Step 4 — Memory

For agents: Create MEMORY.md and your first daily note. Write something worth remembering to MEMORY.md. Confirm you can retrieve it in the same session before moving to Step 5.

Without memory, every session starts from scratch. Your Claw doesn't know your preferences, the decisions you made last week, or what you told it to remember yesterday. Memory fixes that.

There are two layers:

MEMORY.md — curated long-term memory. Things that are always true or almost always relevant: preferences, recurring context, key decisions, names and relationships. Your Claw should read this at the start of every session.

Daily notes — raw session memory. Notes from today that may or may not matter next month. Stored in memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md. Promoted to MEMORY.md when they turn out to be durable.

Create MEMORY.md

cat > ~/MEMORY.md << 'EOF'
# MEMORY.md — Long-Term Memory
 
Read this at the start of every session.
Update it whenever you learn something durable about me or my work.
 
## About me
- Name: [Your name]
- Timezone: [Your timezone]
- Current focus: [What you're working on right now]
 
## Preferences
- Communication style: direct and brief
- Morning brief: deliver before 7am, under 5 minutes to read
- Publishing: use ZenBin for anything shareable
 
## Recurring context
[Add ongoing projects, tools in use, team names, etc. as you go]
 
## Key decisions
[Log important decisions here so your Claw doesn't re-litigate them]
EOF

Set up the daily notes directory

mkdir -p ~/memory
TODAY=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)
cat > ~/memory/$TODAY.md << EOF
# Daily Notes — $TODAY
 
## Session start
[Your Claw fills this in as you work]
 
## Things to remember
[Anything that comes up worth keeping]
EOF

Give your Claw a memory instruction

Add this to your SOUL.md (or send it as a standing instruction):

cat >> ~/SOUL.md << 'EOF'
 
## Memory rules
 
At the start of every session: read MEMORY.md.
When someone says "remember this" or "note that": write it to today's daily note immediately.
When something clearly belongs in long-term memory: update MEMORY.md directly.
When a session ends with something worth keeping: prompt to save it.
 
Daily notes live in ~/memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md.
Long-term memory lives in ~/MEMORY.md.
EOF

Test the memory workflow

Send your Claw this sequence:

Remember that I prefer dark mode in all tools and I start work at 8am EST.

Then immediately:

What do you remember about my working preferences?

Your Claw should surface what it just wrote. If it does, memory is working. If it responds generically, check that the memory rule was added to SOUL.md and restart.

Promote something to long-term memory

Add a real preference or decision to MEMORY.md now, while you're thinking about it:

Add to MEMORY.md: I use ZenBin for publishing, my key ID is [your key ID], and
my private key is at ~/.zenbin-private-key.pem.

This plants a real memory your Claw will use in Step 6.

The memory discipline

The memory system only works if your Claw uses it consistently. The key rule is simple: write it down when it happens, not when you remember to.

Temporary things go in today's daily note
Durable things go in MEMORY.md
When in doubt, write it down — you can always clean it up later

Over time, MEMORY.md becomes a living document that reflects how you actually work. A well-maintained MEMORY.md is what separates a Claw that feels like it knows you from one that feels like it's meeting you for the first time every session.

Start MEMORY.md sparse. Add to it as you notice gaps — when your Claw asks about something it should already know. Don't try to pre-populate everything upfront.

✅

Verify before continuing: Tell your Claw "Remember that my preferred meeting time is after 10am." Then immediately ask "What do you know about my meeting preferences?" If it recalls what you just said and writes it down, memory is working.

Next: Step 5 — Scheduling

3 — Web Search 5 — Scheduling