memory

1# Hippo Memory
2 
3Make your agent's memory work like a brain. Hippo is long-term memory for coding agents.
4Memories decay over time unless retrieved. Errors stick longer. Sleep consolidates.
5 
6## At the start of a task
7 
8The plugin's UserPromptSubmit hook injects pinned rules and the memories that match each prompt, so do not load them yourself.
9 
10Only if no hippo memory block has appeared in this session, run this at the start of a task:
11 
12```bash
13hippo context --auto --budget 1500
14```
15 
16Read the output. These are things the project has learned from past sessions.
17 
18## When you learn something non-obvious
19 
20```bash
21hippo remember "<the lesson in 1-2 sentences>" --tag <category>
22```
23 
24## When you hit an error or unexpected failure
25 
26```bash
27hippo remember "<what failed, why, and how you fixed it>" --error
28```
29 
30The `--error` flag doubles the half-life. Hard lessons don't fade quietly.
31 
32## After completing work successfully
33 
34```bash
35hippo outcome --good
36```
37 
38If the recalled memories were irrelevant:
39 
40```bash
41hippo outcome --bad
42```
43 
44## When stuck or hitting repeated errors
45 
46```bash
47hippo recall "<what's going wrong>" --budget 2000 --why
48```
49 
50## When making an architectural decision
51 
52```bash
53hippo decide "<decision>" --context "<why>"
54```
55 
56Decisions get a recall boost so they surface when relevant, and stay active until superseded.
57 
58## When migrating or replacing a tool
59 
60```bash
61hippo invalidate "<old tool>" --reason "migrated to <new tool>"
62```
63…