MemPalace Setup

Fully automated setup of mempalace — a local AI memory system (ChromaDB + SQLite). This skill runs end-to-end with zero user interaction. Execute every step, report what you did at the end.

The plugin already handles MCP server registration and hook scripts automatically. This skill handles project-specific initialization: palace init, wing config, identity, and initial mining.

Pre-flight

Before starting, ensure mempalace is installed:

bash ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/ensure-installed.sh

If this fails, tell the user to install manually (pip install mempalace or uv pip install mempalace) and stop.

Verify:

mempalace --version

Automated Setup

Run all steps sequentially. Skip any step whose check passes. Do NOT ask for confirmation — just do it.

Step 1: Detect project context

Gather info automatically — no user input needed:

1. Get the current working directory name
2. Read CLAUDE.md, README.md, or package manifest if they exist — extract project name and purpose
3. Derive wing name: lowercase the project name, replace - and . with _, prefix with wing_ (e.g., psg-mcp becomes wing_psg_mcp)
4. Scan top-level directories to identify 2-4 logical rooms (e.g., src/, tests/, docs/)
5. Derive keywords from: repo name, primary language/framework, key domain terms found in README/CLAUDE.md

Step 2: Initialize palace

mempalace init "$(pwd)"

If palace already exists, skip — verify with mempalace status.

Step 3: Configure wings

Check where the wing config lives:

mempalace status

Write/merge wing config (typically ~/.mempalace/wings.json or inside the palace directory):

{
  "default_wing": "wing_<project_name>",
  "wings": {
    "wing_<project_name>": {
      "type": "project",
      "keywords": ["<project_name>", "<derived_keywords>"]
    }
  }
}

If the config already exists with other wings, READ it first and merge — append the new wing, preserve existing wings. Only set default_wing if this is the first wing.

Step 4: Identity file

If ~/.mempalace/identity.txt does not exist, create it from git config and project context:

git config user.name

Write a ~50 token identity like:

<Name> — software engineer working on <project description>.

If identity.txt already exists, skip.

Step 5: Initial mine

Seed the palace with current project context:

mempalace mine "$(pwd)"

Idempotent — safe to run even if already mined.

Step 6: Verify and report

mempalace status

Read the plugin version from ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/.claude-plugin/plugin.json (the version field).

Print a single summary:

Mempalace plugin v<version> — setup complete:
- Palace: initialized at <path>
- Wing: wing_<project_name> (keywords: ...)
- Identity: <first line>
- Mined: <project_path>
- MCP: auto-registered by plugin
- Hooks: Stop + PreCompact auto-configured by plugin

Quick Reference

After setup, mempalace works automatically via MCP tools in Claude sessions. For manual use:

Command	Purpose
mempalace search "query"	Semantic search across memories
mempalace search "query" --wing name	Search within a specific wing
mempalace mine <path>	Ingest code/docs
mempalace mine <path> --mode convos	Ingest conversation exports
mempalace wake-up	~170 tokens of critical context for session start
mempalace status	Palace overview

Adding to another project

Run /mempalace in any project directory. The skill auto-detects the new project, creates a new wing, and wires everything up. Existing palace data and other wings are preserved.