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Install Nowledge Mem, save one memory, and connect any AI tool with one copy-paste
Nowledge Mem is easiest to understand through one loop:
- save something that matters
- find it again
- let one real tool use it
This page is the shortest path to that loop. If you have not installed yet, go to Installation first; everything below assumes the app is running.
What Mem Is
At its simplest, Mem does three things:
- it stores your decisions, insights, files, and conversations
- it makes them searchable and reusable later
- it lets the tools you connect work from the same memory instead of starting cold
If you plan to use Mem across several devices, the model is straightforward: run one Mem on an always-on machine and let your other clients connect to it. See Sync Across Devices.
You do not need to understand the whole product before it becomes useful.
The First Loop
Save One Real Memory [step]
In the Timeline, write one real thing you want to keep: a decision you made, an insight from work, a preference you repeat often. Press Enter.
Confirm Search Can Find It [step]
Ask the Timeline a direct question such as:
What did I decide about authentication?
If the answer reflects what you just saved, you already have a working loop.
Connect One Real Tool [step]
Instead of choosing a tool from a long list first, start with one instruction. Your agent uses the best supported setup path for the host it is running in.
Connect Any AI Tool
Open the AI tool you actually use (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Copilot CLI, OpenClaw, Hermes, Droid, Alma, Bub, Pi, OpenCode, or Claude Desktop) and paste this prompt:
Read https://mem.nowledge.co/SKILL.md and follow the instructions to install or update Nowledge Mem for the AI tool I am using.That URL is a machine-readable install contract. The agent fetches it, detects which host it is running in, uses the right install or setup path, verifies the connection with nmem status, and asks you to restart the host when needed. Command-line hosts can usually be installed directly. App-based hosts may still ask you to confirm a marketplace step.
Why this works
The agent usually knows which host it lives in. It can read SKILL.md, run the matching plugin install or MCP config command when the host allows it, and tell you what changed. You confirm any manual app step and restart; the loop becomes visible.
Remote or cross-device setup
If Mem runs on the same machine as the AI tool, the generic prompt above is enough. The agent will configure the local endpoint at 127.0.0.1:14242 and stop there.
If the AI tool runs on another machine, or if you are using a managed or self-hosted remote Mem server, first point this machine's CLI at that server:
nmem config client set --url https://your-mem-server.example --api-key nmem_...In the desktop app, find remote URL and key controls under Settings → Access Anywhere. Use that path when:
- you are on Pro and want the agent to use your managed Nowledge Link endpoint
- you are on Lifetime with a self-hosted Mem and need cross-device access
- you want the agent to talk to your Mem from a machine other than the one running it
Definition of Done
You should be able to answer yes to all of these:
- I saved one memory in the Timeline
- I searched for it and got it back
- I pasted the Connect prompt into my AI tool, it completed the install or told me the exact manual step, and I restarted that tool
- In a fresh session of that tool, the agent could read my Working Memory (empty is fine on day one)
If any answer is no, see How To Know Mem Is Working for verification steps.
When The Connect Prompt Does Not Fit
A small set of surfaces install differently, because they are not driven by a chat-style agent:
- Browser Extension for web chat (ChatGPT, Claude.ai, Gemini, Poe): install from the Chrome Web Store, open the side panel, connect it to Mem. Guide: Browser Extension.
- Raycast: install from the Raycast Store. Guide: Raycast.
- Trajectory extractors for Windsurf, Antigravity: external CLIs that export sessions to disk for one-time import. Guide: Import existing conversations.
For everything else, use the Connect prompt. If your host is not yet in SKILL.md's table, ask the agent to read the file anyway and report what it tried; we add hosts as they appear in the wild.
Bring In Conversations You Already Have
If you are migrating from ZIP/JSON/HTML exports (ChatGPT, DeepSeek, ChatWise, Alma), local coding-agent sessions, or single .md threads, start from Import existing conversations. It maps each case to the exact Mem screen so you do not bounce between Threads and Connectors.
Do less on day one
Save one memory. Run the Connect prompt for one tool. Restart that tool. Stop. The point on day one is to prove the loop, not to wire every surface at once.
Next Steps
- Installation: install and finish first boot
- Getting Started: the Timeline and your first captures
- Connectors: connector reference (behavior, skills, distillation)
- How To Know Mem Is Working: verify the full loop
- Access Anywhere: run Mem on one machine and reach it from everywhere
- Sync Across Devices: the single-Mem, multi-client sync model