---
summary: "How Clawdbot memory works (workspace files + automatic memory flush)"
read_when:
  - You want the memory file layout and workflow
  - You want to tune the automatic pre-compaction memory flush
---
# Memory

Clawdbot memory is **plain Markdown in the agent workspace**. The files are the
source of truth; the model only "remembers" what gets written to disk.

## Memory files (Markdown)

The default workspace layout uses two memory layers:

- `memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md`
  - Daily log (append-only).
  - Read today + yesterday at session start.
- `MEMORY.md` (optional)
  - Curated long-term memory.
  - **Only load in the main, private session** (never in group contexts).

These files live under the workspace (`agents.defaults.workspace`, default
`~/clawd`). See [Agent workspace](/concepts/agent-workspace) for the full layout.

## When to write memory

- Decisions, preferences, and durable facts go to `MEMORY.md`.
- Day-to-day notes and running context go to `memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md`.
- If someone says "remember this," write it down (do not keep it in RAM).

## Automatic memory flush (pre-compaction ping)

When a session is **close to auto-compaction**, Clawdbot triggers a **silent,
agentic turn** that reminds the model to write durable memory **before** the
context is compacted. The default prompts explicitly say the model *may reply*,
but usually `NO_REPLY` is the correct response so the user never sees this turn.

This is controlled by `agents.defaults.compaction.memoryFlush`:

```json5
{
  agents: {
    defaults: {
      compaction: {
        reserveTokensFloor: 20000,
        memoryFlush: {
          enabled: true,
          softThresholdTokens: 4000,
          systemPrompt: "Session nearing compaction. Store durable memories now.",
          prompt: "Write any lasting notes to memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md; reply with NO_REPLY if nothing to store."
        }
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Details:
- **Soft threshold**: flush triggers when the session token estimate crosses
  `contextWindow - reserveTokensFloor - softThresholdTokens`.
- **Silent** by default: prompts include `NO_REPLY` so nothing is delivered.
- **Two prompts**: a user prompt plus a system prompt append the reminder.
- **One flush per compaction cycle** (tracked in `sessions.json`).
- **Workspace must be writable**: if the session runs sandboxed with
  `workspaceAccess: "ro"` or `"none"`, the flush is skipped.

For the full compaction lifecycle, see
[Session management + compaction](/reference/session-management-compaction).

## Vector memory search

Clawdbot can build a small vector index over `MEMORY.md` and `memory/*.md` so
semantic queries can find related notes even when wording differs.

Defaults:
- Enabled by default.
- Watches memory files for changes (debounced).
- Uses remote embeddings (OpenAI) unless configured for local.
- Local mode uses node-llama-cpp and may require `pnpm approve-builds`.

Config example:

```json5
agents: {
  defaults: {
    memorySearch: {
      provider: "openai",
      model: "text-embedding-3-small",
      fallback: "openai",
      sync: { watch: true }
    }
  }
}
```

Tools:
- `memory_search` — returns snippets with file + line ranges.
- `memory_get` — read memory file content by path.

Local mode:
- Set `agents.defaults.memorySearch.provider = "local"`.
- Provide `agents.defaults.memorySearch.local.modelPath` (GGUF or `hf:` URI).
- Optional: set `agents.defaults.memorySearch.fallback = "none"` to avoid remote fallback.