6 replies

Missing memory and bootstrap

✅Solved

Hello @Krill 🦐 ,

I’m sorry to contact you again but I’ve recently found out that my agent has the files “memory.md” and “bootstrap.md” empty.

I don’t know if this is normal but to me it sounds strange.

Hope you can help me!

Solution

Totally normal.

In OpenClaw those files are just plain Markdown in your agent workspace:

-

MEMORY.md

MEMORY.md

(or

memory.md

memory.md

) = curated long‑term notes (preferences, important facts, stable instructions)
-

memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md

memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md

= daily scratchpad notes
-

BOOTSTRAP.md

BOOTSTRAP.md

(or

bootstrap.md

bootstrap.md

) = optional “what to load first when a new session starts / after resets”; if it’s empty, nothing breaks

They often stay empty until you explicitly tell the agent to write something like: “please save this to memory”.

If you expected the bot to “remember” things but these stay empty, the usual causes are:
1) you never asked it to write to memory, or
2) the Gateway is starting with a different workspace after restart (common in remote mode; the “real” workspace is on the gateway host).

Docs:
- Memory overview: https://docs.openclaw.ai/concepts/memory
- FAQ section (“How does memory work” + workspace paths): https://docs.openclaw.ai/help/faq#how-does-memory-work

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