Grok Build CLI: Cross-Session Memory

@GrokInsider· Jun 6, 2026

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By default every Grok session starts fresh. Memory changes that. With it enabled, Grok remembers project conventions, decisions, and debugging workflows across separate sessions, and recalls the relevant ones automatically. It is experimental and off by default, so here is how to turn it on and use it well.

Starting out? Read Grok Build CLI: Zero to Hero (Start Here) first.

Turn it on

Enable memory per session with a flag, for your whole shell with an env var, or permanently in config.toml. The --no-memory flag always wins if you need to force it off.

Remember, forget, recall

Once on, you talk to memory in plain language. Tell Grok to remember a preference and it writes a durable line under an organized heading. Tell it to forget and it finds and removes the entry. Ask what it knows and it summarizes across all your memory files.

Two commands do the heavier lifting. /flush triggers an LLM summary of the current session and writes it to a dated log, perfect right before compaction. /dream consolidates scattered session logs into clean, deduplicated topics so search quality improves over time.

How it is stored

Memory is just Markdown under ~/.grok/memory/: a global file for cross-project facts, a per-workspace file for project conventions, and dated session logs. A workspace is keyed by a hash of its git remote, so all clones and worktrees of the same repo share one memory directory. An SQLite index gives fast hybrid search, full-text plus optional vector similarity.

Manage it from the CLI

You do not need the TUI to work with memory. Edit the files in your editor, check the index stats, or wipe it clean.

How it reaches the model

On the first turn of a session, Grok searches memory for content relevant to the current project and injects it as context, so it starts already knowing what past sessions learned. Memory is searched again after auto-compaction to recover context that compression dropped. Session memories decay over time so recent work is prioritized, while curated global and workspace notes do not.

Use /flush at the end of a productive debugging session. Future-you will be grateful when the same gnarly bug resurfaces.

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