Head to head
planning-with-files vs claude-mem
planning-with-files and claude-mem solve the same job (Memory & context), so this is a pick-one decision.
| Field | planning-with-filesgithub.com Not yet swept | claude-memgithub.com Not yet swept |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Makes the agent externalize its plan to disk (task_plan.md, findings.md, progress.md) so it survives /clear, compaction and crashes. Five lifecycle hooks re-read and re-inject the plan on session start and before major decisions. A Stop hook blocks termination until every phase is done. | Captures what the agent does via hooks, compresses events into semantic summaries, stores them in SQLite with FTS5 plus a Chroma vector DB, and injects the relevant slice into future sessions. Progressive disclosure: search returns a ~50–100 token index before you fetch detail. ~91k stars. |
| Category | Memory & context | Memory & context |
| Cost tier | free | free |
| Pricing | Free · MIT | Free · Apache-2.0 |
| Why builders pick it | The fix for the single most annoying failure mode: Claude forgetting the design decisions you made two sessions ago and re-inventing the component. Deterministic completion gate means half-finished refactors do not get abandoned. | Runs with no intervention after install, which is why it beats a manual notes file. Content wrapped in <private> tags is excluded from storage. |
| Watch out for | not logged | not logged |
| How to wire it up | npx skills add OthmanAdi/planning-with-files -g | npx claude-mem install |
| Editor's pick | Yes | Yes |
Other matchups worth running
Agent endpoint: GET /api/public/compare?slugs=claude-mem,planning-with-files