claude-prefs

A CLI tool to manage global Claude Code memories and skills across all your projects.

Problem: Claude Code stores memories per-project. When you start a new project, your preferences (commit style, package manager, coding conventions) don't carry over. You have to re-teach Claude every time.

Solution: claude-prefs (alias: ccp) maintains a central store of global memories and a saved skills list. Initialize any project in one command with an interactive picker to choose what to include. It also works automatically with Claude Code - after install, Claude Code can query and manage your memories and skills by name without any manual steps.

Prerequisites

Claude Code must be installed:

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

Install

One-liner:

bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pccly/claude-prefs-cli/main/install.sh)

This will:

1. Check that Claude Code is installed
2. Clone the repo to ~/.claude/claude-prefs-cli/
3. Symlink claude-prefs and ccp alias to ~/.claude/bin/
4. Add ~/.claude/bin to your PATH
5. Add Bash(claude-prefs *) and Bash(ccp *) permissions to Claude Code settings
6. Offer to run setup (loads defaults + initializes current project)

Quick start

All commands work with both claude-prefs and ccp.

First time (no memories or skills yet)

# Pick default memories to add to your global store
ccp add

# Pick skills to install from the saved list
ccp skills add

# Start a project - picker for which memories and skills to include
cd ~/my-project
ccp init

Each command shows a picker so you choose exactly what to include. Claude Code will use them automatically.

Already have memories across projects

# Import existing memories from all projects into the global store
ccp import all

# Pick which memories and skills to include in a project
cd ~/my-project
ccp init

Commands

Run ccp help for the full list.

Command	Description
list [here]	List global memories, or current project's
status	Show sync status across all projects
add [name...]	Pick default memories to add, or add by name
remove [here] <name>	Remove a memory from global or current project
init [dir]	Initialize a project with memories + skills (per-project)
sync [all|here]	Sync global memories to projects
import [here|all]	Import memories from project(s) to global
skills list [here]	List saved skills, or current project's
skills install [name]	Download all saved, or search and add by name
skills add [name...] [-y]	Add skills by name, or pick from saved list
skills remove [name]	Remove a skill from global list (picker)
skills remove here [name]	Unlink skills from current project (picker)
defaults list	Preview bundled default memories and skills
defaults load	Load bundled defaults into global store
setup	Load defaults into global store
update	Update claude-prefs to the latest version

All interactive commands support -y / --yes to skip the picker and select everything.

Works with Claude Code automatically

After install, ccp adds a reference to ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md so Claude Code knows about it in every project. Claude Code can query your memories and skills, then add exactly what's needed - no picker required.

Example - Claude Code checks what's available and adds specific items:

ccp defaults list
ccp list
ccp add feedback_no_em_dash feedback_use_pnpm
ccp skills add conventional-commit api-design
ccp init -y

Example - Claude Code sets up a new project:

ccp skills list
ccp skills add typescript-advanced-types nodejs-backend-patterns
ccp init -y

All commands have non-interactive forms that work without a TTY, so Claude Code can call them directly.

How it works: Running ccp setup or the installer writes a reference block to ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md with all available commands. This is loaded into every Claude Code conversation automatically, so Claude Code knows how to use ccp without being told.

License

MIT

macOS app prototype

This repo now also includes a native macOS prototype in macos-app/README.md.

It gives you a first desktop control center for:

• memories from bundled defaults and ~/.claude/global-memory
• saved and installed skills from ~/.claude, ~/.codex, and ~/.agents
• plugin bundles from shared plugin directories

Run it locally with:

cd macos-app
swift run

Documentation

Full project notes live in the CCLY Obsidian vault at ~/Nextcloud/CCLY/Projects/claude-prefs-cli/:

• Hub: claude-prefs-cli.md — purpose, install, command reference, architecture, status.
• Guide: Guide.md — workflow walkthroughs (importing, init, skills, sync, defaults, memory file format, updating, tips).

Architecture, sync semantics, and detailed workflow walkthroughs live in the vault — this README sticks to install + quick-start + command summary.