Modes & Languages

Configure Claude-Mem behavior and language with the Mode System

Modes & Languages

Claude-Mem uses a flexible Mode System to adapt its behavior, observation types, and output language. This allows you to switch between different workflows (like coding vs. email investigation) or languages without reinstalling the plugin.

What is a Mode?

A “mode” is a configuration profile that defines:

1. Observer Role: How Claude should analyze your work (e.g., “Software Engineer” vs. “Forensic Analyst”).
2. Observation Types: Valid categories for memory (e.g., “Bug Fix”, “Feature” vs. “Person”, “Organization”).
3. Concepts: Semantic tags for indexing (e.g., “Pattern”, “Trade-off”).
4. Language: The language used for generating observations and summaries.

Configuration

Set the active mode using the CLAUDE_MEM_MODE setting in ~/.claude-mem/settings.json:

{
  "CLAUDE_MEM_MODE": "code--es"
}

Or via environment variable:

export CLAUDE_MEM_MODE="code--fr"

The active mode is shown in the startup context injected into each new session, for example:

Mode: Code Development (code)

Creating a Custom Mode

Run /mode-creator to design a domain-specific note system through an interactive interview. It helps choose observation types and concept tags, writes and validates the mode, installs it under ~/.claude-mem/modes/, activates it, optionally configures Telegram alerts, restarts the worker, and verifies the active mode in startup context.

Custom modes in the data directory are durable across plugin upgrades. The worker searches user modes before bundled modes, while inherited custom modes can still use a bundled parent such as code:

~/.claude-mem/modes/code--architecture-practice.json

Avoid editing files inside the plugin cache because a plugin update can replace them.

Telegram alerts and session wrap-ups

Telegram has two separate delivery paths. A session wrap-up sends the latest stored session summary once the Claude Code session ends. Per-observation alerts are real-time notifications for matching observation types or concepts; they are now disabled by default, even when Telegram itself is enabled.

Configure the new settings as strings in ~/.claude-mem/settings.json:

• CLAUDE_MEM_TELEGRAM_WRAPUPS_ENABLED defaults to "true", but no wrap-up can be sent until a route is configured.
• CLAUDE_MEM_TELEGRAM_OBSERVATION_ALERTS_ENABLED defaults to "false"; set it to "true" only when you want the existing CLAUDE_MEM_TELEGRAM_TRIGGER_TYPES or CLAUDE_MEM_TELEGRAM_TRIGGER_CONCEPTS alerts to resume.
• CLAUDE_MEM_TELEGRAM_WRAPUP_ROUTES defaults to "{}" and contains a JSON object keyed by project name.

For example, use this route object as the value of CLAUDE_MEM_TELEGRAM_WRAPUP_ROUTES:

{
  "claude-mem": {
    "chat_id": "-1001234567890",
    "bot_token": "optional override",
    "key": "optional route label"
  }
}

A route needs a chat_id; its bot_token can override CLAUDE_MEM_TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN, and key is an optional route label. CLAUDE_MEM_TELEGRAM_ENABLED remains the master switch for both paths. Route lookup first matches the project name exactly, then the parent name before the first / for worktrees. If neither route exists, claude-mem logs No wrap-up route for project and does not send anything—there is never a fallback to CLAUDE_MEM_TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID for a wrap-up.

Available Modes

Code Mode (Default)

The standard mode for software development. Captures bug fixes, features, refactors, and architectural decisions.

ID: code

Code Mode Variants

Behavioral variants that change how the code mode operates:

Variant	Mode ID	Description
Chill	code--chill	Produces fewer observations. Only records things “painful to rediscover” - shipped features, architectural decisions, and non-obvious gotchas. Skips routine work and obvious changes.

Multilingual Code Modes

Inherits all behavior from Code Mode but instructs Claude to generate all memory artifacts (titles, narratives, facts, summaries) in the target language.

Language	Mode ID	Native Name
Arabic	code--ar	العربية
Bengali	code--bn	বাংলা
Chinese	code--zh	中文
Czech	code--cs	Čeština
Danish	code--da	Dansk
Dutch	code--nl	Nederlands
Finnish	code--fi	Suomi
French	code--fr	Français
German	code--de	Deutsch
Greek	code--el	Ελληνικά
Hebrew	code--he	עברית
Hindi	code--hi	हिन्दी
Hungarian	code--hu	Magyar
Indonesian	code--id	Bahasa Indonesia
Urdu	code--ur	اردو
Italian	code--it	Italiano
Japanese	code--ja	日本語
Korean	code--ko	한국어
Norwegian	code--no	Norsk
Polish	code--pl	Polski
Portuguese (Brazil)	code--pt-br	Português Brasileiro
Romanian	code--ro	Română
Russian	code--ru	Русский
Spanish	code--es	Español
Swedish	code--sv	Svenska
Thai	code--th	ภาษาไทย
Turkish	code--tr	Türkçe
Ukrainian	code--uk	Українська
Vietnamese	code--vi	Tiếng Việt

Email Investigation Mode

A specialized mode for analyzing email dumps (e.g., FOIA releases, corporate archives). Focuses on identifying entities, relationships, timeline events, and key topics.

ID: email-investigation

Observation Types:

• entity: Person, organization, or email address
• relationship: Connection between entities
• timeline-event: Time-stamped event in communication sequence
• evidence: Supporting documentation or proof
• anomaly: Suspicious pattern or irregularity
• conclusion: Investigative finding or determination

Mode Inheritance

The system supports inheritance using the -- separator. For example, code--es means:

1. Load code (Parent) configuration.
2. Load code--es (Child) configuration.
3. Merge Child into Parent (Child overrides).

This allows for lightweight “remix” modes that only change specific aspects (like the language prompt) while keeping the core definitions intact.