kill-claude-mem

name	kill-claude-mem
description	Kill stale claude-mem worker and MCP server processes that leak memory across sessions. Use when Codespace feels slow or memory is low.
allowed-tools	Bash

Kill Stale claude-mem Processes

Purpose: claude-mem spawns worker-service and mcp-server processes per session that aren't always cleaned up when sessions end. Over multiple sessions, these accumulate and consume gigabytes of RAM. This command kills all instances; the plugin's hooks will re-spawn fresh ones on the next interaction.

Upstream bug: https://github.com/thedotmack/claude-mem/issues/1089

Portable Installation

This skill folder is self-contained. To add it to another repo:

1. Copy the folder: cp -r .claude/skills/kill-claude-mem /path/to/other/repo/.claude/skills/
2. Run the installer: cd /path/to/other/repo && bash .claude/skills/kill-claude-mem/install-hook.sh

The installer adds a SessionStart hook to that project's .claude/settings.json so stale processes are cleaned automatically on every session startup.

Files

File	Purpose
SKILL.md	This file — slash command definition
kill-claude-mem.sh	Cleanup script (used by hook and slash command)
install-hook.sh	One-time installer for the SessionStart hook

Execution Instructions

When this skill is invoked, run the cleanup script:

bash "$CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR/.claude/skills/kill-claude-mem/kill-claude-mem.sh"

Then verify the system state:

free -h | head -2

Report the results to the user in this format:

claude-mem cleanup
  Killed: X workers, Y MCP servers
  Memory freed: ~Z MB
  RAM: X.XGi used / 15Gi total
  Status: Fresh instances will spawn on next tool use