> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/Gentleman-Programming/engram/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# mem_session_summary
> Save a comprehensive end-of-session summary
## Overview
Save a structured summary when a coding session ends or when significant work is complete. This creates a high-level overview that future sessions use to understand what happened, what was learned, and what's left to do.
This is a **core tool** in the agent profile, always loaded in the MCP context.
## When to Use
* **Session ending** — when the user is done for the day
* **Major milestone** — when significant work is complete
* **Context checkpoint** — before a long break or context compaction
* **Handoff** — when switching agents or team members
## Parameters
Full session summary using the structured format
Use this exact structure:
```markdown theme={null}
## Goal
[One sentence: what were we building/working on in this session]
## Instructions
[User preferences, constraints, or context discovered during this session. Things a future agent needs to know about HOW the user wants things done. Skip if nothing notable.]
## Discoveries
- [Technical finding, gotcha, or learning 1]
- [Technical finding 2]
- [Important API behavior, config quirk, etc.]
## Accomplished
- ✅ [Completed task 1 — with key implementation details]
- ✅ [Completed task 2 — mention files changed]
- 🔲 [Identified but not yet done — for next session]
## Relevant Files
- path/to/file.ts — [what it does or what changed]
- path/to/other.go — [role in the architecture]
```
Project name
Associates the session summary with a specific project.
**Example:** `my-api`, `engram`, `frontend`
Session identifier
**Default:** `manual-save-{project}`
Links the summary to a specific coding session.
## Response
Confirmation message
**Example:**
```
Session summary saved for project "my-api"
```
## Structured Format
### Goal
**One sentence** describing what this session aimed to accomplish.
* "Build JWT authentication system for the API"
* "Fix N+1 query performance issues in user list"
* "Add CSV export feature to admin dashboard"
* "Investigate and resolve FTS5 search crashes"
### Instructions (Optional)
User preferences, constraints, or discovered context about **how** the user wants things done.
* "User prefers TypeScript strict mode — all new files must have explicit types"
* "Use Zod for validation — no manual type guards"
* "Follow existing pattern: one service per domain entity"
* "No external dependencies without approval — prefer stdlib"
**Skip this section if there are no notable instructions.** Not every session has user preferences to capture.
### Discoveries
Technical findings, gotchas, and non-obvious learnings. **This is the most valuable section.**
* "FTS5 MATCH syntax requires quotes around terms with special chars — raw user input crashes"
* "SQLite WAL mode creates -wal and -shm files — safe to delete only when DB is closed"
* "Next.js data fetching doesn't auto-optimize joins — always check Network tab for N+1 patterns"
* "JWT refresh tokens need separate rotation logic — access token expiry alone is insufficient"
* "Go's fmt.Errorf with %w preserves error chains for errors.Is() — %v does not"
Focus on **surprises and gotchas** — things that would save a future agent time. Obvious implementation details don't belong here.
### Accomplished
Completed tasks with **key implementation details** and identified next steps.
Use checkmarks:
* ✅ **Completed** — tasks that are done
* 🔲 **Identified but not done** — for next session
Include:
* What was done (high-level)
* Files changed (if relevant)
* Any important decisions made
* ✅ Added JWT authentication middleware — validates tokens on protected routes (src/middleware/auth.ts)
* ✅ Refactored UserService to repository pattern — separates DB logic from business logic (src/services/UserService.ts, src/repositories/UserRepository.ts)
* ✅ Fixed N+1 query in user list — added eager loading for relationships (src/api/users.ts line 45)
* 🔲 Add refresh token rotation — identified security requirement, not yet implemented
* 🔲 Write tests for auth middleware — covered in next session
### Relevant Files
Files that were **significantly changed** or are **important for context**.
```
- path/to/file.ext — [what it does or what changed]
```
Keep it concise:
* ✅ `src/middleware/auth.ts` — JWT validation logic
* ✅ `internal/store/store.go` — FTS5 query sanitization added
* ❌ `src/` — too vague
* ❌ Full absolute paths like `/Users/me/projects/app/src/...` — use relative paths
Only include files that provide context. Don't list every file touched — focus on the important ones.
## Usage Example
```json theme={null}
{
"content": "## Goal\nAdd JWT authentication to the API and secure protected endpoints\n\n## Instructions\nUser prefers TypeScript strict mode — all new files must have explicit types. Use Zod for request validation.\n\n## Discoveries\n- JWT access tokens need short expiry (15min) to limit exposure — refresh tokens handle re-auth\n- httpOnly cookies prevent XSS but break mobile apps — need to support both cookie and Authorization header\n- express-jwt middleware automatically decodes and attaches user to req.user — no manual verification\n\n## Accomplished\n- ✅ Added JWT authentication middleware — validates tokens and attaches user to request (src/middleware/auth.ts)\n- ✅ Created login endpoint — returns access + refresh tokens (src/routes/auth.ts)\n- ✅ Secured user routes — applied auth middleware to /api/users/* (src/routes/users.ts)\n- 🔲 Refresh token rotation — identified security requirement, implementation pending\n- 🔲 Add tests for auth flows — next session\n\n## Relevant Files\n- src/middleware/auth.ts — JWT validation middleware\n- src/routes/auth.ts — login/logout endpoints\n- src/routes/users.ts — protected user routes\n- src/types/express.d.ts — extended Express.Request with user property",
"project": "my-api",
"session_id": "session-2026-03-03-1430"
}
```
## Guidelines
Don't lose important details, but avoid verbosity:
* ✅ "Added eager loading for user relationships to fix N+1 query"
* ❌ "First I identified the N+1 query by opening the Network tab and seeing 50+ requests, then I researched how to fix it, then I added include: \['profile', 'settings'] to the query..."
The code is in the repo — focus on context:
* ✅ "Switched to JWT because session storage doesn't scale across instances"
* ❌ "I imported jsonwebtoken, then created a secret in .env, then wrote a function to sign tokens with HS256..."
**Discoveries are the most valuable section.** Focus on surprises:
* ✅ "FTS5 requires quotes around search terms — special chars are operators"
* ✅ "WAL files are safe to delete only when DB is closed"
* ❌ "I learned that TypeScript has types" (obvious)
Only include files that provide context:
* ✅ Core files that changed
* ✅ New architectural pieces
* ❌ Every file touched (config tweaks, imports, etc.)
## What Gets Stored
The session summary is saved as an observation with:
* **Type:** `session_summary`
* **Title:** `Session summary: {project}`
* **Content:** The structured markdown you provide
* **Project:** The specified project
* **Session ID:** Links to the session
## When Future Sessions See This
Session summaries appear in:
1. **`mem_context`** — shows recent session summaries first
2. **`mem_search`** — can search summary content by keywords
3. **TUI session view** — displays session summaries
4. **HTTP API** — `/api/sessions/{id}` includes the summary
## Related Tools
* [`mem_save`](/mcp/mem-save) - Save individual observations during the session
* [`mem_session_start`](/mcp/mem-session-start) - Register session start
* [`mem_session_end`](/mcp/mem-session-end) - Mark session as completed
* [`mem_context`](/mcp/mem-context) - Retrieve recent session context