Mem0 CLI Memory Commands

What it does

When your agent uses it

• Saving a user preference to Mem0 from a shell or CI job
• Searching stored memories from the terminal
• Giving an agent persistent memory through the CLI
• Deleting all memories for one user ID

Example prompts

• “Add a memory that alice prefers dark mode using the mem0 CLI.”
• “Search alice's memories for preferences and return JSON.”
• “Initialize mem0 for this agent in agent mode.”

Requirements

• Node.js 18 or newer, or Python 3.10 or newer
• A MEM0_API_KEY, which agent mode can create for evaluation
• Compatibility (from SKILL.md): Node.js 18+ (npm install -g @mem0/cli) or Python 3.10+ (pip install mem0-cli), MEM0_API_KEY env var

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit b7ad69a. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

• Tool permissions

  Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

  From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

• Runs code

  Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

  • npm
  • pip

  From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

• Network

  No URLs in SKILL.md. Its commands use npm and pip, which can reach the network depending on how they are called.

  From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

• Credentials

  Names these keys or tokens, usually read from environment variables:

  • MEM0_API_KEY

  From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

• Compatibility

  Node.js 18+ (npm install -g @mem0/cli) or Python 3.10+ (pip install mem0-cli), MEM0_API_KEY env var

  From compatibility in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

Context cost

Mem0 CLI Memory Commands loads about 2k tokens when it runs, and up to ~15k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 159 tokens; SKILL.md has 822 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it

~159

When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches

~2k

With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them

~15k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

• NoteMentions a .env fileSKILL.md:54

  Never commit API keys, `.env`, or `~/.mem0/config.json`.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from mem0ai/mem0 at commit b7ad69a, republished under its Apache-2.0 licence (© mem0ai). 822 words, ~2,009 tokens.

name

mem0-cli

description

Mem0 CLI -- the command-line interface for mem0 memory operations. TRIGGER when: user mentions "mem0 cli", "mem0 command line", "@mem0/cli", "mem0-cli", "pip install mem0-cli", "npm install -g @mem0/cli", or is running mem0 commands in a terminal/shell (mem0 add, mem0 search, mem0 list, mem0 get, mem0 init, mem0 config, mem0 import). Also triggers when query includes CLI flags like --user-id, --output, --json, --agent, or describes bash/zsh/terminal/shell usage. DO NOT TRIGGER when: user asks about programmatic SDK integration in Python/TS code (use mem0 skill), or Vercel AI SDK provider (use mem0-vercel-ai-sdk skill).

compatibility

Node.js 18+ (npm install -g @mem0/cli) or Python 3.10+ (pip install mem0-cli), MEM0_API_KEY env var

license

Apache-2.0

metadata.author

mem0ai

metadata.version

1.2.0

metadata.category

ai-memory

metadata.tags

cli, terminal, memory, ai, command-line

metadata.mem0_tested_versions

mem0-cli (PyPI) >=0.2.13,<0.3.0; @mem0/cli (npm) >=0.2.14,<0.3.0; mem0ai (PyPI) >=2.0.0,<3.0.0; mem0ai (npm) >=3.0.0,<4.0.0

npm install -g @mem0/cli

pip install mem0-cli

mem0 init --agent --agent-caller <your-name> --json

mem0 init

export MEM0_API_KEY="m0-xxx"

mem0 add "I prefer dark mode" --user-id alice

mem0 search "preferences" --user-id alice

mem0 list --user-id alice

mem0 get <memory-id>

mem0 update <memory-id> "new text"

mem0 delete <memory-id>

mem0 delete --all --user-id alice --force

{
  "status": "success",
  "command": "search",
  "duration_ms": 245,
  "scope": { "user_id": "alice" },
  "count": 3,
  "data": [
    { "id": "mem-abc", "memory": "User prefers dark mode", "score": 0.92 }
  ]
}

{
  "status": "error",
  "command": "search",
  "error": "Invalid or expired API key.",
  "data": null
}

© mem0ai, Apache-2.0. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 5 other files (references) in skills/mem0-cli of mem0ai/mem0.

• SKILL.md
• LICENSE
• README.md
• references/command-reference.md
• references/configuration.md
• references/workflows.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit b7ad69a