Setting up MemPalace session hooks with GitHub Copilot CLI and VS Code

[mm6502]

TL;DR

MemPalace hooks work with GitHub Copilot CLI and VS Code Copilot
using the same claude-code harness as Claude Code. No special config needed
— just point to the right hooks directory.

---

The problem

After adding MemPalace to the MCP user profile for GitHub Copilot CLI / VS Code,
session memories weren't being saved automatically. There's no official guide for
this setup (related: #462).

Solution

1. Find your mempalace binary

# If installed via uv:
where mempalace        # Windows
which mempalace        # macOS/Linux

2. Create the global hooks config

Global (all sessions): ~/.copilot/hooks/mempalace.json
Per-project: .github/hooks/mempalace.json

{
  "hooks": [
    {
      "hooks": ["Stop"],
      "run": "mempalace hook run --hook stop --harness claude-code",
      "windows": "C:\\Users\\YOUR_USERNAME\\.local\\bin\\mempalace.exe hook run --hook stop --harness claude-code"
    },
    {
      "hooks": ["PreCompact"],
      "run": "mempalace hook run --hook precompact --harness claude-code",
      "windows": "C:\\Users\\YOUR_USERNAME\\.local\\bin\\mempalace.exe hook run --hook precompact --harness claude-code"
    }
  ]
}

Windows note: The windows key with the full absolute path is important —
VS Code may spawn the hook subprocess without your full PATH, causing
mempalace to not be found.

3. Smoke test

bash (macOS/Linux/WSL):

echo '{"session_id":"test","stop_hook_active":true}' | mempalace hook run --hook stop --harness claude-code
# Expected: exit 0, output: {}

PowerShell (Windows):

'{"session_id":"test","stop_hook_active":true}' | mempalace hook run --hook stop --harness claude-code
# Expected: exit 0, output: {}

4. Verify silent save is on (v3.3.0+)

Silent save is on by default since v3.3.0 — hooks write diary entries directly
without blocking the agent.

To verify, ask the AI agent to call the MemPalace MCP tool (type this in chat):

Call mempalace_hook_settings and show me the result

The response should show silent_save: true. If it's false, enable it:

Call mempalace_hook_settings with silent_save=true

---

Environment

• OS: Windows 11 (also works on macOS/Linux with run key only)
• MemPalace version: 3.3.4
• Install method: uv tool install mempalace
• Harness: claude-code (same for VS Code Copilot + Copilot CLI)
• Hooks directory: ~/.copilot/hooks/ (global user profile)

---

Related:

• Add mempalace setup-hooks command for one-step hook installation #462 — proposes mempalace setup-hooks CLI to automate this
• Example: complete MemPalace setup + structured usage pattern (VS Code, MCP, devcontainer) #552 — complete VS Code + MCP setup example (devcontainer approach); our setup is a lightweight alternative without devcontainer

[michael-sumner]

+1