How do I install jevmem?

Last updated: 2026-10-04 · jevmem 0.6.4 · Install · Source on GitHub

Once it runs, deciding what to save takes 0.28 s and costs $0.00016 per message, at TypeSafe's listed price for Jev (measured on 66 held-out turns with jevmem 0.6.0, one run on 2026-09-30, results). The rest of this page is the repository's install and upgrade notes.

You need a TypeSafe AI key for Jev. jevmem writes each line itself; an OpenAI or Anthropic writer is optional and off unless you set writer in jevmem.config.json (configuration).

Option 1: Claude Code plugin (recommended)

From the Claude plugin directory #

This needs Claude Code 2.1.273 or later: earlier versions don't sync the plugins you add in the Claude app (Claude Code docs).

1. In the Claude app: Plugins → Discover → jevmem → Add. The app warns you before it adds the plugin; the warning is about the plugin's local MCP server, jevmem mcp, a command the plugin runs on your computer (the CLI from step 2).

2. Install the CLI the plugin runs:

   npm install -g jevmem
   

3. Add your TypeSafe key (from console.typesafe.ai/keys): run this, then paste the key when it asks. It doesn't show the key as you paste, and saves it in ~/.jevmem/env, readable only by you.

   jevmem key
   

4. In a terminal, in your project's folder, run jevmem enable. The plugin does nothing in a project until you do.

5. Start Claude Code in that project, signed in with the same Claude account as the app. The plugin shows as jevmem@synced (run /reload-plugins if Claude Code asks).

6. jevmem doctor checks the setup. If Claude Code shows "jevmem: CLI not found", see if the plugin can't find the CLI.

Claude Code's own memory may also say it saved something; JEVMEM.md shows what jevmem saved.

From the jevmem marketplace #

npm install -g jevmem
claude plugin marketplace add Avinash-jetwani/jevmem
claude plugin install jevmem@jevmem
cd your-project && jevmem enable

Add your key with jevmem key as in step 3 above, or enter it in Claude Code with /plugin configure jevmem, which Claude Code keeps in your system's secure credential store (the claude plugin install shell command doesn't ask for it). That setting exists only for a plugin installed from a marketplace: the directory's jevmem@synced has no Configure options.

If the plugin can't find the CLI #

The plugin runs the jevmem CLI from npm, so install that first. The hooks find it on the PATH Claude Code gives them or, when that PATH lacks it (the desktop app's can), in /opt/homebrew/bin, /usr/local/bin, ~/.local/bin, ~/.volta/bin or the newest Node version under ~/.nvm. Without it, an enabled project shows "jevmem: CLI not found, so memory is off in this project" on the first prompt of each session, and the MCP server fails to start (/mcp shows it as failed). The plugin does nothing until you run jevmem enable in a project; what it runs, and how to switch it off: docs/hooks.md.

Option 2: npm (also sets up Cursor and Codex)

npm install -g jevmem
cd your-project
jevmem init --tool claude

init creates JEVMEM.md, jevmem.config.json and .jevmem/, and registers the three Claude Code hooks (details). Hooks don't get your shell's variables and jevmem doesn't read shell profiles, so save the key with jevmem key, which puts it in ~/.jevmem/env. jevmem doctor checks the setup.

Already have a CLAUDE.md? jevmem import splits CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md and .cursor/rules/* into statements, puts each through the same gate as a turn, and prints what it would add; --apply writes them. --from claude-auto-memory also reads Claude Code's own auto memory for the project. The source files are only read.

Works with #

What is automatic and what depends on the agent:

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

Upgrading #

Upgrading to 0.6.4. From 0.6.0, 0.6.1, 0.6.2 or 0.6.3, npm install -g jevmem@latest is the whole upgrade: the plugin's hooks have not changed since 0.6.0, and the directory and marketplace plugins move to 0.6.4 with the CLI. From 0.5.x, one of the paths below, tested on 2026-09-30 on the 0.6.0 build in a temporary HOME with a project set up on 0.5.10 that kept its lines (results/upgrade-2026-09-30.txt); 0.6.1 to 0.6.4 change nothing in them:

• From the Claude plugin directory (jevmem@synced): npm install -g jevmem@latest brings everything the two hooks run, dead ends, the new recall, the line made from Jev's sentences, the subagent fix, and jevmem guard test, at once. The guard's PreToolUse hook is in the 0.6.x plugin, which the directory serves after the release moves its directory branch; until your app syncs it, the new CLI runs under the two hooks of the 0.5.7 plugin and the guard is off in plugin sessions. Claude Code downloads plugin updates in the background each time it starts (Claude Code docs), and a session that is open then says Plugins changed. Run /reload-plugins to activate.; jevmem doctor shows which plugin version is on disk and which CLI its hooks run. If doctor still shows the old version, start claude once in a terminal, signed in with the same Claude account as the app: that is what picked up 0.6.2 on the author's Mac.
• From the jevmem marketplace (jevmem@jevmem): npm install -g jevmem@latest, then update the plugin in Claude Code (/plugin, or claude plugin update jevmem@jevmem); Claude Code picks up the new plugin because its version changed. With the 0.6.x plugin and an older CLI, the plugin prints one warning line and skips the guard's hook.
• With jevmem init hooks: npm install -g jevmem@latest, then run jevmem init --tool claude again in each project: it adds the PreToolUse hook next to the two it registered before and changes nothing else; JEVMEM.md, jevmem.config.json and .jevmem/ are kept. Until then the two existing hooks already run the new CLI, and jevmem doctor says the guard hook is missing. A jevmem.config.json written by an earlier version has no guard block and gets the defaults (ask mode).

The limits, in short #

• jevmem needs a TypeSafe API key (where to get one, and the install steps).
• Message text is sent to TypeSafe to be scored, with common secrets scrubbed first (what leaves your machine).
• It is automatic in Claude Code, automatic in Codex while jevmem watch runs, and in Cursor only when the agent calls it (what each tool does).
• Rules every task must follow still belong in CLAUDE.md (jevmem next to CLAUDE.md).
• The guard is a backstop, not a sandbox (what it misses).

Every limit, with the numbers: the FAQ.