---
id: dc9c2638-360e-4e15-990c-76fcd16672c0
type: decision
title: "Cognitive memory data dir moved to XDG-compliant path (~/.local/share/cognitive-memory/)"
tags: ["[\\\\\\\"cognitive-memory\\\\\\\"", xdg, architecture, portability, "\\\\\\\"configuration\\\\\\\"]"]
importance: 0.85
confidence: 0.8
created: "2026-02-28T20:56:13.079823+00:00"
updated: "2026-02-28T20:57:20.365199+00:00"
relations:
  - target: b1ba1b27-d2bf-44f9-a1f5-0ace2017dc18
    type: BUILDS_ON
    direction: incoming
    strength: 0.8
    edge_id: 1f7a87ef-5d03-45bb-a1d2-3fd8796b1e7f
  - target: 9ea72015-0b85-4a42-9ae1-144866f8d86f
    type: FOLLOWS
    direction: outgoing
    strength: 0.8
    edge_id: 30dd2fb7-f75f-4083-8b7c-52b8ce95cfc8
---

# Cognitive Memory: XDG Base Directory Compliance

Moved default data directory from hardcoded `~/.claude/memory/` to XDG Base Directory spec compliant location.

## Resolution Order
1. `COGNITIVE_MEMORY_DIR` env var
2. `$XDG_DATA_HOME/cognitive-memory/`
3. `~/.local/share/cognitive-memory/` (XDG default)

## Rationale
Makes the system distributable as a plugin without assuming Claude Code-specific paths.

## Details
- `GRAPHS_BASE_DIR` is now a sibling: `cognitive-memory-graphs/`
- All scripts updated: `memory-git-sync.sh`, `ensure-symlinks.sh`, `edge-proposer.py`
- Cal's data physically moved from `~/.claude/memory/` to `~/.local/share/cognitive-memory/`
- Env var overrides removed from `bashrc`, fish config, and MCP server config — XDG default resolves naturally