mirror of
https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw.git
synced 2026-04-26 00:21:59 +00:00
98 lines
3.3 KiB
Markdown
98 lines
3.3 KiB
Markdown
---
|
|
title: "Memory"
|
|
summary: "How OpenClaw remembers things across sessions"
|
|
read_when:
|
|
- You want to understand how memory works
|
|
- You want to know what memory files to write
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
# Memory
|
|
|
|
OpenClaw remembers things by writing **plain Markdown files** in your agent's
|
|
workspace. The model only "remembers" what gets saved to disk -- there is no
|
|
hidden state.
|
|
|
|
## How it works
|
|
|
|
Your agent has two places to store memories:
|
|
|
|
- **`MEMORY.md`** -- long-term memory. Durable facts, preferences, and
|
|
decisions. Loaded at the start of every DM session.
|
|
- **`memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md`** -- daily notes. Running context and observations.
|
|
Today and yesterday's notes are loaded automatically.
|
|
|
|
These files live in the agent workspace (default `~/.openclaw/workspace`).
|
|
|
|
<Tip>
|
|
If you want your agent to remember something, just ask it: "Remember that I
|
|
prefer TypeScript." It will write it to the appropriate file.
|
|
</Tip>
|
|
|
|
## Memory tools
|
|
|
|
The agent has two tools for working with memory:
|
|
|
|
- **`memory_search`** -- finds relevant notes using semantic search, even when
|
|
the wording differs from the original.
|
|
- **`memory_get`** -- reads a specific memory file or line range.
|
|
|
|
Both tools are provided by the active memory plugin (default: `memory-core`).
|
|
|
|
## Memory search
|
|
|
|
When an embedding provider is configured, `memory_search` uses **hybrid
|
|
search** -- combining vector similarity (semantic meaning) with keyword matching
|
|
(exact terms like IDs and code symbols). This works out of the box once you have
|
|
an API key for any supported provider.
|
|
|
|
<Info>
|
|
OpenClaw auto-detects your embedding provider from available API keys. If you
|
|
have an OpenAI, Gemini, Voyage, or Mistral key configured, memory search is
|
|
enabled automatically.
|
|
</Info>
|
|
|
|
For details on how search works, tuning options, and provider setup, see
|
|
[Memory Search](/concepts/memory-search).
|
|
|
|
## Memory backends
|
|
|
|
OpenClaw has two backends for indexing and searching memory:
|
|
|
|
**Builtin (default)** -- uses a per-agent SQLite database. Works out of the box
|
|
with no extra dependencies. Supports keyword search, vector similarity, and
|
|
hybrid search with CJK support.
|
|
|
|
**QMD** -- a local-first search sidecar that adds reranking, query expansion,
|
|
and the ability to index directories outside the workspace (like project docs or
|
|
session transcripts). Set `memory.backend = "qmd"` to switch.
|
|
|
|
See the [Memory configuration reference](/reference/memory-config) for backend
|
|
setup and all config knobs.
|
|
|
|
## Automatic memory flush
|
|
|
|
Before [compaction](/concepts/compaction) summarizes your conversation, OpenClaw
|
|
runs a silent turn that reminds the agent to save important context to memory
|
|
files. This is on by default -- you do not need to configure anything.
|
|
|
|
<Tip>
|
|
The memory flush prevents context loss during compaction. If your agent has
|
|
important facts in the conversation that are not yet written to a file, they
|
|
will be saved automatically before the summary happens.
|
|
</Tip>
|
|
|
|
## CLI
|
|
|
|
```bash
|
|
openclaw memory status # Check index status and provider
|
|
openclaw memory search "query" # Search from the command line
|
|
openclaw memory index --force # Rebuild the index
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
## Further reading
|
|
|
|
- [Memory Search](/concepts/memory-search) -- search pipeline, providers, and
|
|
tuning
|
|
- [Memory configuration reference](/reference/memory-config) -- all config knobs
|
|
- [Compaction](/concepts/compaction) -- how compaction interacts with memory
|