settings

name	settings
description	Use when user wants to view, modify, or reset memory system configuration, or check token usage across memory tiers
user-invokable	true

Memory Settings Management

View, modify, and analyze the memory system configuration.

Usage

• /settings or /settings view — Show current settings
• /settings usage — Show token usage breakdown
• /settings set <path> <value> — Modify a setting
• /settings reset [path] — Reset to defaults (all or specific setting)

Instructions

For /settings or /settings view:

1. Read ~/.claude/memory/settings.json
2. Display settings in a formatted table showing current values and descriptions

For /settings usage:

Run the token usage script and display results:

uv run --no-project $HOME/.claude/scripts/token_usage.py

Display as a usage table with ~Tokens, Limit, % Used, and status indicator (within limit vs over limit).

For /settings set <path> <value>:

1. Parse the dotted path (e.g., projectShortTerm.workingDays)
2. Validate the value against the type constraints below
3. Use Edit tool to update ~/.claude/memory/settings.json
4. Confirm the change

Note: Short-term tokenLimit and totalTokenBudget are calculated automatically from workingDays (formula: workingDays * 750).

For /settings reset [path]:

Reset to defaults from _defaults section of settings.json. Omit path to reset all.

Valid Settings

Path	Type	Range	Default	Notes
mode	string	full/light	full	light skips project LTM/STM and global STM (recall + global LTM only)
globalLongTerm.tokenLimit	int	1000-50000	3,000	Fixed limit
globalShortTerm.workingDays	int	1-30	2	Also updates tokenLimit
projectLongTerm.tokenLimit	int	1000-50000	3,000	Fixed limit
projectShortTerm.workingDays	int	1-30	5	Also updates tokenLimit
synthesis.intervalHours	float	0.25-24	1	In-script rate-limit floor (hours). Timer cadence is fixed at install time from the default, so values below the default only affect the floor; values above lengthen the effective cadence.
synthesis.model	string	haiku/sonnet/opus	sonnet	Model for synthesis subagent
synthesis.minSessionMessages	int	0-100	5	Skip sessions with fewer messages during synthesis
decay.ageDays	int	7-365	30	Archive learnings older than this
decay.projectWorkingDays	int	5-100	20	Archive project entries after N project work days
decay.archiveRetentionDays	int	30-730	365	Purge archived items older than this

Token Budget

Component	Default	Formula
Global long-term	3,000	fixed
Global short-term	1,500	workingDays * 750
Project long-term	3,000	fixed
Project short-term	3,750	workingDays * 750
Total	11,250	sum of above

Estimation: 1 token ~ 4 characters. 750 tokens/day based on ~400-600 observed after scope filtering.

Setting Details

Mode: full loads all five sections (recall, global LTM, project LTM, project STM, global STM). light loads only recall and global LTM — useful when Claude Code's native project-scoped memory covers project context and you want the custom system to handle only cross-project memory plus session continuity.

Working days: Both tiers use "working days" — days that have matching tagged content ([global/*] or [project-name/*]). Days without matching content are skipped.

Git subdirectories: Subdirectories of a git repo automatically map to the repo root unless gitignored — no configuration required. Gitignored paths (e.g. projects/) stay as separate projects.

Synthesis: Runs via launchd/systemd timer (deferred). Manual /synthesize always runs in foreground.

Decay: Archives entries older than ageDays from decay-eligible sections (Key Actions/Decisions/Learnings/Lessons). ## Pinned section, auto-pinned sections, and entries without dates are protected. Archive at ~/.claude/memory/.decay-archive.md.

Settings File

~/.claude/memory/settings.json — defaults from DEFAULT_SETTINGS in memory_utils.py if missing.