v13.38.0

No more console window flashing on Windows. Every Claude Code hook now calls claude-mem directly instead of going through bash, and this release also carries 16 community fixes from five contributors.

## Hooks call claude-mem directly (#4345)

Every Claude Code runtime hook now runs a small `claude-mem` launcher in exec form (`"command": "claude-mem", "args": [...]`), with no shell in between. On Windows that ends the console window that used to flash and steal focus on every tool call (#3605, #3559, #3521, #3396, #3248).

- `npx claude-mem install` / `update` compile the launcher on your machine. It goes to `~/.local/bin/claude-mem` on macOS and Linux, or `%LOCALAPPDATA%\claude-mem\bin\claude-mem.exe` on Windows, and that folder is added to your PATH if it isn't there already. `npx claude-mem uninstall` removes the launcher.
- Marketplace-only installs repair themselves. A startup step places or refreshes the launcher and tells you when Claude Code needs a restart.
- The launcher fails open. On any problem it prints one line, `claude-mem: <reason>, continuing without memory`, and your session carries on.
- The environment opt-outs (`CLAUDE_MEM_DISABLE_TOOL_HOOKS`, `CLAUDE_MEM_DISABLE_OBSERVATION`, `CLAUDE_MEM_DISABLE_FILE_CONTEXT`) still take effect before anything heavy starts.

**Before you upgrade:**
- Hooks in exec form need **Claude Code 2.1.139 or newer**. `install` and `doctor` warn on older versions.
- If the launcher's folder wasn't on your PATH yet, the first session after updating will tell you to **restart Claude Code from a new terminal**. After that, everything works as before.

Thanks @bagr001 for testing it on Windows 11.

## Observer and worker

- **Gateways that reject the `thinking` parameter no longer stall the observer** (#4735, @akushonkamen). The observer retries once without the parameter. The token-saving default is unchanged, and `CLAUDE_MEM_OBSERVER_THINKING` is now documented.
- **The worker no longer wedges for hours on big repos** (#4753, @akushonkamen). Git commands during worktree adoption now run without blocking the event loop.
- **The streamed-request idle window is configurable** (#4752, @akushonkamen) with `CLAUDE_MEM_LLM_STREAM_IDLE_TIMEOUT_MS`, for self-hosted backends with long queue waits. The default is still 90 seconds.
- **`CLAUDE_MEM_DISABLE_SUMMARY=1`** skips the end-of-session summary for headless or read-only runs (#4736, @akushonkamen).
- **Mode prompts are validated**, and a user mode file can no longer shadow a bundled mode (#4326).
- **Three platform fixes** (#3851):
  - manual sessions keep their platform;
  - an error-shaped response is no longer taken for a host observer;
  - Grok agents added after install are watched.
- **The Codex installer drops a dead local marketplace registration**, and install fails when Codex doesn't list the plugin afterwards (#3494).

## Search, viewer and data, thank you @rudycelekli

- Semantic search no longer breaks on empty filters (#4754) or on malformed stored concept or file data (#4750). It now matches keyword search.
- The Sessions list matches project names regardless of case (#4749).
- Feed rows with the same timestamp come back in a stable newest-first order (#4747).
- Repeated prompts with their own native turn ids are no longer merged into one (#4748).
- Restoring an export keeps each prompt's native turn id (#4751).
- Deleting a project's last memories brings the welcome hint back right away (#4742).
- A corpus built without a limit gets the documented 500 observations, and limits above 100 are no longer capped at 100 (#4746).

## Sync and server

- **Chroma writes for the same memory are serialized and re-read the current row** (#4731, @junnhwan). A startup backfill or a delayed cloud forward can no longer index an old body or old project.
- **On the self-hosted server, a reclaimed generation attempt can't complete or fail its replacement** (#4739, @junnhwan). Postgres regression tests now run in CI.
- **The self-hosted sync server puts brackets around IPv6 hosts** in its advertised URL (#4723, @DeryFerd).

## Viewer

- The NOTES section icon is sized like its siblings (#4744, @phant0um, first contribution). It used to render about 20× too large.

## Claude app (cowork) plugin

- Session-init now runs in the background, and the plugin's hooks stand down when a local claude-mem install is present (#4755).

## Docs and skills

- The make-plan skill has a Primary Goal section and a fixed short chat summary (#3600).
- The wowerpoint skill stops once the deck has started and no longer uploads (#4342).
- Docs no longer mention workers.dev for the sync hub (#4366).

Thanks to everyone who reported and fixed things this round: @rudycelekli, @junnhwan, @akushonkamen, @DeryFerd, @phant0um, @valerianbbragi, @smashingtags, @wuding129, @chris-yyau, @bagr001.

**Full diff:** https://github.com/thedotmack/claude-mem/compare/v13.37.0...v13.38.0