MemoryAgent

Memory as File — Letting Coding Agents manage their own memory.

No databases. No vector stores. Just files — managed by the tools agents already have.

What is MemoryAgent?

MemoryAgent explores a simple but powerful idea: Coding Agents already have all the tools they need to manage memory. They can Read, Write, Edit, Grep, and Glob files. If we persist knowledge as files, memory management becomes file management — and Coding Agents are the best file managers around.

Memory Operation	Agent Tool
Recall	Read / Grep / Glob
Record	Write
Update	Edit
Search	Grep / Glob
Organize	Read + Edit

The Skill: memory-manage

A Claude Code Skill that implements Memory as File with 6 commands:

/memory recall [file]              # Read full memory
/memory record <content> [file]    # Append timestamped entry
/memory update <old> -> <new>      # Replace specific content
/memory search <query> [file]      # Search with context
/memory forget <content> [file]    # Remove an entry
/memory analyze [file]             # Exploratory analysis (core feature)

Default memory file: memory.txt. You can specify any file path.

The analyze Command

The most important command. It reads the memory file and produces a structured report:

• Summary — what the memory contains
• Topics — distinct themes, ranked by importance
• Key Entities — people, projects, tools, decisions
• Timeline — chronological reconstruction
• Relationships — how topics connect
• Knowledge Gaps — what's missing
• Suggested Next Steps — actionable recommendations

This gives the agent a "basic info foundation" to continue working on downstream tasks.

Install

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/IIIIQIIII/MemoryAgent.git

# Copy the skill to your Claude Code skills directory
cp -r MemoryAgent/skills/memory-manage ~/.claude/skills/

# Restart Claude Code, then use it
claude

# Record something
> /memory record This project uses TypeScript with bun

# Analyze your memory
> /memory analyze

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│         Long-term Memory            │
│   (File system — all memory files)  │
│   ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐ ┌───┐   │
│   │ A │ │ B │ │ C │ │ D │ │ E │   │
│   └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘ └───┘   │
└─────────────┬───────────────────────┘
              │ Agent decides load/unload
              ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│         Working Memory              │
│   (Current context window)          │
│   ┌───┐ ┌───┐                       │
│   │ B │ │ D │  ← Only what the      │
│   └───┘ └───┘    current subtask    │
│                   needs             │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘

The agent autonomously decides what context to load and unload per subtask — like human working memory, loaded on demand and released when done.

Validated

Tested on real data, not just toy examples:

• 1,022 lines of real conversation transcript
• 38 search matches found and categorized into 6 thematic groups
• 6/6 commands passed validation
• 7-section analysis report generated with topics, entities, timeline, gaps, and next steps

Project Structure

MemoryAgent/
├── README.md
├── index.html          # Project showcase page
├── blog.html           # Full blog post
├── favicon.svg         # Favicon
└── skills/
    └── memory-manage/
        └── SKILL.md    # The Claude Code Skill

Design Principles

• Files are memory — all knowledge persisted as human-readable text
• Native tools only — Read, Write, Edit, Grep, Glob; zero external dependencies
• Human-auditable — users can open and edit memory files directly
• Timestamp everything — every entry gets a timestamp for chronological tracking
• Analyze before acting — analyze provides the foundation for informed decisions

Blog Post

Read the full write-up: Memory as File: Letting Coding Agents Manage Their Own Memory

License

MIT