SkillHub

install-powermem-memory

v0.1.1

Step-by-step guide to install and configure the PowerMem long-term memory plugin. After setup, the plugin auto-captures conversation highlights and auto-recalls relevant memories.

Sourced from ClawHub, Authored by powermem

Installation

Please help me install the skill `install-powermem-memory` from SkillHub official store. npx skills add Teingi/install-powermem-memory

PowerMem Memory Guide

This skill folder includes supplementary docs to reference when needed:

  • powermem-intro.md — Product intro to PowerMem (what it is, core features, relationship with OpenClaw). Use when the user asks "what is PowerMem" or needs an overview.
  • config-reference.md — Configuration options and common commands quick reference.

How It Works

  • Auto-Capture: At the end of a conversation, the plugin stores valuable user/assistant content into PowerMem, with optional intelligent extraction (infer).
  • Auto-Recall: Before each turn, it searches for relevant memories and injects them into context.

When User Asks to Install

Important: PowerMem must be installed and running (or pmem available) before installing this plugin. The one-liner install.sh only installs the OpenClaw plugin; it does not install PowerMem. Users who run the script first often see failures because PowerMem is missing.

  1. Check OpenClaw
    Run openclaw --version. If not installed, tell the user to install OpenClaw first: npm install -g openclaw and openclaw onboard.

  2. Install and verify PowerMem (do this before installing the plugin)

  3. Python: PowerMem requires Python 3.10+. Have the user run python3 --version. If older, ask them to upgrade.
  4. HTTP mode
    • Install: pip install powermem (recommended: use a virtualenv: python3 -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate then pip install powermem).
    • Create .env: copy from PowerMem .env.example or create a minimal one with at least: DATABASE_PROVIDER=sqlite, LLM_PROVIDER/LLM_API_KEY/LLM_MODEL, EMBEDDING_PROVIDER/EMBEDDING_API_KEY/EMBEDDING_MODEL/EMBEDDING_DIMS.
    • Start server in the directory that contains .env: powermem-server --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000.
    • Verify: curl -s http://localhost:8000/api/v1/system/health should return OK.

  5. CLI mode

    • Install: pip install powermem (same as above; ensure the env is activated so pmem is on PATH).
    • Check: pmem --version or which pmem. If not found, user may need to activate the venv or use full path to pmem.
    • Optional: create PowerMem .env (e.g. via pmem config init) for DB/LLM/Embedding if using intelligent extraction.

  6. Install the plugin
    If the user has the repo path: bash openclaw plugins install memory-powermem

  7. Configure OpenClaw
    Set memory slot and config. Example (HTTP, local server): bash openclaw config set plugins.enabled true openclaw config set plugins.slots.memory memory-powermem openclaw config set plugins.entries.memory-powermem.config.mode http openclaw config set plugins.entries.memory-powermem.config.baseUrl http://localhost:8000 openclaw config set plugins.entries.memory-powermem.config.autoCapture true --json openclaw config set plugins.entries.memory-powermem.config.autoRecall true --json openclaw config set plugins.entries.memory-powermem.config.inferOnAdd true --json For CLI mode (no server): set mode to cli, and optionally envFile, pmemPath.

  8. Verify
    Ask the user to restart the gateway, then run: bash openclaw ltm health openclaw ltm add "I prefer coffee in the morning" openclaw ltm search "coffee" If health is OK and search returns the memory, installation succeeded.

Available Tools

Tool Description
memory_recall Search long-term memories by query. Params: query, optional limit, scoreThreshold.
memory_store Save information (with optional infer). Params: text, optional importance.
memory_forget Delete by memoryId or search with query then delete.

Configuration

Field Default Description
mode http http (PowerMem server) or cli (local pmem, no server).
baseUrl — Required when mode is http, e.g. http://localhost:8000.
apiKey — Optional; for PowerMem server auth.
envFile — CLI mode: path to PowerMem .env.
pmemPath pmem CLI mode: path to pmem executable.
recallLimit 5 Max memories in recall / auto-recall.
recallScoreThreshold 0 Min score (0–1) to include.
autoCapture true Auto-store from conversations.
autoRecall true Auto-inject context before reply.
inferOnAdd true Use PowerMem intelligent extraction when adding.

Daily Operations

# Start gateway (after PowerMem server is running for HTTP mode)
openclaw gateway

# Check health
openclaw ltm health

# Manual add / search
openclaw ltm add "Some fact to remember"
openclaw ltm search "query"

# Disable memory slot
openclaw config set plugins.slots.memory none

# Re-enable
openclaw config set plugins.slots.memory memory-powermem

Restart the gateway after changing the memory slot.

Troubleshooting

Symptom Fix
pip install powermem fails Ensure Python 3.10+ (python3 --version). Use a clean venv. On network or build errors, try pip install powermem --no-build-isolation or install problematic deps (e.g. psycopg2-binary, pyobvector) separately first. See PowerMem repo issues if needed.
pmem or powermem-server not found Installed in a virtualenv: activate it (source .venv/bin/activate) so they are on PATH. Or run python -m powermem.cli.main for CLI and start server via python -m server.cli.server (see PowerMem docs).
openclaw ltm health fails For HTTP: ensure PowerMem server is running and baseUrl is correct; run server in the directory that contains .env. For CLI: ensure pmem is on PATH and optional .env is valid.
Plugin not loaded Check plugins.slots.memory is memory-powermem and restart gateway.
Add/search returns 500 or empty Check PowerMem server logs; usually missing or wrong LLM/Embedding API key or model in PowerMem .env. Ensure .env has at least LLM_* and EMBEDDING_* set for the provider you use.