory.dreamDiary` ## Related - [Memory](/concepts/memory) - [Memory Search](/concepts/memory-search) - [memory CLI](/cli/memory) - [Memory configuration reference](/reference/memory-config)