SQLite storage, no PostgreSQL required. Works in Claude Cowork sandboxed environments.
Running locally with PostgreSQL? Use Cortex instead for full capabilities including the neural graph visualization.
claude plugin marketplace add cdeust/Cortex-cowork
claude plugin install cortex-coworkRestart your Claude Code session, then run:
/cortex-setup-project
That's it. SQLite database created automatically, no external dependencies.
| Feature | Status |
|---|---|
| Remember / Recall | Full support (SQLite + sqlite-vec) |
| Codebase seeding | Full support |
| Session backfill | Full support |
| Cognitive profiling | Full support |
| Lifecycle hooks | Full support (7 hooks) |
| Consolidation (decay, compression, CLS) | Full support |
| Knowledge graph (entities, relationships) | Full support |
| Causal chains, gap detection | Full support |
| Agent team memory (transactive) | Full support |
| Neural graph visualization | Not available (requires PostgreSQL) |
| FlashRank reranking | Not available (ONNX dependency) |
Same architecture as Cortex with SQLite replacing PostgreSQL:
- Storage: SQLite with sqlite-vec for vector similarity search
- Runtime:
CORTEX_RUNTIME=coworkset automatically by the plugin - Retrieval: Intent-aware query routing, vector + FTS fusion, heat-weighted ranking
- Memory lifecycle: Thermodynamic heat/decay, predictive coding write gate, dream cycle consolidation
Seven hooks integrate with Claude Code's lifecycle:
| Hook | Event | What It Does |
|---|---|---|
| SessionStart | Session opens | Injects anchors + hot memories + checkpoint |
| UserPromptSubmit | Before response | Auto-recalls relevant memories |
| PostToolUse | After Edit/Write/Bash | Auto-captures significant actions |
| PostToolUse | After Edit/Write/Read | Primes related memories (spreading activation) |
| SessionEnd | Session closes | Dream cycle (decay, compress, CLS) |
| Compaction | Context compacts | Saves/restores checkpoint |
| SubagentStart | Agent spawned | Briefs agent with prior work |
| Cortex | Cortex-cowork | |
|---|---|---|
| Storage | PostgreSQL + pgvector | SQLite + sqlite-vec |
| Vector index | HNSW (pgvector) | Flat scan (sqlite-vec) |
| Server-side fusion | PL/pgSQL stored procedures | Client-side Python |
| Reranking | FlashRank ONNX | Disabled |
| Neural graph | Full 3D visualization | Not available |
| Environment | CLI, Docker | Cowork, CLI |
For large memory stores (1000+ memories), the full PostgreSQL version offers significantly faster retrieval via HNSW indexing and server-side fusion.
Same 41 paper citations as the full version. See Cortex for the complete paper index.
MIT
@software{cortex2026,
title={Cortex: Persistent Memory for Claude Code},
author={Deust, Clement},
year={2026},
url={https://github.com/cdeust/Cortex}
}