Memory Types

ClawVault organizes memories into 8 structured types, each designed for specific kinds of information. This classification helps with retrieval, context injection, and maintaining clean mental models.

The 8 Memory Types

fact

Static information that doesn't change over time.

Examples:

• API endpoints and their parameters
• System configurations
• Technical specifications
• Contact information
• Process documentation

clawvault remember fact "Stripe API Rate Limit" --content "100 requests per second per API key"

feeling

Emotional context, sentiment, and subjective experiences.

Examples:

• How a meeting felt
• Confidence levels in decisions
• Team morale observations
• User feedback sentiment

clawvault remember feeling "Client Demo Went Well" --content "Team felt confident, client asked good questions, positive energy"

decision

Choices made with context and reasoning.

Examples:

• Architecture choices
• Tool selections
• Process changes
• Strategic directions

clawvault remember decision "Use PostgreSQL over SQLite" --content "Need concurrent writes for multi-agent setup. SQLite locks cause bottlenecks."

lesson

Things learned from experience, mistakes, or insights.

Examples:

• What worked/didn't work
• Process improvements discovered
• Debugging insights
• Best practices learned

clawvault remember lesson "Always backup before schema changes" --content "Lost 2 hours of data during migration testing. Automated backups now required."

commitment

Promises, deadlines, and obligations.

Examples:

• Project deadlines
• Meeting promises
• Feature deliverables
• Personal commitments

clawvault remember commitment "Demo ready by Friday" --content "Promised client working prototype with user auth and basic dashboard"

preference

Subjective choices and preferred ways of working.

Examples:

• Code style preferences
• Tool preferences
• Communication styles
• Work patterns

clawvault remember preference "Async standups work better" --content "Team prefers written updates over video calls. More thoughtful, less interruption."

relationship

People, their roles, and how to work with them.

Examples:

• Team members and their strengths
• Client contacts and preferences
• Stakeholder relationships
• Communication patterns

clawvault remember relationship "Sarah Chen - Product Manager" --content "Detail-oriented, prefers data-driven decisions. Responds best to Slack, not email."

project

Active work, goals, and project context.

Examples:

• Current initiatives
• Project status updates
• Goals and objectives
• Work streams

clawvault remember project "User Dashboard Redesign" --content "Q1 initiative. Focus on mobile-first, reduce clicks by 30%, A/B testing framework ready."

Why Types Matter

Better Retrieval

# Find all decisions about databases
clawvault search "database" -c decisions

# See all active commitments
clawvault list commitments

Context-Aware Injection

Different memory types surface at different times:

• Decisions → Critical for planning sessions
• Commitments → Important for deadline tracking
• Relationships → Key for meeting preparation

Graph Connections

Types create meaningful graph relationships:

# In people/sarah-chen.md
Related decisions: [[database-choice]], [[framework-selection]]
Active projects: [[dashboard-redesign]]

Quick Capture vs Structured Storage

For quick notes that you'll process later:

clawvault capture "TODO: Review PR tomorrow"

When you know the type:

clawvault remember decision "Use TypeScript" --content "Team voted, better DX"

Auto-Classification

The observational memory system can automatically classify session content:

• Decisions → detected from choice language ("decided to", "going with")
• Lessons → detected from learning patterns ("learned that", "mistake was")
• Relationships → detected from people mentions

This helps maintain structure even in conversational sessions.