Modes & Languages

Claude-Mem uses a flexible Mode System to adapt its behavior, observation types, and output language. This allows you to switch between different workflows (like coding vs. email investigation) or languages without reinstalling the plugin.

What is a Mode?

A "mode" is a configuration profile that defines:

Observer Role: How Claude should analyze your work (e.g., "Software Engineer" vs. "Forensic Analyst").
Observation Types: Valid categories for memory (e.g., "Bug Fix", "Feature" vs. "Person", "Organization").
Concepts: Semantic tags for indexing (e.g., "Pattern", "Trade-off").
Language: The language used for generating observations and summaries.

Configuration

Set the active mode using the CLAUDE_MEM_MODE setting in ~/.claude-mem/settings.json:

json

{
  "CLAUDE_MEM_MODE": "code--es"
}

Or via environment variable:

bash

export CLAUDE_MEM_MODE="code--fr"

Available Modes

Code Mode (Default)

The standard mode for software development. Captures bug fixes, features, refactors, and architectural decisions.

ID: code

Code Mode Variants

Behavioral variants that change how the code mode operates:

Variant	Mode ID	Description
Chill	`code--chill`	Produces fewer observations. Only records things "painful to rediscover" - shipped features, architectural decisions, and non-obvious gotchas. Skips routine work and obvious changes.

Multilingual Code Modes

Inherits all behavior from Code Mode but instructs Claude to generate all memory artifacts (titles, narratives, facts, summaries) in the target language.

Language	Mode ID	Native Name
Arabic	`code--ar`	العربية
Bengali	`code--bn`	বাংলা
Chinese	`code--zh`	中文
Czech	`code--cs`	Čeština
Danish	`code--da`	Dansk
Dutch	`code--nl`	Nederlands
Finnish	`code--fi`	Suomi
French	`code--fr`	Français
German	`code--de`	Deutsch
Greek	`code--el`	Ελληνικά
Hebrew	`code--he`	עברית
Hindi	`code--hi`	हिन्दी
Hungarian	`code--hu`	Magyar
Indonesian	`code--id`	Bahasa Indonesia
Urdu	`code--ur`	اردو
Italian	`code--it`	Italiano
Japanese	`code--ja`	日本語
Korean	`code--ko`	한국어
Norwegian	`code--no`	Norsk
Polish	`code--pl`	Polski
Portuguese (Brazil)	`code--pt-br`	Português Brasileiro
Romanian	`code--ro`	Română
Russian	`code--ru`	Русский
Spanish	`code--es`	Español
Swedish	`code--sv`	Svenska
Thai	`code--th`	ภาษาไทย
Turkish	`code--tr`	Türkçe
Ukrainian	`code--uk`	Українська
Vietnamese	`code--vi`	Tiếng Việt

Email Investigation Mode

A specialized mode for analyzing email dumps (e.g., FOIA releases, corporate archives). Focuses on identifying entities, relationships, timeline events, and key topics.

ID: email-investigation

Observation Types:

entity: Person, organization, or email address
relationship: Connection between entities
timeline-event: Time-stamped event in communication sequence
evidence: Supporting documentation or proof
anomaly: Suspicious pattern or irregularity
conclusion: Investigative finding or determination

Mode Inheritance

The system supports inheritance using the -- separator. For example, code--es means:

Load code (Parent) configuration.
Load code--es (Child) configuration.
Merge Child into Parent (Child overrides).

This allows for lightweight "remix" modes that only change specific aspects (like the language prompt) while keeping the core definitions intact.