jevmemjevmem

How do I use jevmem in Claude Desktop?

Run jevmem init --tool claude-desktop in your project and paste the config snippet it prints into Claude Desktop's claude_desktop_config.json: that starts jevmem's MCP server for that one project, and jevmem then saves a line when you ask Claude to call add_memory and looks lines up when you ask for search_memory.

Last updated: · jevmem 0.6.4 · Install · Source on GitHub

Nothing is automatic in Claude Desktop: it has no hook and no rule file, so jevmem acts only when you ask. A line added this way goes through the same check as a Claude Code turn: on 66 held-out turns that check was right on save or skip for 98.5% (jevmem 0.6.0, one run on 2026-09-30, results). Those turns were given to the decider directly; nothing has been measured inside Claude Desktop.

Set it up #

  1. Install the CLI:
    npm install -g jevmem
  2. In your project's folder:
    jevmem init --tool claude-desktop
  3. Paste the snippet it prints into the config file named below, with your TypeSafe API key in its env, and restart Claude Desktop.

Every install path: install.

The MCP config #

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows). Claude Desktop does not inherit your shell and has no project directory, so name the project with --root and give the key explicitly. One config entry serves one project:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "jevmem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "jevmem", "mcp", "--root", "/absolute/path/to/your-project"],
      "env": { "TYPESAFE_API_KEY": "<your TypeSafe API key>" }
    }
  }
}

What Claude can call #

jevmem mcp starts a stdio MCP server with four tools:

Tool Args Jev calls Annotations (readOnly / destructive / idempotent / openWorld)
search_memory query, limit? 1 (choice over ids + noul per candidate, + a poisoning-gate noul per unverified, unchecked candidate) true / false / true / true
add_memory text, kind 1, or 2 on a borderline line (the hook's decide: scrub, then refuse injection / small talk / duplicates; Jev may correct the kind; a contradiction supersedes the old line) false / true / false / true
list_memory include_superseded? 0, or 1 when unverified lines have no cached gate verdict (the poisoning gate alone) true / false / true / true
audit_memory apply? ⌈memories / 60⌉ false / true / true / true

In a project without jevmem.config.json (not opted in with jevmem enable or jevmem init) every tool returns only "jevmem isn't enabled in this project: run jevmem enable" and does nothing else: no Jev call, no file.

search_memory and list_memory never return a line the poisoning gate withholds (they list it under withheld with the reason instead), and list_memory without a key withholds unverified lines it cannot check. Both are marked open-world because they may ask Jev.

add_memory takes kind ∈ decision | constraint | preference | bug | architecture | todo, and, since 0.6.0, dead-end: an approach that was tried and failed or was dropped. A dead-end line must say what was tried and why, and Jev decides whether it does (the dead-end noul, in the request add_memory already makes, at thresholds.deadEndMin), or it is refused ("a dead end must say why it failed or was dropped, and Jev found no reason in this line"); a line Jev reads as a dead end with no reason keeps the kind you gave. A retry of a saved dead end that failed again for the reason that line gives is refused ("a retry that failed again adds nothing"); for a new reason, the saved line is the old line's reason followed by "retried:" and yours, and it replaces the old line (Dead ends). search_memory and list_memory return dead ends with "kind": "dead-end"; the Claude Code hook injects them as Already tried: <line> (Dead ends).

Both writing tools are marked destructive because they can change existing lines, not only add new ones: add_memory re-tags a contradicted memory [superseded], which takes it out of what is served (the line stays in the file), and audit_memory with apply: true sets or clears [stale?] flags on existing lines (flagged lines keep their text and stay live).

The Dockerfile at the repository root is for MCP directories that inspect a server in a sandbox (Glama builds it, starts the server and calls tools/list): it installs the jevmem CLI from npm and starts jevmem mcp on an empty folder, where the server lists its four tools and a call to one replies that jevmem isn't enabled there. It needs no key. It is not a way to run jevmem: the server works on the project it is started in.

What is automatic in each tool #

What is automatic and what depends on the agent:

Tool Setup Capture Recall
Claude Code the plugin, or jevmem init --tool claude Automatic, every turn, via the Stop hook Automatic, every prompt, via UserPromptSubmit
Codex jevmem init --tool codex Automatic while jevmem watch runs (it tails Codex's session log for this project and runs the same decide → write path); otherwise agent-initiated via MCP add_memory, prompted by an AGENTS.md section Agent-initiated: search_memory via MCP, prompted by AGENTS.md
Cursor jevmem init --tool cursor Agent-initiated: a .cursor/rules/jevmem.mdc rule tells the agent to call MCP add_memory when you state a decision. Nothing is captured if it doesn't Agent-initiated: the rule tells it to call search_memory before non-trivial tasks
Claude Desktop jevmem init --tool claude-desktop prints a config snippet to paste (one project per config, named with --root) Manual: ask it to call add_memory (no hook, no rule file) On request: search_memory

MCP add_memory goes through the same gate as the hook. Client configs: docs/mcp.md.

The limits, in short #

Every limit, with the numbers: the FAQ.