check-memories
This skill should be used when the user asks "how did we solve this before", "what was the decision about X", "have we done this before", "what do you remember about", "check your memory", or when searching for past context, previous decisions, or historical information about the project.
When & Why to Use This Skill
The Check Memories skill enables Claude to access and utilize historical project data, architectural decisions, and past problem-solving patterns stored in local-recall memory. By searching through episodic and thinking memories, it ensures long-term project continuity, prevents redundant decision-making, and maintains strict alignment with established project conventions and reasoning across different sessions.
Use Cases
- Retrieving Architectural Rationale: Quickly find the 'why' behind specific design choices or technology stacks implemented in earlier stages of development.
- Debugging with Historical Context: Search for past bug fixes and root cause analyses to resolve recurring issues or regressions more efficiently.
- Maintaining Consistency: Recall user-defined coding conventions, specific configuration changes, and personal preferences established in previous interactions.
- Knowledge Transfer: Allow new team members or the AI agent to catch up on project history by searching for previous decisions and reasoning patterns.
| name | check-memories |
|---|---|
| description | This skill should be used when the user asks "how did we solve this before", "what was the decision about X", "have we done this before", "what do you remember about", "check your memory", or when searching for past context, previous decisions, or historical information about the project. |
Check Memories
This skill provides guidance for searching local-recall memories to find relevant historical context.
When to Use
Invoke this skill when:
- The user explicitly asks about past decisions or previous work
- The user asks "do you remember" or "have we discussed"
- Searching for historical context about a specific topic
- Looking up previous architectural decisions
- Finding past bug fixes or solutions
How to Search Memories
Episodic Memories
Episodic memories contain facts, decisions, and observations from past sessions:
- Architectural decisions and rationale
- Bug fixes and their root causes
- User preferences and conventions
- Configuration changes and why they were made
- Project-specific knowledge
Use the episodic_search tool with a natural language query:
episodic_search(query: "authentication implementation decision")
Thinking Memories
Thinking memories contain reasoning patterns - how problems were analyzed and solved:
- Debugging approaches that worked
- Decision-making processes
- Analysis patterns for similar problems
Use the thinking_search tool:
thinking_search(query: "debugging race condition in async code")
Search Strategy
- Start broad, then narrow: Begin with general terms, refine based on results
- Use domain terms: Include specific technical terms from the codebase
- Check both memory types: Episodic for facts, thinking for reasoning patterns
- Consider scope filters: Use
scope: "file:path/to/file"for file-specific memories
Interpreting Results
- Similarity scores: Higher is better (0.0-1.0 scale)
- Recency: More recent memories may be more relevant for evolving decisions
- Keywords: Check if memory keywords match the query context
- Scope:
globalmemories apply everywhere;file:orarea:scoped memories are context-specific
Creating New Memories
When learning something important that should be remembered:
episodic_create(
subject: "Brief description of the memory",
keywords: ["relevant", "searchable", "terms"],
applies_to: "global", // or "file:path" or "area:name"
content: "Detailed content in markdown"
)
Good candidates for new memories:
- Decisions with rationale that may be questioned later
- Non-obvious configurations and why they exist
- User preferences that should persist
- Bug fixes with root cause analysis