Memory and lessons

See what CLIO Coder remembers, approve lessons, or turn memory off.

What memory does

Memory is on by default and needs no setup. CLIO Coder keeps task memory for a session: requirements, environment facts, failed attempts, and diagnoses. A rules tier runs without model calls. With no memory route of its own, the model tier uses your chat route within that route's cost, quota, or speed budget, so a default install spends some model calls on memory.

See and approve lessons

Open /memory to see the lessons this session can reach, pending and rejected records beside approved ones, and what each one concerns. From the shell:

clio-coder memory list
clio-coder memory approve <memoryId>
clio-coder memory reject <memoryId>
clio-coder memory prune --stale

/memory also shows the current tier, the live bank, and the last twenty memory steps with their trigger, decision, and latency. That history is the only place a skipped step or a timeout appears. In /memory, press p on a selected row to propose it for review at repository scope, or g for global scope.

Memory also keeps commands a completed task proved to work, from its own run records, and offers them when a later session touches the same files. A repository lesson becomes standing guidance only after it is approved.

Turn it off or route it elsewhere

Set context.memory.enabled: false, or use /settings → Context and memory → Proactive memory. Off means off: the # Memory section leaves main and worker prompts, and history review reads nothing from a session that ran with memory off. To run memory on its own route, set both context.memory.target and context.memory.model.

Settings

All keys live under context.memory in settings.yaml. /settings has rows for enabled, the route, and cadenceToolCalls; set the others in the file.

Choose a cheap or local background model

Memory reads a short trajectory and writes a bounded result, so a small model usually suffices. CLIO Coder requests thinking off for this route.

context:
  memory:
    target: memory-dedicated
    model: memory-profile/qwen3.5-4b

These IDs are examples; check yours with clio-coder targets --probe. Locally, both models and their caches must fit in memory.

Cost and budget

A step is checked against its route's cost before any request leaves, so a skipped step costs nothing. Metered routes stop at safety.limits.sessionCostUsd, subscription routes wait out a near-full quota window, and free routes need an open request slot. Steps appear as memory steps in /usage.

Memory gives reminders; it does not replace reading the code or running the checks. See the full guide for how reminders are selected and when a lesson is promoted.

Related research