Set Up OpenClaw Persistent Memory for Personalized Automation

OpenClaw's persistent memory lets it remember your preferences, past context, and project details across conversations. Instead of re-explaining your setup every session, OpenClaw builds up a profile over time. This tutorial walks through enabling and managing memory effectively.

Prerequisites

• OpenClaw installed and running
• At least a few days of regular use (memory is more useful after you've established patterns)

What Persistent Memory Stores

OpenClaw memory has three layers:

1. User preferences – Your name, timezone, preferred tools, communication style, and explicit preferences you've stated ("I prefer concise responses", "always ask before deleting files")
2. Project context – Repositories you work in, their purpose, key teammates, and established patterns
3. Interaction history – Decisions made in previous sessions, tasks completed, and open items

Memory is stored locally in ~/.openclaw/memory/. It's never sent to a cloud service—your memory is yours.

Step 1: Enable memory

In ~/.openclaw/config.yaml:

memory:
  enabled: true
  max_tokens: 8000
  auto_save: true

max_tokens limits how much memory context gets included in each conversation (to manage API costs). auto_save saves relevant context automatically after each session.

Step 2: Seed initial memory

The fastest way to personalize OpenClaw is to tell it about yourself explicitly in a dedicated session. Send:

"I want to set up my user profile. I'm a backend engineer working primarily in Python and Go. My main projects are [list them]. I prefer terse responses. Always confirm before running tests in production. My timezone is EST."

OpenClaw will store this as a persistent memory entry. All future sessions start with this context.

Step 3: Let it learn naturally

With auto_save enabled, OpenClaw extracts relevant facts from conversations and adds them to memory. Over time, it learns:

• Which directories you work in frequently
• Which git repos matter
• Your preferences for how tasks should be handled
• Recurring teammates and their roles

Step 4: Review and edit memory

Check what's stored:

openclaw memory list

Edit specific entries:

openclaw memory edit [entry-id]

Delete entries that are outdated:

openclaw memory delete [entry-id]

Review monthly. Remove stale project context. Update preferences as they change.

Step 5: Memory across platforms

If you use OpenClaw on multiple chat platforms (WhatsApp and Telegram, for example), memory is shared. The context from a Telegram session carries into a WhatsApp session. You don't need to re-establish context per platform.