Openclaw Memory Stack

Total recall, 90% fewer tokens. Open source OpenClaw memory plugin — 5-engine local search, structured fact extraction, smart dedup, cross-agent sharing, and...

Total recall. 90% fewer tokens.

Your agent forgets past decisions and burns tokens re-reading the same context. Memory Stack runs 5 search engines locally, returns only what matters, and never loses a fact.

Free and open source. MIT license. No subscription, no cloud API costs. All search and storage runs entirely on your machine. GitHub: github.com/Apptah/openclaw-memory-stack

Architecture

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                  OPENCLAW MEMORY STACK                        │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                              │
│  SEARCH PIPELINE (runs on every conversation turn)           │
│                                                              │
│  ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐ ┌──────┐               │
│  │  E1  │ │  E2  │ │  E3  │ │  E4  │ │  E5  │               │
│  │ Full │ │Vector│ │ DAG  │ │ Fact │ │  MD  │               │
│  │ Text │ │Search│ │Compr.│ │Store │ │Files │               │
│  └──┬───┘ └──┬───┘ └──┬───┘ └──┬───┘ └──┬───┘               │
│     └────────┴────────┴────────┴────────┘                    │
│                        │                                     │
│                        ▼                                     │
│               ┌──────────────┐                               │
│               │ Result Fusion│                               │
│               │ + Reranking  │                               │
│               └──────────────┘                               │
│                        │                                     │
│              ┌─────────┼─────────┐                           │
│              ▼         ▼         ▼                           │
│          ┌──────┐  ┌──────┐  ┌──────┐                        │
│          │  L0  │  │  L1  │  │  L2  │  Token Budget           │
│          │~100t │  │~800t │  │ full │  Control                │
│          └──────┘  └──────┘  └──────┘                        │
│                                                              │
│  CAPTURE (runs after every conversation turn)                │
│                                                              │
│  ┌──────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐        │
│  │    Fact       │  │   Entity     │  │   Dedup &    │        │
│  │  Extraction   │  │  Tracking    │  │  Supersede   │        │
│  │  (8 types)    │  │  (queryable) │  │  (3-level)   │        │
│  └──────────────┘  └──────────────┘  └──────────────┘        │
│                                                              │
│  CROSS-AGENT SHARING                                         │
│                                                              │
│  ┌──────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐        │
│  │   CLI API    │  │  Drop Zone   │  │   Unified    │        │
│  │ query/add/   │  │  ~/.openclaw │  │   Global     │        │
│  │   recent     │  │  /external/  │  │   Memory     │        │
│  └──────────────┘  └──────────────┘  └──────────────┘        │
│         ▲                 ▲                 ▲                 │
│  Claude Code       Cursor / Windsurf    Any MCP client       │
│                                                              │
│  SELF-HEALING MAINTENANCE (24h cycle, zero config)           │
│                                                              │
│  ┌──────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐        │
│  │  Auto-Init   │  │   Graceful   │  │   Health     │        │
│  │  workspace   │  │   Fallback   │  │   Monitor    │        │
│  │  + indexing   │  │  FTS5-only   │  │  + alerting  │        │
│  └──────────────┘  └──────────────┘  └──────────────┘        │
│                                                              │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Built-in Code Search

Find function names, variable names, or any pattern across your entire memory — instantly. No extra tools needed, works offline, gets faster the more you use it.

5-Engine Search

Five engines search in parallel on every conversation turn:

Engine	What it does
Full-text	Keyword matching with relevance ranking
Vector	Semantic search — understands meaning, not just words
Compressed history	Conversation DAG with drill-down
Fact store	Structured facts — decisions, deadlines, requirements
Markdown	Scans memory files directly

Results are merged with rank fusion, deduplicated, reranked for diversity, and scored with time decay.

3-Tier Token Control

Every wasted token is money burned. Memory Stack eliminates the waste.

Tier	Tokens	When used
L0	~100	Auto-recall every turn — minimal cost
L1	~800	On-demand search summary
L2	full	Full content on request

The agent generates summaries — no separate LLM service required.

When the OpenClaw agent stores or surfaces a memory, it should also produce L0/L1 summaries from its own context (it is already an LLM) and persist them via:

openclaw-memory tier set <file> \
  --l0 "<one-sentence abstract, ≤100 tokens>" \
  --l1 "<focused overview, ≤800 tokens, covers what + why + when to use>"

Read back at any tier:

openclaw-memory tier show <file> --level L0   # or L1, L2

For unattended/offline contexts where no agent is available, fall back to a pure heuristic (first non-empty line for L0, char-bounded prefix for L1):

openclaw-memory tier auto <file>

Structured Fact Memory

Extracts 8 fact types automatically: decisions, deadlines, requirements, entities, preferences, workflows, relationships, corrections.

• Structured key/value storage with confidence scores
• Negation-aware — "We will NOT use MongoDB" preserved correctly
• Automatic supersede — when a fact changes, old version archived, new one takes over

Smart Dedup & Conflict Resolution

• 3-level write-time dedup: exact match, normalized text, structured key match
• Full audit trail via archive table
• Removes duplicates before sending — you never pay twice for the same memory

Cross-Agent Memory Sharing

Works across Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, and any MCP-compatible client.

• CLI commands: openclaw-memory query/add/recent — any tool can read/write facts
• Drop zone: drop .md files into ~/.openclaw/memory/external/ — auto-ingested, no duplicates
• Unified global memory under ~/.openclaw/memory/ — your memory follows you across workspaces

Self-Healing Maintenance

Zero maintenance. The plugin takes care of itself.

• Auto-init: detects workspace, creates search index, schedules embedding — no manual setup
• Graceful fallback: if vector search unavailable, runs in keyword-only mode — always functional
• 24h maintenance cycle: rebuilds index on corruption, archives stale facts, alerts on health issues

OpenClaw Native vs Memory Stack

	Native	Memory Stack
Search engines	2	5 (parallel, fused)
Token efficiency	Full text every time	Up to 90% fewer
Output tiers	Full text	3 tiers (~100 / ~800 / full)
Fact extraction	No	8 types, structured, negation-aware
Duplicate handling	Can pay twice	3-level dedup, auto-supersede
Entity tracking	No	Yes, queryable
Cross-agent	No	CLI + drop zone, works with any tool
Memory across projects	Separate per workspace	Unified global memory — follows you everywhere
Self-healing	No	Auto-maintain, auto-fallback
Runs locally	Yes	Yes — all search runs locally, no cloud dependency

Memory Stack vs Other AI Memory Systems

Most AI memory systems make you choose between control and convenience. Memory Stack doesn't.

	Hermes Agent	Google Always-On	Memory Stack
Trigger	Explicit tool call	Automatic (Google decides)	Deterministic router — 7 explicit rules
Routing logic	Agent judgment (opaque)	Black box	Keyword pattern matching — fully inspectable
Fallback on poor recall	None	Uncontrollable	Sequential chain — relevance < 0.4 → next backend
Storage location	Developer-managed DB	Google cloud	Local git branch + SQLite — nothing leaves your machine
Token control	None	None	3 tiers: ~100 / ~800 / full
Deduplication	Manual	Unknown	4-level auto-dedup
Works offline	Depends on DB	No	Yes — core search fully offline
Open source	Varies	No	MIT — full source on GitHub
Setup time	Hours	Minutes (Gemini only)	One command, any MCP client

Hermes gives developers control but no routing or fallback infrastructure. Google gives convenience but no privacy and no control. Memory Stack gives you both.

Install

npx clawhub@latest package install openclaw-memory-stack

Or clone and run directly:

git clone https://github.com/Apptah/openclaw-memory-stack
cd openclaw-memory-stack
./install.sh

Runs on macOS, Linux, and Windows (WSL2). Requires bash, python3, and OpenClaw 2026.3.2 or later. Bun is optional (enables QMD vector search).

What the installer does

The included install.sh performs the following actions:

• Files: Copies plugin and backend files to ~/.openclaw/memory-stack/, registers plugin in ~/.openclaw/extensions/openclaw-memory-stack/, updates ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json
• Upgrade downloads: install.sh --upgrade downloads new versions with mandatory SHA-256 checksum verification
• No telemetry: No usage data, memory content, or analytics are ever sent
• Optional LLM: OPENCLAW_LLM_API_KEY / OPENAI_API_KEY env vars are optional, used only for LLM-powered fact extraction. If not set, falls back to local Ollama/MLX. These keys are sent only to the endpoint you configure (default: api.openai.com), never to our servers

All search and storage runs entirely on your machine.

License

MIT. Free and open source. See LICENSE.

Support

Questions or issues? Open a GitHub issue at github.com/Apptah/openclaw-memory-stack.