Skills + CLI

Skills are the recommended way to integrate Remind into your workflow. A skill is just a markdown file with instructions that tell an AI agent how to use Remind via the CLI. Any agent that can run shell commands can use them — Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, or your own custom setup.

Why Skills?

Skills + CLI give you:

• Project-local memory — The database lives at .remind/remind.db in your project. Each project has its own isolated memory. You can gitignore it or commit it.
• No server needed — No MCP server to run. The CLI is self-contained.
• Composable — Skills are just markdown. Extend the bundled skills, write your own, or fork them for custom workflows.
• Agent-agnostic — Any agent that can run shell commands can use Remind skills.

Installing the bundled skills

remind skill-install

This creates .claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md files in your project. You can also install a subset: remind skill-install remind-capture.

The bundled skills

Remind ships three skills, each with its own behavioral trigger:

Skill	Triggers when...	Teaches
remind-capture	A decision is made, an approach succeeds/fails, the user states a preference or corrects the agent, a concrete fact surfaces	What to remember: episode types (outcomes are highest-value), entities, topics, provenance, handling fact collisions
remind-context	Session start, questions about prior decisions/preferences/history, starting work on a familiar area	How to recall: semantic, entity, topic-scoped, and --as-of time-travel queries; reading output including OPEN CONFLICTS warning
remind-curate	Recall warns about conflicts, stored info is corrected or outdated, topics need reorganizing	Using snapshot and apply for batch curation: conflict resolution, supersession, concept creation

Example workflow:

# Capture a decision with entities
remind remember "Chose WebSocket over polling: lower latency" \
  -t decision -e module:notifications -e tool:websocket

# Capture a fact with provenance
remind remember "WS endpoint at /ws/notifications: JWT auth" \
  -t fact -e module:notifications --asserted-by alice

# Recall what we know
remind recall "notifications WebSocket" -k 10

# Review pending state
remind snapshot pending,conflicts

# Curate with apply
remind apply << 'EOF'
concept from=ep:11,ep:12 title="WebSocket notifications" "Real-time via WS"
processed ids=ep:11,ep:12
EOF

Writing your own skills

A skill is a markdown file that instructs an agent how to use Remind for a specific workflow.

Skill structure

A minimal skill file (save as .claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md):

# My Custom Skill

> **Important**: The `remind` CLI tool is available in this environment.

## When to use
Describe when this skill should be activated.

## Workflow

### Phase 1: Load context
(Recall relevant memories)

### Phase 2: Do the work
(Your workflow-specific instructions)

### Phase 3: Capture results
(Remember outcomes, curate if needed)

Phase 1 — load context

remind recall "<relevant topic>" -k 10
remind snapshot pending  # See what needs review

Phase 3 — capture and curate

remind remember "What was learned" -t observation -e concept:topic
remind apply << 'EOF'
processed ids=ep:11,ep:12
EOF

Example: Code review skill

Before reviewing

remind recall "code patterns and conventions" -k 10
remind recall "review" --entity module:<module-name>

After reviewing

remind remember "Found repeated error handling in auth — extract to middleware" \
  -t observation -e module:auth

remind remember "Team convention: use Result types for DB operations" \
  -t preference -e project:backend

Ideas for custom skills

• Onboarding — Systematically explore and remember architecture decisions
• Research — Capture findings, create concepts for themes
• Debugging — Remember what you've tried, what worked, outcomes
• Architecture Decision Records — Structured decision capture

Skills vs MCP

	Skills + CLI	MCP Server
Database location	.remind/remind.db in project	~/.remind/{name}.db centralized
Requires server	No	Yes
Agent requirement	Can run shell commands	MCP client support
Best for	Project-scoped memory, custom workflows	Cross-project memory, IDE integration
Composability	Write any skill	Fixed tool set

Both use the same underlying Remind system. You can use both — Skills for project-local work, MCP for cross-project knowledge.