Memory - Long-term Context

VerifiedSafe

Reads long-term memory files (errors.md, context.md, files.md) to access historical context, code references, and error fix records. Useful after session compaction or when needing to recall previous discussions, avoid repeating mistakes, or find code patterns.

Sby Skills Guide Bot
ProductivityIntermediate
906/2/2026
Claude Code
#memory#context#long-term#compact#error-prevention

Recommended for

Our review

Reads long-term memory files (errors, context, files) to restore historical context after session compaction, preventing important information from being lost.

Strengths

  • Automatically preserves critical details across compacts
  • Prioritizes error fixes to avoid repeating mistakes
  • Intelligent truncation to save context
  • Selective file reading by topic

Limitations

  • Requires prior setup with the memory.py script
  • Only works within the Claude Code ecosystem
  • Truncation may lose older details if the file is very large
When to use it

Use this skill after every compact or when resuming a session to recover historical context and avoid past errors.

When not to use it

Do not use it if the session is very short or if you want to start fresh without any history.

Security analysis

Safe
Quality score90/100

The skill instructs running a local Python script to read specific memory files, with no destructive, exfiltrating, or obfuscated actions. It does not involve network access, secret handling, or disabling safety features.

No concerns found

Examples

Read error memory after compact
Read my error memory to recall past mistakes before fixing this test failure.
Read context memory for project background
Read context.md to remember the project requirements and previous discussions.
Read all memory files for full rebuild
Read all memory files to get the complete historical context after compact.

name: memory description: Read long-term memory files to get historical context, code references, and error fix records. Use when user wants to read memory, get context, check history, avoid repeating errors.

Memory - Long-term Context

Read the current session's long-term memory files to access historical context preserved across compacts.

Background

Claude Code's /compact compresses conversations to save context. Repeated compaction causes "memory decay" - important early details gradually get lost.

Max's memory system automatically saves accumulated content to files during each compact, ensuring important information is never lost.

Memory Files

| File | Content | Priority | |------|---------|----------| | errors.md | Error fix records | Highest - Avoid repeating mistakes | | context.md | User messages + technical concepts | Medium - Full background | | files.md | Code file references | Low - Only when needed |

Instructions

Use the memory.py script to read files with automatic truncation (large files are trimmed to last ~15000 chars to save context):

# Read errors.md only (default, recommended)
cd /path/to/skills/memory && uv run memory.py errors.md

# Read specific files
cd /path/to/skills/memory && uv run memory.py errors.md context.md

# Read all files
cd /path/to/skills/memory && uv run memory.py all

The script automatically:

  • Reads from ~/.claude/projects/$MAX_PROJECT_ID/max/$MAX_SESSION_ID/memory/
  • Truncates files > 15000 chars (keeps most recent content)
  • Skips non-existent files

When to Read Memory

After compact - When you see "Earlier details saved to..." in the summary:

  • Always read errors.md first - Critical to avoid repeating past mistakes

On demand - Read specific files based on the situation:

| Situation | Command | |-----------|---------| | Encountering errors / Tests failing | uv run memory.py errors.md | | Need to recall previous discussions | uv run memory.py context.md | | Reusing code patterns / Finding files | uv run memory.py files.md |

Notes

  • Memory files are automatically updated during each /compact
  • Files are appended with timestamps, newest content at the bottom
  • Large files are truncated to ~15000 chars (≈3% of context) to prevent context overflow
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