CMEM Pro (manual / headless)

Use this when you already have a cmem.ai account and need to wire CMEM Pro without the interactive installer (CI, a second machine, or a box you SSH into). The usual path is still npx claude-mem install.

What the installer does

Three stages:

1. Runtime — Bun/uv if needed, IDE plugin files, worker deps.
2. Sign in — skipped only for --provider claude (that path never talks to cmem.ai). Otherwise the CLI does not ask for an email:
   • POST https://cmem.ai/api/installer/oauth/start with { source: "npx-installer", device_name: <hostname> }
   • prints a device code XXXX-XXXX and opens authorization_url
   • polls https://cmem.ai/api/pro/trial/poll until authenticated
3. Provider — CMEM Pro is pre-selected. Choosing it opens checkout_url (trial/claim), polls until status: "ready", then writes settings and restarts the worker.

--provider openrouter with a personal key is a different path: empty CLAUDE_MEM_OPENROUTER_BASE_URL (or https://openrouter.ai/api/v1). Never send a personal sk-or- key to https://cmem.ai/api/inference.

Settings the installer writes

Credentials are staged, then activated. File: ~/.claude-mem/settings.json.

Staged (sync + trial metadata)

Cloud sync is on only when the token, user id, and hub URL are all non-empty. See Cloud Sync.

Activated (this is what makes observations run)

The worker talks to cmem.ai through the generic OpenRouter client. There is no separate CMEM provider implementation.

{
  "CLAUDE_MEM_PROVIDER": "openrouter",
  "CLAUDE_MEM_OPENROUTER_BASE_URL": "https://cmem.ai/api/inference/v1",
  "CLAUDE_MEM_OPENROUTER_MODEL": "cmem-observer",
  "CLAUDE_MEM_OPENROUTER_API_KEY": "cm_pro_YOUR_MEMORY_KEY",
  "CLAUDE_MEM_PRO_MEMORY_KEY": "",
  "CLAUDE_MEM_PRO_MEMORY_BASE_URL": "",
  "CLAUDE_MEM_PRO_MEMORY_MODEL": ""
}

Keep the cloud-sync trio from staging. memory_key and setup_token are often the same (cm_pro_…). If the poll returns a distinct memory_key, use that for CLAUDE_MEM_OPENROUTER_API_KEY and keep setup_token only on CLAUDE_MEM_CLOUD_SYNC_TOKEN.

Manual recipe (you already have tokens)

1. From cmem.ai → Connect (or an installer pairing), copy setup_token, user_id, hub_url, and memory_key (if missing, use setup_token).
2. Merge staged + activated keys into ~/.claude-mem/settings.json. Placeholders only:

{
  "CLAUDE_MEM_CLOUD_SYNC_TOKEN": "cm_pro_YOUR_SETUP_TOKEN",
  "CLAUDE_MEM_CLOUD_SYNC_USER_ID": "YOUR_USER_ID",
  "CLAUDE_MEM_CLOUD_SYNC_HUB_URL": "https://YOUR_HUB_URL",
  "CLAUDE_MEM_CLOUD_SYNC_DEVICE_ID": "",
  "CLAUDE_MEM_CLOUD_SYNC_DEVICE_NAME": "my-machine",
  "CLAUDE_MEM_PRO_TRIAL_STATE": "active",
  "CLAUDE_MEM_PRO_TRIAL_ENDS_AT": "",
  "CLAUDE_MEM_PRO_PLAN": "trial",
  "CLAUDE_MEM_PRO_FALLBACK_AT": "",
  "CLAUDE_MEM_PROVIDER": "openrouter",
  "CLAUDE_MEM_OPENROUTER_BASE_URL": "https://cmem.ai/api/inference/v1",
  "CLAUDE_MEM_OPENROUTER_MODEL": "cmem-observer",
  "CLAUDE_MEM_OPENROUTER_API_KEY": "cm_pro_YOUR_MEMORY_KEY"
}

3. chmod 600 ~/.claude-mem/settings.json
4. Restart the worker so it is not holding old in-memory provider/sync state:

npx claude-mem restart

The interactive installer stops the worker after it persists the provider for the same reason.

5. Verify (port is CLAUDE_MEM_WORKER_PORT or ~/.claude-mem/.worker.port):

curl -s "http://127.0.0.1:${CLAUDE_MEM_WORKER_PORT}/api/health"
curl -s "http://127.0.0.1:${CLAUDE_MEM_WORKER_PORT}/api/sync/status"

Expect health with provider openrouter, and sync configured: true plus hub.reachable: true.

6. First real observation should store via model cmem-observer. Gateway success clears CLAUDE_MEM_PRO_FALLBACK_AT. A terminal quota/key error from the gateway sets that timestamp and memory falls back to the Anthropic plan.

What not to mix

Never send a personal OpenRouter key to the cmem gateway.

Next steps

• Installation — interactive three-stage installer
• Cloud Sync — what the sync trio replicates
• OpenRouter provider — personal OpenRouter keys (not cmem.ai)