Claude (app memory)
Claude remembers your work, your people and your preferences from chat to chat, and lets you see and edit every topic.
by Anthropic · Built this? Edit this page on GitHub
In short
As you chat, Claude jots down short topics about you: your role, your projects, the people you work with, how you like answers written. The next conversation starts already knowing them. Each project keeps its own separate memory and summary. You can read, edit or delete any topic in settings, or just tell Claude to remember or forget something. On paid plans, Claude can also search your past chats when you ask.
Who it’s for
Anyone using Claude on the web, desktop or phone, from free users to companies. It's on by default for Free, Pro and Max; on Team and Enterprise an owner switches it on.
What it remembers
Your role, projects and ongoing work, the people and places in your work and life, how you like to communicate, and your technical preferences. Health, beliefs and similar topics only if you opt in.
- Memory lives
- Anthropic's cloud
- API keys
- None, just a Claude account
- Works with
- claude.ai on the web, Claude Desktop, Claude Mobile, Cowork in the cloud
- License
- Closed sourceProprietary
- Price
- Free; Pro $17/mo yearly or $20 monthly
Under the hood
- Who writes memories
- Claude itself, during the conversation, choosing what to save. You can also say “remember this”, or edit topics in settings.
- Where they're kept
- A set of topics on Anthropic's servers, encrypted at rest, with a separate space for each project.
- How they're found
- Saved topics are brought into new conversations. On paid plans Claude can also search past chats when you ask, and shows links to them.
- Extra AI calls
- Not disclosed. It's part of the plan, with no separate charge.
How it works
- 1You chatClaude starts each conversation knowing your saved topics.
- 2It saves topicsAs you talk, it adds or updates short topics, or saves what you ask it to.
- 3Kept by projectEach project has its own memory; other chats share one.
- 4You reviewRead, edit or delete any topic in Settings > Memory.
What stands out
- Everything it remembers is shown as plain topics you can read, edit or delete, and fixing one fixes it for every chat after.
- Project memory keeps each project's context in its own space, so client work doesn't leak into your personal chats.
- Careful defaults: incognito chats for any plan, sensitive topics off unless you opt in, and some things (like ID numbers) never saved at all.
- Easy to move in: a ready-made prompt pulls your memory out of another assistant and Claude files it as topics.
What it doesn’t do
- Nothing documented fades with time or gets stronger with use. A topic stays until you or Claude change or delete it.
- Searching past chats is for paid plans only, and Cowork tasks that run on your own computer keep their memory to themselves.
- It's memory about you and your work, held by Anthropic, not the AI's own sense of self. How topics are chosen, ranked and merged isn't published.
- It's the Claude apps only. Claude Code has its own, separate memory.
Measured against human memory
0 built, 6 partly, 5 not known of the Field Guide’s 11 mechanisms
Encoding
Salience
Decides what's worth keeping, and how much, as a memory is written.
Claude decides what's worth saving as you chat, skips sensitive topics unless you opt in, and saves on request. There's no documented importance score. source
Emotion
Gives memories written with feeling more weight.
Not documented. The sensitive-topics setting is a privacy filter, not extra weight for feelings.
Storage
Forgetting
Lets unused memories fade over time on its own.
Fading isn't documented. Topics even outlive the chat they came from: deleting a chat doesn't remove them.
Interference
When a new memory closely matches an old one, notices and lets the newer one win.
Claude updates a topic when things change (“mention that a deadline moved, and your next conversation already knows”), by its own judgement in the chat. source
Retrieval
Retrieval
Remembering something makes that memory stronger.
Whether using a memory makes it stronger isn't documented.
Association
Links memories, so recalling one brings its neighbours.
Topics are sorted into categories and projects, but links between memories aren't documented.
Prospective
Brings a memory back at the right time without being asked.
Claude can set up tasks that run on a schedule, but saved topics don't come back at a set moment; they're simply there in each new chat. source
Transformation
Consolidation
Reworks memories between sessions: strengthening, merging, reorganising.
It now saves topics as you chat “rather than summarizing conversations after they end” (the old daily summary was retired in July 2026). Any tidying between sessions isn't documented.
Reconsolidation
Corrects a memory when it's contradicted, and keeps what it used to say.
You or Claude can correct a topic and the fix applies from then on, but keeping what it used to say isn't documented. source
Gist
Turns many specific moments into general knowledge.
Topics are general facts drawn from many chats, like your role or working style, but as a side effect of saving. A monthly recap (beta) sums up your themes, but isn't kept as memory. source
Schemas
Forms beliefs about people and projects, and weighs new facts against them.
It keeps topics on the people in your life and a summary for each project, but weighing new facts against them isn't documented. source
Not every system is trying to be a human memory, so a hollow dot isn’t a flaw. It just says what the system doesn’t do. What the mechanisms are.
Claude (app memory)’s makers haven’t shared what they’re building next, so only today shows here. Makers can add their roadmap the same way they correct an entry.
Compare Claude (app memory) with the others, side by sideQuestions
- Who is Claude (app memory) for?
Anyone using Claude on the web, desktop or phone, from free users to companies. It's on by default for Free, Pro and Max; on Team and Enterprise an owner switches it on.
- Where does Claude (app memory) keep its memories?
Anthropic's cloud. A set of topics on Anthropic's servers, encrypted at rest, with a separate space for each project.
- Does Claude (app memory) forget?
Forgetting: not known. Fading isn't documented. Topics even outlive the chat they came from: deleting a chat doesn't remove them.
- Does Claude (app memory) correct a memory when it turns out to be wrong?
Reconsolidation: a little. You or Claude can correct a topic and the fix applies from then on, but keeping what it used to say isn't documented. source
- Is Claude (app memory) open source?
No, it's closed source. License: Proprietary.
- Does Claude (app memory) need an API key?
API keys: None, just a Claude account.
- How much does Claude (app memory) cost?
Price: Free; Pro $17/mo yearly or $20 monthly.