Claude memory: topics, chat search, and the fence around it
Claude has the most visible memory story of any chat product: it builds topics, it searches past chats, and it carries context into new conversations. It is still Anthropic-only.
Anthropic. Sources checked 2026-09-25.
How Claude handles memory today
Memory is on by default for Free, Pro, and Max on web, desktop, and mobile, and it works across chat and Claude Cowork in the cloud. Memories are stored as categorized topics under Settings, Memory, where you can review, edit, and delete them, and there is documented import and export for moving memory between providers.
Claude can also connect to external services through connectors and MCP. That connector path is how a vault you control becomes available in chat alongside native memory.
What Claude forgets
Native memory lives where the product lives.
- Anything outside Anthropic products. Terminal work, editor work, and other vendors’ assistants do not feed Claude memory.
- Reasoning detail. Topics keep the shape of a decision, not the constraints and dead ends behind it.
- Project state. If your coding agent learned something yesterday, Claude does not know it unless someone wrote it down in Claude.
- Cross-team continuity. Memory is per account.
The fix with MemoryRouter
Connect the vault to Claude and your coding sessions become context in chat. A decision from Claude Code shows up when you ask Claude about it, and Claude’s conclusions can go back to the tools that build the code.
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Add the MemoryRouter connector
Claude supports custom connectors with OAuth. Add the MemoryRouter MCP URL, sign in, and choose a vault. Free accounts support one custom connector, and managed organizations may require an owner to allow it.
Connector URL
https://mcp.memoryrouter.ai/mcp - 2
Verify with a status call
In a new chat, ask Claude to run memory_status. If the tool responds, the connector is live and bound to the vault you picked.
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Decide what belongs where
Keep Claude topics for conversation memory and put project decisions in the vault, where Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor read them too.
Connector steps for Claude on web, desktop, and Cowork. 14-day free trial.
Related
Full Claude guide
Connector steps for Claude on web, desktop, and Cowork. 14-day free trial.
ChatGPT memory
Saved memories and chat history, plus a Developer mode connector for one shared vault.
Claude Code memory
Keep project decisions across sessions and compaction with the published hook package.
MemoryRouter vs Claude’s built-in memory
Compare native Claude memory with MemoryRouter.
Claude memory FAQ
Sources
- Claude help: chat search and memory
- Claude help: import and export memory
- Anthropic: memory announcement
Sources checked 2026-09-25. Tool behavior changes; check the vendor docs before relying on a detail.