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Session memory and improve()

Explains and operates cognee's session memory and the improve() pipeline that bridges it into the graph

Stars
33,002
Licence
Apache-2.0
Files
1 file

What it does

This skill teaches an AI agent how cognee, an open-source memory library, stores short-term conversation turns, agent traces and feedback in a session cache keyed by session_id, and how improve() later turns that content into a permanent knowledge graph. With it installed, the agent can write and read session memory correctly, choose the right remember()/recall() calls, run improve() in the right order, and explain the nine-stage result, including why a stage was skipped or locked.

Great for

  • Developers building agents or chatbots on cognee who need session-aware memory
  • Engineers debugging why an improve() run skipped a stage or reported lock_held
  • Teams tuning IMPROVE_* settings for their cognee deployment

Skip it if

  • People who only want general-purpose cognee setup or basic add/cognify usage, since this covers only sessions and improve()
  • Anyone expecting it to change how the agent uses unrelated tools, because it only documents the cognee API and its config

Try asking

  • “Store this chat turn in session chat_1 and then bridge that session into the main_dataset graph with improve()”
  • “Why did my improve() run report already_completed or lock_held for stage distill_sessions?”
  • “Set up feedback with add_feedback on an answer from session abc and explain how it affects graph weights”
  • “Which IMPROVE_* settings do I need so review_conflicts and the global context index actually run?”
Step-by-step guide: how to use Session memory and improve()Install, first run, examples, tips and FAQs

Install in 3 steps

  1. 1

    Download the skill

    The ZIP contains the 1 original files, the Apache-2.0 licence and an attribution note.

    cognee-improve-sessions.zip
  2. 2

    Add it to your agent

    Claude Code (all projects)

    mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && unzip cognee-improve-sessions.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/

    Claude Code / Agent SDK (this project only)

    mkdir -p .claude/skills && unzip cognee-improve-sessions.zip -d .claude/skills/

    Claude apps (web/desktop): Settings → Capabilities → Skills → Upload skill, and choose the ZIP.

  3. 3

    Ask for the task

    No special command needed — the agent reads the skill's description and loads it when your request matches. Try one of the prompts above.

Get better results

  • Call await cognee.wait_for_background_tasks() before a script exits, or background improve() work may be lost
  • Pass explicit session_ids to improve(); stages 1-7 do nothing without them
  • Enable PERSONALIZATION_ENABLED, AUTO_FEEDBACK and the opt-in flags only when you need those stages, since they cost LLM calls

What's inside

  • SKILL.md

Redistributed unmodified from topoteretes/cognee under the Apache-2.0 licence. The assessment was drafted with AI from the skill's files on 2026-10-29. Skills can instruct your agent to run code — read SKILL.md and any scripts before installing.