Claude-Mem Hits 107,900 Stars, and Its Own Pages Disagree on Licence
Software / news
Claude-Mem Hits 107,900 Stars, and Its Own Pages Disagree on Licence
The Claude Code memory plugin has gained about 35,500 stars since May, but a May write-up says AGPL-3.0, the repository now says Apache-2.0, and the README describes an optional cloud sync that earlier coverage did not.
Claude-mem, a plugin that gives coding agents memory across sessions, showed about 107.9k GitHub stars on Nov. 1, 2026, up from 72.4K on May 5. The repository's LICENSE file and package.json say Apache-2.0. A May write-up by Augment Code says AGPL-3.0.
Stars are not adoption, and the project has not published install counts. What the pages do show is a repository whose commit count rose from 1,840 to 3,772 in six months and whose README now describes data leaving the machine.
What the plugin records and where it keeps it
The README calls claude-mem a "Persistent memory compression system built for Claude Code" and lists Alex Newman (@thedotmack) as author. It records tool-use observations, writes summaries, and feeds them into later sessions.
According to Augment Code's explainer, written by technical writer Paula Hingel, the plugin hooks into five lifecycle events: SessionStart, PostToolUse, Stop, UserPromptSubmit and SessionEnd. A background worker compresses what was captured using Claude's agent SDK. Storage is SQLite with FTS5 full-text search plus a Chroma vector index, and a local viewer runs at localhost:37777.
The README lists Node.js 20.0.0 or higher as a requirement and says Bun and uv are installed automatically if missing.
One install trap is spelled out in the README: npm install -g claude-mem "installs the SDK/library only". It does not register hooks or the worker. The working routes are /plugin marketplace add thedotmack/claude-mem followed by /plugin install claude-mem, or npx claude-mem install.
The same repository, six months apart
| Measure | May 5, 2026 (Augment) | Nov. 1, 2026 (GitHub) |
|---|---|---|
| Version | 12.6.4 | 15.7.0 |
| Stars | 72.4K | 107.9k |
| Forks | 6.2K | 9.5k |
| Commits | 1,840 | 3,772 |
- May 5, 20261840 commits
- Nov. 1, 20263772 commits
Source: Augment Code (May 5, 2026) and the claude-mem GitHub page (accessed 2026-11-01)
Augment's article also counts 109 contributors and 259 releases in roughly seven months. It is promotional: Augment sells its own developer tools, and the piece leans on star counts as evidence of value.
Its one quantified benefit, that a three-layer search workflow "reduces token usage by roughly 10x", comes with no method or benchmark, so treat it as unverified.
Which licence applies
The repository's LICENSE begins "Apache License, Version 2.0, January 2004" and package.json at version 15.7.0 reads "license": "Apache-2.0". The README closes with "Claude-Mem is licensed under the Apache License 2.0."
Augment's May text, written against v12.6.4, says AGPL-3.0 and advises enterprises that deploy modified versions on network servers to review it first. The pages Augment and GitHub publish do not say whether the licence changed between those versions or whether one source was wrong, and Augment's page lists a June 18 update date.
For a team choosing whether to adopt it, the difference matters. Apache-2.0 carries no network-use clause, and AGPL-3.0 does. Check the licence file in the exact version you install.
Local-only no longer describes every setting
Augment says all data stays local in ~/.claude-mem/. The current README describes more. An optional Cloud Sync backs memories up to cmem.ai, and the README says the worker syncs on write when it is enabled.
The installer also offers browser sign-in for a hosted observer with a 30-day free trial. It can be skipped with --provider flags or CLAUDE_MEM_ONLINE_OPTIN=false. Other providers named are an OpenRouter or Gemini key, or an Anthropic plan.
Captured tool activity can include source code and secrets. Content wrapped in <private> tags is excluded from storage, and screenshot storage is opt-in and off by default, according to the README.
The security policy, SECURITY.md, says "Only the latest released version of claude-mem receives security updates". It promises acknowledgement of valid reports within 48 hours, with a fix targeted for the next release.
The README also refers to a third-party token called CMEM and gives a contract address. Other Claude Code tooling stories on this site include Anthropic's rule against recreating existing games and a heuristic compiler reanimated with Claude Code.
On the maintainers' side, the repository shows 59 open issues and 98 open pull requests. The next thing to watch is the release after 15.7.0, since it is the only one the policy commits to patching.
Sources
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