| name | nmem-memory-search |
| description | Search the user's personal knowledge base when past insights would improve the response. Trigger proactively for continuity, recurring bugs, design rationale, and remembered workflows. Triggered by /nmem-memory-search. |
Search Memory
Use Nowledge Mem proactively when prior knowledge would materially improve the answer.
Strong Signals
Search when:
- the user references previous work, a prior fix, or an earlier decision
- the task resumes a named feature, bug, refactor, incident, or subsystem
- a debugging pattern resembles something solved earlier
- the user asks for rationale, preferences, procedures, or recurring workflow details
- the user uses implicit recall language: "that approach", "like before"
Contextual signals — consider searching when:
- complex debugging where prior context would narrow the search space
- architecture discussion that may intersect with past decisions
- domain-specific conventions the user has established before
- the current result is ambiguous and past context would make the answer sharper
Token-Efficient Retrieval Routing & Graph Neighborhoods
To minimize token usage, avoid bloating the conversation context, and prevent terminal permission prompts, follow this interface hierarchy:
- Nowledge FS (MCP
mem_fs) - Best for Unified File Actions:
- For listing, searching, checking size, or loading chunks of memories, threads, wiki pages, or documents, call the MCP
mem_fs tool.
- Use the "Start broad, then narrow" pattern:
- Run
mem_fs with command: "recall", path: "/memories", query: "..." for semantic searches.
- Run
mem_fs with command: "grep", query: "..." to search text across memories, threads, and library sources.
- Run
mem_fs with command: "stat" to check the file size and line counts cheaply before loading.
- Run
mem_fs with command: "cat", path: "...", line: START, lines: COUNT to fetch only the required window, avoiding context bloat.
- Specialized MCP Tools:
- Use
memory_search for durable knowledge queries.
- Use
thread_search followed by thread_fetch_messages (always passing a small limit like 5 or 10) to paginatedly check thread histories.
- Use
memory_neighbors or explore_graph to expand graph neighborhoods selectively.
- CLI Fallback (Only if MCP is unavailable):
- Important:
nmem fs CLI commands take positional arguments (do NOT pass --query or --path flags):
- Recall:
nmem fs recall "<query>"
- Read/Cat:
nmem fs cat "<path>" --line START --lines COUNT
- Grep:
nmem fs grep "<pattern>" <path>
- Stat/Find/Ls:
nmem fs stat "<path>", nmem fs find "<query>", nmem fs ls /
- For direct question asking/synthesis across all sources:
nmem ask "question" (use --ephemeral to avoid creating a Timeline entry, and --json for structured sources).
- For memory/thread lookups:
nmem --json m search "<query>" or nmem --json t search "<query>" (with pagination).
Prefer the smallest retrieval surface that answers the question.
If the runtime already knows the active project or agent lane, add --space "<space name>" to these commands.
Mention source threads when they add useful historical context.
