Introduction

This article breaks down how Claude remembers users and chats, and why its memory system works very differently from ChatGPT.

What's the problem it solves?

People assume all AI assistants remember things the same way. This article clears up how Claude actually handles memory and past chats, and why that matters for users and builders.

Quick Summary

The author tested Claude to understand how its memory system works. Unlike ChatGPT, Claude does not always load past chat summaries into every new prompt. Instead, it pulls old information only when it thinks it is needed.

Claude’s context has four main parts. A fixed system prompt, saved user memories, the current chat window, and the new message. User memories store long term facts like name, job, skills, and preferences. These can update slowly in the background or be changed directly by the user.

For chat history, Claude uses a rolling window of recent messages and special tools that can search older conversations. These tools are only used when Claude decides past context is useful. This saves tokens and allows deeper recall, but it can miss things if Claude does not fetch them.

Key Takeaways

• Claude does not inject chat summaries into every prompt
• User memories are stored as clear, structured facts
• Past chats are retrieved only when Claude thinks they matter
• This approach is more efficient but less automatic
• ChatGPT favors always-on continuity, Claude favors on-demand depth

What to do

• Use clear prompts like "remember this" if something matters long term
• Do not assume Claude remembers old chats unless they are relevant
• For complex projects, restate key context when starting new chats
• Builders should choose memory design based on efficiency vs continuity needs

‍