Improvements to SessionStart context hook file display:
1. **Remove redundant files**: Files in "Modified" list are now excluded from "Read" list
- Prevents duplication when a file was both read and modified
- Reduces token usage by eliminating redundant information
2. **Use relative paths**: Convert absolute paths to project-relative paths
- Example: /Users/alexnewman/Scripts/claude-mem/src/hooks/context.ts → src/hooks/context.ts
- Significantly reduces token consumption in context injection
- Makes file references more readable and portable
Implementation:
- Added toRelativePath() helper function to convert paths
- Added filesModifiedSet.forEach(file => filesReadSet.delete(file)) to remove duplicates
- Applied to both files_read and files_modified when building Sets
Impact: Reduces token usage in Tier 1 summaries (most recent session) where file lists are displayed.
🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
New structure (10 sessions total):
- Tier 3 (oldest 6): Request + Date only
- Tier 2 (middle 3): Request + Learned + Completed + Date
- Tier 1 (most recent): Full verbosity (all fields)
This provides cleaner, more focused context with less redundancy.
🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
Introduces three-tier verbosity system to reduce redundancy and improve token efficiency:
Tier 1 (Most Recent - Position -1):
- Full verbosity with all fields shown
- Request, Learned, Completed, Next Steps, Files Read, Files Modified, Date
Tier 2 (Recent - Positions -2 to -5):
- Medium verbosity, skips Files Read (less actionable)
- Request, Learned, Completed, Next Steps, Files Modified, Date
Tier 3 (Older - Positions -6 to -30):
- Compact index with just Learned + citation link
- Format: Learned + [Details: claude-mem://session/{id}]
- Enables lazy-loading via MCP search tools
Changes:
- Increased LIMIT from 10 to 30 sessions
- Added position-based formatting logic in loop
- Token reduction: ~30% fewer tokens (~2,150 vs ~3,000)
- History expansion: 3x more sessions (30 vs 10)
Benefits:
- Reduced redundancy through natural information gradient
- More context breadth without token explosion
- MCP search becomes expansion mechanism for deeper dives
- Aligns with core philosophy: compression for efficiency, expansion on demand
🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
- Updated contextHook to query session_summaries directly instead of using sdk_sessions table.
- Removed unnecessary complexity in output formatting, focusing on recent summaries for the project.
- Enhanced file reading and modification tracking by parsing observations directly.
- Made the database connection public in SessionStore for easier access.
- Updated contextHook to support colorized output for terminal and JSON format for hooks.
- Introduced ANSI color codes for improved readability in terminal output.
- Modified the output structure to include session details with color formatting.
- Added a new method in SessionStore to aggregate files read and modified from observations for a session.
- Improved error handling for JSON parsing of file data in the new method.
- Removed try-catch blocks in new-hook, save-hook, and summary-hook for cleaner flow.
- Enhanced error handling in save and summary hooks to throw errors instead of logging and returning.
- Introduced ensureWorkerRunning utility to manage worker service lifecycle and health checks.
- Replaced dynamic port allocation with a fixed port for the worker service.
- Simplified path management and removed unused port allocator utility.
- Added database schema initialization for fresh installations and improved migration handling.
BREAKING CHANGES:
- Data directory moved from ~/.claude-mem/ to ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/data/
- Fresh start required - no migration from v3.x databases
- Worker service now auto-starts on SessionStart hook
New Features:
- MCP Search Server with 6 specialized search tools
- FTS5 full-text search across observations and sessions
- Auto-starting worker service in SessionStart hook
- Citation support for search results (claude-mem:// URIs)
Changes:
- Updated paths.ts to use CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT for data directory
- Added worker auto-start logic to context hook
- Updated worker service to write port file to plugin data dir
- Bumped version to 4.0.0 in package.json and plugin.json
- Created comprehensive CHANGELOG.md documenting v4.0.0 changes
- Updated README.md with v4.0.0 breaking changes and features
- Rebuilt all hooks and worker service
Technical Improvements:
- Improved error handling and graceful degradation
- Structured logging across all components
- Enhanced plugin integration with Claude Code
🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
The context hook was not appearing in Claude Code sessions because it was
outputting plain text to stdout instead of using the required JSON structure
for SessionStart hooks.
Changes:
- src/hooks/context.ts: Changed contextHook to return string instead of void,
removing direct console.log calls to make it more reusable
- src/bin/hooks/context-hook.ts: Wrap contextHook output in hookSpecificOutput
JSON structure with hookEventName "SessionStart" and additionalContext field
- Both TTY and stdin code paths now properly format and exit with code 0
Fixes the issue where recent session context was not being injected at session
start. Tested with npm run test:context - hook now properly outputs JSON with
recent sessions formatted as markdown.
🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
- Added SDK session, observation, and summary types to types.ts.
- Refactored worker-service to use SessionStore for session management.
- Created SessionSearch class for FTS5 full-text search and structured queries.
- Implemented SessionStore for CRUD operations on SDK sessions, observations, and summaries.
- Added migrations for database schema updates, including new columns and constraints.
- Enhanced search capabilities with filters for projects, types, concepts, and date ranges.
- Updated `summary-hook.js` to improve logging and session handling.
- Modified `context.ts` to fetch recent sessions with status and summary info, enhancing output formatting.
- Added new methods in `HooksDatabase.ts` for retrieving recent sessions and their summaries.
- Improved observation retrieval logic in `context.ts` to display relevant information for active sessions.
- Enhanced prompt documentation in `prompts.ts` to clarify output expectations.
- Refactored logger methods in `logger.ts` to instance methods for better encapsulation.
- Added prompt_number to observations and session summaries for better tracking.
- Implemented prompt counter in SDK sessions to manage user prompts effectively.
- Updated database schema to include prompt tracking columns and removed unique constraints on session summaries.
- Modified hooks to utilize prompt_number in observations and summaries.
- Changed worker service to handle summarize requests instead of finalize, keeping the SDK agent active.
- Improved logging for better debugging and tracking of prompt numbers across sessions.
- Added WorkerService to handle long-running HTTP service with session management.
- Implemented endpoints for initializing, observing, finalizing, checking status, and deleting sessions.
- Integrated with Claude SDK for processing observations and generating responses.
- Added port allocator utility to dynamically find available ports for the service.
- Configured TypeScript settings for the project.
- Introduced a new `hook-response.ts` module to create standardized hook responses.
- Updated `context-hook.ts`, `new.ts`, `save.ts`, and `summary.ts` to utilize the new response format.
- Enhanced error handling in `context-hook.ts` to check for input from stdin.
- Refactored database interaction in hooks to ensure consistent session management.
- Improved readability and maintainability of hook implementations by restructuring code.
- Updated database queries to use consistent variable naming and formatting.
- Modified the handling of socket connections in `save.ts` and `summary.ts` to ensure proper response on close and error events.
- Removed `path-discovery.ts` service and replaced its usage with a new `paths.ts` module.
- Updated all commands and services to utilize the new path constants and helper functions.
- Ensured all necessary directories are created using the new utility functions.
- Improved code readability and maintainability by centralizing path configurations.
- Added CLI commands for context, new session, save observation, and summary.
- Created HooksDatabase for managing SDK sessions and observations.
- Implemented migration 004 to add new tables: sdk_sessions, observation_queue, observations, and session_summaries.
- Developed hook functions for context display, session initialization, observation queuing, and session finalization.
- Added comprehensive tests for database schema and hook functionality.
- Documented Phase 1 implementation in PHASE1-COMPLETE.md.
Alex Newman