---
title: "claude-mem vs past.dev"
description: "claude-mem gives Claude Code persistent session context. past.dev provides temporal memory through an API. Compare their scope, storage and use cases."
canonical: https://past.dev/compare/claude-mem
last-updated: 2026-08-31
---
# claude-mem and past.dev

Source: https://past.dev/compare/claude-mem

claude-mem is a Claude Code plugin that records coding sessions, compresses them into observations and supplies relevant observations to later sessions. past.dev is a multi-user temporal memory API for applications. It returns dated evidence and an explicit status. The products can run together because they serve different scopes.

## What claude-mem does

[claude-mem](https://github.com/thedotmack/claude-mem) hooks into the Claude Code session lifecycle. It captures tool activity and outcomes, compresses them into typed observations and supplies relevant context to later sessions. It installs through the plugin marketplace and runs locally for one developer.

## What the memory API provides

`POST /api/v1/ingest` accepts timestamped text. past.dev extracts facts, resolves entities and stores them on a [temporal knowledge graph](/glossary/temporal-knowledge-graph). `POST /api/v1/recall` returns ranked, dated evidence with `Supported`, `Conflicted` or `NoKnownSupport`. Applications can share memory across agents and users with key-based scoping and deletion. The [quickstart](/docs/memory-api/quickstart) shows the four calls.

## Scope comparison

| Question | claude-mem | past.dev |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Who is it for | A developer using Claude Code | A product and its users |
| Where memory lives | Locally, with the plugin | Behind an API, shared by design |
| What is stored | Session observations | Facts with dates, sources, supersession |
| A fact changed | New observation accumulates | Old fact superseded, history queryable |
| Unanswerable question | Whatever context surfaces | Explicit NoKnownSupport |
| Scope | Your sessions | Users, agents and apps under one graph |

Use claude-mem for one developer's Claude Code sessions. Use an [agent memory](/what-is-agent-memory) API when an application must retain facts and history for its users.

## Running both

claude-mem can retain development-session context while application agents use past.dev. The [Claude Agent SDK integration](/integrations/claude-agent-sdk) shows the two-tool pattern. [Memory for OpenClaw](/integrations/openclaw) covers a similar setup for file-based agents. The [benchmarks page](/benchmarks) reports recall quality.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is past.dev a claude-mem alternative?

claude-mem is designed for developer session continuity in Claude Code. Use the past.dev API for product memory that requires dates, evidence, and an explicit response status.

## Related

- [Memory for the Claude Agent SDK](https://past.dev/integrations/claude-agent-sdk)
- [Memory for OpenClaw](https://past.dev/integrations/openclaw)
- [What is agent memory?](https://past.dev/what-is-agent-memory)
- [Quickstart](https://past.dev/docs/memory-api/quickstart)