How to use the PARA Memory Files agent skill

What the skill makes the agent do

Without this skill, an agent forgets everything once a session ends. With it, the agent writes durable facts to files under a folder called $AGENT_HOME and reads them back in later sessions. The skill describes three layers: a knowledge graph of entities such as people, companies and projects; daily notes that form a timeline of events; and a tacit knowledge file that records how you operate, your patterns, preferences and lessons learned.

The agent is also told to search these files with the qmd search tool rather than grepping them, so it can find things even when the wording differs.

• Layer 1, knowledge graph: folders under $AGENT_HOME/life/ split into projects, areas, resources and archives, with summary.md and items.yaml per entity.
• Layer 2, daily notes: $AGENT_HOME/memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md files.
• Layer 3, tacit knowledge: $AGENT_HOME/MEMORY.md.
• Plans: timestamped files in plans/ at the project root, so other agents can read them.

Install the para-memory-files skill

Download the ZIP for this skill from this page. A skill is a folder containing a SKILL.md file; the ZIP holds SKILL.md and references/schemas.md. Install it in one of these ways.

Option A, personal skills folder: unzip the file into ~/.claude/skills/ so the skill is available across your projects.

Option B, single project: unzip the file into the .claude/skills/ folder inside your project.

Option C, Claude apps: upload the ZIP in the Claude apps under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

• Check that the unzipped folder contains SKILL.md at its top level, next to the references folder.
• Set up the $AGENT_HOME folder before first use, because every path in the skill is relative to it.

Prepare the memory folder and qmd

The skill needs a writable local folder that you designate as $AGENT_HOME. It also needs the qmd search tool installed, since the skill uses its query, search and vsearch commands for recall. The skill's source shows the indexing command below for your personal folder; run it after you create the folder and whenever you want the index updated.

• Choose a local folder you can write to and set it as $AGENT_HOME.
• Install qmd yourself; the source does not describe how to install it, so follow the qmd documentation for that.
• Create the index for your memory folder with the command shown here.

Trigger the skill with natural requests

You do not need special syntax. The skill's description lists the situations that should activate it: saving facts, daily notes, entity records, weekly synthesis, recall, tacit user patterns and plan memory. Ask in ordinary language and the agent should pick up the skill when the request matches.

Be explicit when you want the agent to write something down, because the skill's rule is that memory which is not in a file is not kept. Phrases like "remember this" tell the agent to update a daily note or an entity file.

• "Remember that Dana prefers morning calls and is our contact at Acme."
• "What did we decide about the pricing project last month?"
• "Save a note from today's meeting to my daily notes."
• "Find the plan we wrote for the migration and check whether a newer one exists."
• "Update my working preferences: I want short summaries with bullet points."

Examples of how the memory is organized

When a person or company meets the skill's criteria, the agent creates a folder for it. An entity is created when it has been mentioned three or more times, has a direct relationship to you (family, coworker, partner, client), or is a significant project or company in your life. Anything below that threshold goes into the daily note.

Each fact is stored as an atomic entry in items.yaml with an id, category, timestamp, status and related entities. Facts are never deleted; when one changes, the agent marks the old one superseded and links to the replacement. Each week the agent rewrites summary.md from active facts, and facts that have not been accessed recently are left out of that summary, though they remain in items.yaml.

• Entity folder example: $AGENT_HOME/life/areas/people/dana/ with summary.md and items.yaml.
• Company example: $AGENT_HOME/life/areas/companies/acme/.
• Finished project: moved to $AGENT_HOME/life/archives/ when inactive.

Safety, privacy and what the skill needs

The skill writes facts to plain files. The source does not describe encryption or access control, so do not store sensitive personal or confidential data in this memory. The skill does not run scripts and does not use the network, according to the listing; its behaviour depends on the local files and the qmd tool you install.

Plans are stored outside personal memory on purpose so other agents can access them, which also means they are readable beyond one agent. Check the folder permissions on $AGENT_HOME and what other agents can see before you add anything private.

• Requires: a writable local folder designated as $AGENT_HOME and the qmd search tool.
• Runs scripts: no. Uses network: no.
• Not suitable for confidential data, since no encryption or access control is described.
• The agent will not remember things automatically without the file setup.

Tips for getting good results

Give the agent a clear location and let it follow the folder structure. Ask it to re-index after you add many files, and rely on specific searches for facts. When plans go stale, the skill tells the agent to note which newer plan supersedes an older one, so keep plan filenames timestamped.

• Use qmd query for meaning-based questions, qmd search for exact phrases, and vsearch for conceptual lookups.
• Review summary.md occasionally to confirm the weekly rewrite kept what matters.
• Use the archives folder rather than deleting finished projects or retired contacts.