rlm-claude-code

RLM-Claude-Code

Transform Claude Code into a Recursive Language Model (RLM) agent with intelligent orchestration, unbounded context handling, persistent memory, and REPL-based decomposition.

rlm-core integration: This project bundles rlm-core as a required dependency, providing shared Rust-based implementations with recurse. rlm-core provides 10-50x faster pattern classification via PyO3 bindings. Pre-built wheels are available for common platforms.

What is RLM?

RLM (Recursive Language Model) enables Claude to handle arbitrarily large contexts by decomposing complex tasks into smaller sub-queries. Instead of processing 500K tokens at once, RLM lets Claude:

• Peek at context structure before deep analysis
• Search using patterns to narrow focus
• Partition large contexts and process in parallel via map-reduce
• Recurse with sub-queries for verification
• Remember facts and experiences across sessions

This results in better accuracy on complex tasks while optimizing cost through intelligent model selection.

---

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Python 3.12+: brew install python@3.12 or python.org
• uv (Python package manager): curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
• Rust 1.75+ (for dev builds): rustup update stable — not needed if installing from pre-built wheels

Installation (from pre-built wheel)

Download the wheel for your platform from GitHub Releases, then:

pip install rlm_claude_code-*.whl

Installation (from source, requires Rust)

# Clone with submodules (rlm-core is bundled)
git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/rand/rlm-claude-code.git
cd rlm-claude-code

# Build and install (compiles rlm-core Rust library)
maturin develop --release

# Install Python dependencies
uv sync --all-extras

# Verify
python -c "import rlm_core; print(rlm_core.version())"
uv run pytest tests/ -v

As a Claude Code Plugin

Step 1: Install the Plugin

# Add the marketplace (one-time setup)
claude plugin marketplace add github:rand/rlm-claude-code

# Install the plugin
claude plugin install rlm-claude-code@rlm-claude-code

Step 2: Set Up the Plugin Environment

The plugin includes rlm-core (bundled via maturin). After installation:

# Navigate to the plugin directory (adjust version number as needed)
PLUGIN_DIR=~/.claude/plugins/cache/rlm-claude-code/rlm-claude-code/$(ls ~/.claude/plugins/cache/rlm-claude-code/rlm-claude-code/ | sort -V | tail -1)
cd "$PLUGIN_DIR"

# Create venv and install (includes rlm-core)
uv venv && uv sync

# Verify rlm-core is available
"$PLUGIN_DIR/.venv/bin/python" -c "import rlm_core; print('rlm_core OK:', rlm_core.version())"

Step 3: Verify Installation

Restart Claude Code. You should see "RLM initialized" on startup.

Test the hooks manually:

PLUGIN_DIR=~/.claude/plugins/cache/rlm-claude-code/rlm-claude-code/$(ls ~/.claude/plugins/cache/rlm-claude-code/rlm-claude-code/ | sort -V | tail -1)
"$PLUGIN_DIR/.venv/bin/python" "$PLUGIN_DIR/scripts/init_rlm.py"
# Should print: RLM initialized

Updating the Plugin

When updating, you'll need to re-create the venv:

claude plugin update rlm-claude-code@rlm-claude-code

# Re-setup the new version
PLUGIN_DIR=~/.claude/plugins/cache/rlm-claude-code/rlm-claude-code/$(ls ~/.claude/plugins/cache/rlm-claude-code/rlm-claude-code/ | sort -V | tail -1)
cd "$PLUGIN_DIR" && uv venv && uv sync

# rlm-core is bundled — no extra linking needed

---

Architecture