install-memory-powermem

PowerMem + OpenClaw: maximum token savings for AI agents.

OpenClaw Memory (PowerMem) Plugin

This plugin lets OpenClaw use long-term memory via PowerMem: intelligent extraction, Ebbinghaus forgetting curve, multi-agent isolation. Supports HTTP v2 (per-request config + agent memory sharing), LLM-based experience extraction, and optional dual-write to local SQLite.

Default: CLI mode — the plugin runs pmem locally (no powermem-server). Use HTTP mode when you already run a shared PowerMem API (teams / enterprise).

Follow the steps in order: install PowerMem, then install the plugin, configure OpenClaw (defaults work for CLI + ~/.openclaw/powermem/powermem.env), and verify.

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Prerequisites

• OpenClaw installed (CLI + gateway working)
• PowerMem installed (pip install powermem) with pmem available — either on PATH when you start the gateway, or via absolute pmemPath in plugin config
• .env for PowerMem with at least database + LLM + Embedding (see PowerMem .env.example); for individuals, prefer ~/.openclaw/powermem/powermem.env and SQLite

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Step 1: Install and start PowerMem

Choose Option A (CLI, recommended for OpenClaw individuals), Option B (HTTP + pip), or Option C (Docker).

Option A: CLI + SQLite (recommended for individuals)

No HTTP server. Matches the plugin’s default (mode: cli).

1. Install PowerMem (venv recommended):

   python3 -m venv ~/.openclaw/powermem/.venv
   source ~/.openclaw/powermem/.venv/bin/activate
   pip install powermem
   

2. Config — From a clone of this repo, run bash install.sh (or the curl one-liner under Install options below) to create an optional ~/.openclaw/powermem/powermem.env template, or copy from PowerMem’s .env.example. Set LLM_* and EMBEDDING_* when not relying on OpenClaw-injected models.

3. If pmem exists only inside the venv, set pmemPath in the plugin config to the absolute path of pmem in that venv.

4. Verify — With venv activated: pmem --version. After gateway start: openclaw ltm health.

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Option B: Install with pip (run HTTP server locally)

Use this when you want a standalone API or are not using CLI mode. Best if you already have Python 3.11+ on the machine.

1. Install PowerMem

pip install powermem

2. Prepare config

In any directory where you want to keep config (e.g. ~/powermem):

mkdir -p ~/powermem && cd ~/powermem
# Copy from PowerMem repo: if you cloned it, run: cp /path/to/powermem/.env.example .env

If you did not clone the PowerMem repo, create a .env with at least: database + LLM + Embedding. Here is a minimal working example (OceanBase + Qwen; replace with your API key and DB credentials):

# Create .env in ~/powermem (replace your_api_key_here and your_password)
cat > .env << 'EOF'
TIMEZONE=Asia/Shanghai
DATABASE_PROVIDER=oceanbase

OCEANBASE_HOST=127.0.0.1
OCEANBASE_PORT=2881
OCEANBASE_USER=root@sys
OCEANBASE_PASSWORD=your_password
OCEANBASE_DATABASE=powermem
OCEANBASE_COLLECTION=memories

LLM_PROVIDER=qwen
LLM_API_KEY=your_api_key_here
LLM_MODEL=qwen-plus

EMBEDDING_PROVIDER=qwen
EMBEDDING_API_KEY=your_api_key_here
EMBEDDING_MODEL=text-embedding-v4
EMBEDDING_DIMS=1536
EOF

Replace your_api_key_here with your Tongyi Qwen API key (and set your_password and other DB fields as needed for OceanBase). For OpenAI or other providers, see PowerMem’s .env.example for LLM_* and EMBEDDING_*.

3. Start the HTTP server

Run this in the same directory as .env:

cd ~/powermem   # or wherever .env lives
powermem-server --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000

You should see something like Uvicorn running on http://0.0.0.0:8000. Leave this terminal open.

4. Verify PowerMem

In a new terminal:

curl -s http://localhost:8000/api/v1/system/health

If you get JSON (e.g. with "status":"healthy"), PowerMem is ready.

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Option C: Run with Docker (no Python needed)

Best if you have Docker and prefer not to install Python.

1. Clone PowerMem and prepare .env

git clone https://github.com/oceanbase/powermem.git
cd powermem
cp .env.example .env

Edit .env and set at least:

• LLM_API_KEY, LLM_PROVIDER, LLM_MODEL
• EMBEDDING_API_KEY, EMBEDDING_PROVIDER, EMBEDDING_MODEL

Database: OceanBase is recommended.

2. Start the container

From the powermem project root (same level as .env):

docker-compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml up -d

3. Verify

curl -s http://localhost:8000/api/v1/system/health

JSON response means the server is up. API docs: http://localhost:8000/docs.

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Install options

• One-click (Linux/macOS):

  curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ob-labs/memory-powermem/main/install.sh | bash
  

  From a clone: cd /path/to/memory-powermem && bash install.sh. Non-interactive: same URL but pipe to bash -s -y. Another OpenClaw instance: bash -s -- --workdir ~/.openclaw-second. Details and troubleshooting: OpenClaw skill install-memory-powermem-full (skills/install-memory-powermem-full/).
• OpenClaw skill — quickstart (install-memory-powermem): Copy skills/install-memory-powermem/SKILL.md to ~/.openclaw/skills/install-memory-powermem/, then say 「PowerMem 快速安装」 / “PowerMem quickstart” or “Minimal install memory-powermem” / “Install memory powermem minimal”.
• OpenClaw skill — full guide (install-memory-powermem-full): Copy skills/install-memory-powermem-full/SKILL.md (and its sibling .md files in that folder if you mirror the repo) to ~/.openclaw/skills/install-memory-powermem-full/, then say 「安装 PowerMem 记忆」 / “Install PowerMem memory”. The quickstart and full-guide skills are independent; use whichever fits your workflow.
• Manual: Steps below.

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Step 2: Install the plugin into OpenClaw

On your machine (use your actual plugin path):

# Install from npm (recommended for end users; downloads and installs from the official npm registry)
openclaw plugins install memory-powermem

# Install from a local directory (e.g. cloned repo)
cd /path/to/memory-powermem && npm install && npm run build
openclaw plugins install /path/to/memory-powermem

# For development (symlink, no copy)
cd /path/to/memory-powermem && npm install && npm run build
openclaw plugins install -l /path/to/memory-powermem

Note: Starting with OpenClaw 2026.5.4, local path installs require the TypeScript plugin entry to be compiled to runtime JS first, so run npm run build before installing from a local clone. Running npm i memory-powermem in a Node project only adds the package to that project’s node_modules; it does not register the plugin with OpenClaw. To use this as an OpenClaw plugin, you must run openclaw plugins install memory-powermem (or install from a path as above), then restart the gateway.

After install, run openclaw plugins list and confirm memory-powermem is listed. With no plugins.entries["memory-powermem"].config, the plugin uses defaults: mode: "cli", pmemPath: "bundled" (npm powermem from plugin dependencies), useOpenClawModel: true (SQLite under OpenClaw state + LLM from agents.defaults.model), plus autoCapture / autoRecall / inferOnAdd enabled. No separate powermem.env is required unless you opt out of OpenClaw mod