OpenClaw Memory System: How Persistent Memory Actually Works

February 08, 2026

OpenClaw Memory System: How Persistent Memory Actually Works

By Elena Rodriguez | February 7, 2026

OpenClaw Memory System: How Persistent Memory Actually Works

OpenClaw's memory system is what makes it different from other AI assistants. Unlike stateless chatbots, OpenClaw remembers conversations across sessions, builds on past interactions, and develops context over time.

---

The Two-Tier Memory Design

OpenClaw uses two types of memory working together:

1. Daily Notes (Short-Term Memory)

Location: memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md

Daily notes capture:

Conversation history for the current day

Session context and tool calls

Work in progress

How it works: 1. Each conversation session creates/updates today's note 2. Agent reads the note at session start 3. New context gets appended throughout the day 4. Notes accumulate until flushed to long-term memory

Example daily note:

# 2026-02-07
Session Start
 User asked me to help organize their research project.
Key Decisions
 Use Notion for project documentation
 Create weekly review schedule
Task Progress
 Set up Notify integration
 Created project template
Notes to Remember
 User prefers concise responses
 Focus on automation over manual tasks

2. Long-Term Memory (Persistent)

Location: MEMORY.md

Long-term memory stores:

Important user preferences

Project context and goals

Lessons learned across sessions

Reference information

How it works: 1. Agent periodically flushes context to MEMORY.md 2. Users can manually edit to add important info 3. Agent reads MEMORY.md on every session start

Example MEMORY.md:

# Mark's Long-Term Memory
Personal Background
 Name: Mark
 Location: Yulee, Florida
 Works as: Graphic Designer
Preferences
 Prefers concise responses
 Morning person (best focus 9AM-12PM)
 Uses both Apple and Android devices
Projects
 Research automation system
 Personal knowledge base
 Morning brief skill
Technical Setup
 OpenClaw gateway running on Mac mini
 Connected to Telegram and Discord
 Using Claude 4 for main tasks

---

Memory Configuration

Key Settings

In ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

{   "memory": {     "flushIntervalMs": 300000,      // Flush every 5 minutes     "softThresholdTokens": 8000,    // Start flushing when near limit     "reserveTokensFloor": 2000      // Always keep this many tokens   } }

Adjusting Memory Limits

# Increase context window openclaw config set agents.defaults.model.contextWindow 131072
Adjust flush threshold
 openclaw config set memory.softThresholdTokens 16000
Disable auto-flush (not recommended)
 openclaw config set memory.flushIntervalMs 0

---

Memory Management Best Practices

What to Store in Daily Notes

Current task details

Work in progress

Temporary decisions

Session-specific context

What to Store in MEMORY.md

User preferences and habits

Project long-term goals

Technical setup details

Important reference info

What NOT to Store

Passwords or sensitive credentials

Temporary test data

Irrelevant conversations

---

Memory Search and Retrieval

Search All Memory

# Search both daily notes and long-term memory openclaw memory search "project setup"
Search with date filter
 openclaw memory search "research" --from 2026-01-01

View Today's Notes

# Read current daily note cat memory/$(date +%Y-%m-%d).md

Edit Long-Term Memory

# Open MEMORY.md in your editor openclaw memory edit

---

Preventing Memory Issues

Context Window Overflow

Symptoms:

Agent starts repeating itself

Responses become incoherent

"Context limit exceeded" errors

Solutions: 1. Increase reserveTokensFloor in config 2. Manually flush memory: openclaw memory flush 3. Start a new session: openclaw session new

Memory Leaks

Caused by:

Agent reading same files repeatedly

Tool outputs not cleared

Accumulating unnecessary context

Prevention:

# Clear session memory openclaw memory clear --session
Flush and reset daily note
 openclaw memory flush --reset

---

Advanced: Memory Optimization

Summarize Old Notes

# Summarize notes older than 7 days openclaw memory summarize --older-than 7d

Export Memory

# Export all memory to a file openclaw memory export /path/to/backup.md

Import Memory

# Import from backup openclaw memory import /path/to/backup.md

---

Security Considerations

Sensitive Data

Never store in memory:

API keys or passwords

Personal identifiable information

Financial data

Private conversations

Instead:

Use environment variables

Store in password manager

Reference without revealing

Memory Access

Memory files are plain text. Protect them:

# Restrict file permissions chmod 600 memory/*.md chmod 600 MEMORY.md
Add to .gitignore if using version control
 echo "memory/*.md" >> ~/.gitignore_global echo "MEMORY.md" >> ~/.gitignore_global

---

Troubleshooting Memory Issues

Agent Doesn't Remember

Check: 1. Memory files exist: ls memory/ 2. MEMORY.md is readable: cat MEMORY.md 3. Session started fresh: openclaw session status

Fix:

# Force memory read openclaw memory read
Restart session
 openclaw session restart

Memory Too Large

Check size:

du -sh memory/ MEMORY.md

Solutions:

# Archive old notes tar -czf memory-backup-$(date +%Y%m).tar.gz memory/$(date -d '30 days ago' +%Y-%m-*)d.md
Delete archived notes
 rm memory/$(date -d '30 days ago' +%Y-%m-*)d.md

---