pensieve

The Problem

Claude Code starts every conversation from scratch.

It doesn't remember your project conventions, doesn't know why you chose approach A last time, and won't learn from past failures. You'll fall into the same traps over and over again.

Pensieve gives Claude Code structured memory. Every review, every commit, every complex task automatically accumulates project knowledge. The longer you use it, the better it understands your project.

Without Pensieve vs With Pensieve

Without	With
Re-explain project conventions every time	Conventions stored as maxims, loaded automatically
Complex tasks spiral out of control halfway through	Loop auto-decomposes, isolates execution, verifies each step
Code review standards depend on your mood that day	Review standards hardened into executable pipelines
Same mistake from last week happens again this week	Lessons learned auto-distilled, skipped next time
Forget why a technical decision was made three months later	Decision records include context and mitigation checklists

What Happens After You Start

Day 1 — Install → Initialize → Auto-scan project hotspot modules → Output code-taste baseline report

Week 1 — Use loop to tackle complex dev tasks. Claude decomposes work according to your maxims, sub-agents execute in isolation, and lessons are auto-distilled at wrap-up.

Month 1 — Your project has accumulated its own conventions, technical decision records, review workflows, and reference knowledge. Every commit and review silently enriches this knowledge base.

After that — Claude understands your project better and better. When new team members join, Pensieve serves as a living project handbook.

30-Second Start

# 1. Add the marketplace source
claude plugin marketplace add kingkongshot/Pensieve#main

# 2. Install
claude plugin install pensieve@kingkongshot-marketplace --scope user

# 3. Restart Claude Code, then say:

Initialize pensieve for me

That's it. Then say "use loop to finish this task" to kick off your first task.

Installation Guide · Update Guide · Uninstall

Six Built-in Tools

Ready to use after install, no extra configuration needed. Just describe what you want in plain language.

init — Initialize a Project

Scans your git history, identifies hotspot modules, and runs a code-taste baseline analysis. Creates the project-level knowledge directory (maxims / decisions / knowledge / pipelines) and seeds default review and commit pipelines. Analyze-only, no writes — you decide which findings are worth keeping. Must run doctor once after completion for structure and format verification.

"Initialize pensieve for me"

loop — Decompose and Execute Complex Tasks

Breaks a large requirement into sub-tasks, confirms scope before starting. The main window orchestrates while sub-agents execute each task in isolation, keeping contexts clean. At wrap-up, automatically asks whether to distill lessons learned. Small tasks skip loop and run directly.

"Use loop to finish this task"

self-improve — Distill Lessons Learned

Extracts insights from conversations, diffs, and loop executions. Classifies them as maxim (hard rule), decision (technical decision), knowledge (reference fact), or pipeline (executable workflow), writes to the corresponding location, and updates the knowledge graph. Also auto-triggers on commit.

"Distill lessons from this session"

doctor — Health Check

Read-only scan of all user data: frontmatter format, semantic link integrity, directory structure compliance. Outputs a fixed-format PASS / PASS_WITH_WARNINGS / FAIL report with a three-step action plan. Does not modify user data files by default; only auto-maintains the SKILL.md and Claude auto memory (~/.claude/projects/<project>/memory/MEMORY.md) Pensieve guidance blocks.

"Check if there are any data issues"

upgrade — Version Upgrade

Only performs version-level actions: version comparison, pull latest, plugin key alignment and old plugin name cleanup. Does not perform directory migration or content repair. After upgrade completes, guides you to manually run doctor for verification.

"Upgrade pensieve"

migrate — Structure Migration and Residue Cleanup