February 10, 2026
Memory with a bouncer
Show HN: Total Recall – write-gated memory for Claude Code
Dev crowd cheers the memory filter—but drags the LLM README
TLDR: Total Recall adds a “write gate” so Claude Code only saves important notes, not every stray thought. Commenters praised the idea but roasted the LLM‑style README, urged a default .gitignore to avoid leaks, and asked for memories that fade over time—because smarter storage means fewer AI slip‑ups.
Total Recall promises to put a bouncer at the door of your AI’s memory—only important things get in. The crowd loved that pitch, with early fans calling it lean and sane. But the real drama? One commenter adored the idea yet torched the write‑up, slamming LLM‑written READMEs as “tropes and absolutes” that feel like a product manager’s memo, not a guide engineers can trust. Ouch.
Practical minds jumped in too. One person immediately yelled: put the memory folder in .gitignore by default—translation: don’t accidentally publish your AI’s diary to your code repo. Another asked for “real‑brain vibes”: let old notes fade gracefully into keywords over time, not just pile up. Meanwhile, the project’s creator slid in with a polite “thanks, send feedback,” playing peacemaker while the thread debated style vs substance.
For the non‑nerds: Total Recall is a plugin for Claude Code that keeps a daily diary first, then lets you promote only the good stuff to a long‑term list—think “morning notes” → “index cards” → a short “always remember” list → the attic. It’s a memory diet. The name? One commenter giggled: “Total Recall,” like the movie—and the promise of never forgetting, on purpose.
Key Points
- •Total Recall introduces a write-gated, curated memory system for Claude Code, avoiding auto-ingest and context bloat.
- •All writes go first to a timestamped daily log, with user-controlled promotion to structured registers via /recall-promote.
- •The system uses four memory tiers with deterministic loading: Working Memory, Registers, Daily Logs, and Archive.
- •A five-point write gate only saves behavior-changing facts, commitments, decisions with rationale, stable facts, or explicit “remember this” requests.
- •Installation is via the Claude Code plugin marketplace or standalone GitHub setup, with commands for writing, searching, promotion, maintenance, and corrections that propagate across tiers.