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Agent skill

Forgetful Recall

by ScottRBK in ScottRBK/forgetful

Recall past knowledge before working — prior decisions, solved problems, preferences, project history.

MITAuto-check passed

Install Forgetful Recall

skills CLI
$ npx skills add ScottRBK/forgetful --skill forgetful-recall -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install ScottRBK/forgetful forgetful-recall --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ScottRBK/forgetful.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/forgetful-recall .claude/skills/forgetful-recall && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
forgetful-recall
GitHub stars
301
Token cost
~1k tokens
SKILL.md length
496 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
10
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Recall past knowledge before working — prior decisions, solved problems, preferences, project history.

  • Works in 5 steps: Shape the query → Scope deliberately → Judge coverage → …
  • References earlier work
  • SKILL.md covers Invoking operations, Step 1 — Shape the query, Step 2 — Scope deliberately and Step 3 — Judge coverage, plus 3 more sections
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Forgetful Recall is an agent skill from ScottRBK/forgetful. Recall past knowledge before working — prior decisions, solved problems, preferences, project history. Use at the start of any task, when the user references earlier work, when re-entering a project after time away, or before proposing an approach that may already have history. Covers query shaping, scoping, session-start catch-up, and when to escalate to graph exploration.

Its SKILL.md is about 1k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It works with Model Context Protocol. The repository describes itself as: Opensource Memory for Agents. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • References earlier work
  • Re-entering a project after time away
  • Before proposing an approach that may already have history

Example prompts

  • “/forgetful-recall”

Requirements

  • Pre-approved tools (allowed-tools): mcp__forgetful__discover_forgetful_tools, mcp__forgetful__how_to_use_forgetful_tool, mcp__forgetful__execute_forgetful_tool, Bash(forgetful:*)

Workflow steps

5 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

  1. Shape the query
  2. Scope deliberately
  3. Judge coverage
  4. Expand or escalate
  5. Report

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 710ed17. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves these tools, so the agent can use them without asking each time:

    • mcp__forgetful__discover_forgetful_tools
    • mcp__forgetful__how_to_use_forgetful_tool
    • mcp__forgetful__execute_forgetful_tool
    • Bash(forgetful:*)

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.

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

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

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

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

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

Context cost

Forgetful Recall loads about 1k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 98 tokens; SKILL.md has 496 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~98
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1k

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

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

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 ScottRBK/forgetful at commit 710ed17, republished under its MIT licence (© ScottRBK). 496 words, ~1,042 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/forgetful-recall/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
forgetful-recall
description
Recall past knowledge before working — prior decisions, solved problems, preferences, project history. Use at the start of any task, when the user references earlier work, when re-entering a project after time away, or before proposing an approach that may already have history. Covers query shaping, scoping, session-start catch-up, and when to escalate to graph exploration.
allowed-tools
mcp__forgetful__discover_forgetful_tools, mcp__forgetful__how_to_use_forgetful_tool, mcp__forgetful__execute_forgetful_tool, Bash(forgetful:*)
license
MIT
tags
memory, retrieval, search, context

Recalling knowledge from Forgetful

Retrieval quality is decided by how the query is shaped and scoped, and by treating coverage as something to judge rather than assume. Recall before proposing; history usually exists.

Invoking operations

Operations are named by registry name (query_memory, get_recent_memories, ...). Invoke via whichever surface this agent has:

  • MCP: execute_forgetful_tool(tool_name="query_memory", arguments={...})
  • CLI: forgetful call query_memory --args '{"query": "..."}' --json

Get any operation's schema at runtime: how_to_use_forgetful_tool (MCP) or forgetful tools info <operation> (CLI) — schemas are deliberately not repeated here.

Step 1 — Shape the query

query_context is a required parameter alongside query; the call errors without it. The vector search embeds query alone. When cross-encoder reranking runs, it also uses query_context to refine the ranking. Include exact identifiers in query when they matter, but search does not guarantee literal matches.

Done when: both query and query_context are written, not just a bare keyword.

Step 2 — Scope deliberately

Reads are cross-project by default, and usually should stay that way — knowledge transfers. Narrow with project_ids when the task is project-bound; add strict_project_filter=True to also keep linked memories inside those projects (the default False lets links cross them). Use importance_threshold to cut noise — it excludes anything scored below the value given, pairing naturally with forgetful-remember's rubric, where 5 is the noise floor for bulk/automated captures. Adjust k to trade breadth for focus. These are filters layered on top of semantic search, which stays the primary retrieval mechanism throughout.

Done when: the scope is a choice, not a default accident.

Step 3 — Judge coverage

Results are budgeted (about 8000 tokens / 20 memories), so assess coverage rather than non-emptiness:

  • truncated: true → narrow the query (raise the threshold, scope the project) instead of accepting silent loss.
  • A miss on the first angle → re-query from a different facet (the feature area, the technology, the error text) before concluding the knowledge doesn't exist.

Done when: results are judged sufficient, or absence is confirmed from more than one angle.

Show full SKILL.md (176 more words)Show less

Step 4 — Expand or escalate

Promising hits get get_memory for full content and links. When hits arrive as fragments, reference entities, or trail across domains, the flat list is the wrong shape — switch to forgetful-explore and walk the graph instead.

Done when: enough context is in hand, or the exploration skill has taken over.

Step 5 — Report

This skill is the single source of truth for the retrieval reporting convention:

  • Found context: "Found N memories about X" with the load-bearing ones named.
  • Nothing relevant: say so explicitly — "No existing memories about X."
  • Off-target results: flag them — "Retrieved some context but it seems tangential."

A clean miss is also a signal: note the gap as a forgetful-remember candidate once the task resolves it.

Done when: the user knows what memory contributed, even when the answer is "nothing".

Session-start catch-up

Re-entering a project after time away: get_recent_memories scoped to that project's ID is the catch-up move — recent decisions and milestones without guessing queries. Run it as a deliberate step, then continue into normal recall as the task demands.

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

Files

Just SKILL.md in skills/forgetful-recall of ScottRBK/forgetful.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 710ed17

Compare with similar skills

Forgetful Recall next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Forgetful Recall compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Forgetful Recall this skillScottRBK/forgetful301—~1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
MCP Server Builderanthropics/skills180k63 repos~2.3kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
MCP Server BuildershareAI-lab/learn-claude-code78k4 repos~1.2kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
MCP Integration for Pluginsanthropics/claude-plugins-official38k11 repos~3.1kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Figma use_figma Plugin API Ruleswarpdotdev/warp65k4 repos~4.4kAutomated safety check: PassAGPL-3.0
Stitch to Remotion Walkthrough Videosgoogle-labs-code/stitch-skills8.5k6 repos~3.2kAutomated safety check: NotesApache-2.0

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More from ScottRBK/forgetful

All 10 skills in this repo

  • Forgetful CLI Setup

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    Installs and connects the Forgetful CLI in local or remote mode, sets up token auth for CI, and proves the setup with a real round-trip call.

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  • Forgetful Repo Encoding

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    Encodes a repository into the Forgetful knowledge base as a project, entities, atomic memories and documents, so a second run updates instead of duplicating.

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  • Forgetful Entity Modeling

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    Models people, organisations, devices, products and system components as entities in a Forgetful knowledge graph, then links memories and relationships to them.

    301 GitHub stars~836 tokensUpdated yesterday
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  • Forgetful Knowledge Graph Explorer

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    Explores the Forgetful memory graph in phases, walking memories, entities and relationships to answer cross-project and entity-centred questions.

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  • Forgetful File Storage

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    Stores screenshots, PDFs, diagrams, fonts and other binary files in the Forgetful knowledge base, with a retrieval-friendly description and an attachment route.

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Works with

Questions about Forgetful Recall

What does Forgetful Recall do?

Recall past knowledge before working — prior decisions, solved problems, preferences, project history. Forgetful Recall is an agent skill from ScottRBK/forgetful. Recall past knowledge before working — prior decisions, solved problems, preferences, project history.

When should I use Forgetful Recall?

Forgetful Recall fits situations like: references earlier work; re-entering a project after time away; before proposing an approach that may already have history.

How do I install Forgetful Recall in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add ScottRBK/forgetful --skill forgetful-recall -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/forgetful-recall in ScottRBK/forgetful) into .claude/skills/forgetful-recall in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Forgetful Recall in Codex?

Run `npx skills add ScottRBK/forgetful --skill forgetful-recall -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/forgetful-recall in ScottRBK/forgetful) into .agents/skills/forgetful-recall in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Forgetful Recall in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add ScottRBK/forgetful --skill forgetful-recall -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/forgetful-recall, .gemini/skills/forgetful-recall, .github/skills/forgetful-recall and .opencode/skills/forgetful-recall in your project.

What does Forgetful Recall need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Forgetful Recall is instructions for the agent only. Its frontmatter pre-approves these tools: mcp__forgetful__discover_forgetful_tools, mcp__forgetful__how_to_use_forgetful_tool, mcp__forgetful__execute_forgetful_tool, Bash(forgetful:*).

Does Forgetful Recall access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Forgetful Recall safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Forgetful Recall use?

Forgetful Recall is published under the MIT licence (declared in SKILL.md). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Forgetful Recall use?

About 1k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 4.2k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Forgetful Recall?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Forgetful Recall: MCP Server Builder (anthropics/skills, 180k stars), MCP Server Builder (shareAI-lab/learn-claude-code, 78k stars), MCP Integration for Plugins (anthropics/claude-plugins-official, 38k stars) and Figma use_figma Plugin API Rules (warpdotdev/warp, 65k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Forgetful Recall?

ScottRBK (a GitHub user) maintains it in ScottRBK/forgetful, which has 301 GitHub stars. The repository holds 10 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 9, 2026.

Source: ScottRBK/forgetful on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.