---
id: 8d365483-701f-49fe-a55e-4d524ae2eff3
type: problem
title: "cognitive-memory client.py at 3348 lines needs modular refactor"
tags: [cognitive-memory, refactoring, architecture, tech-debt]
importance: 0.7
confidence: 0.9
created: "2026-02-19T20:57:01.898902+00:00"
updated: "2026-02-28T00:00:00+00:00"
---

client.py has grown to 3348 lines with 66 methods (was 3260/47 on 2026-02-19). Breakdown by concern with accurate line counts:

- **common.py** (~548 lines): Constants, imports, YAML/frontmatter parsing, slugify, decay calc, embedding helpers, cosine similarity, edge filename/frontmatter helpers
- **client.py** (~1008 lines): CognitiveMemoryClient class — __init__, internal helpers (_ensure_dirs, _load/_save index/state, _resolve paths, _git_commit, _update_index_entry), store, recall, get, search, update, delete, related, stats, recent, episode, reindex, pin
- **edges.py** (~274 lines): relate, edge_get, edge_search, edge_update, edge_delete + edge index helpers (_update_edge_index, _remove_edge_index, _scan_for_edge, _resolve_edge_path)
- **embeddings.py** (~208 lines): _get_embedding_provider, _embed_texts_with_fallback, embed, semantic_recall
- **analysis.py** (~839 lines): decay, core (CORE.md gen), tags_list/related/suggest, reflect, merge, reflection_summary — biggest chunk
- **cli.py** (~471 lines): argparse parser + dispatch + main()

Approach: mixin classes. Each module defines a Mixin class; CognitiveMemoryClient inherits from all mixins. This preserves `self` access and keeps the public API identical.

Refactor considerations:
- MCP server imports `from client import CognitiveMemoryClient` — needs re-export or updated import
- CLI wrapper at `/home/cal/.local/bin/claude-memory` uses `exec uv run python client.py` — cli.py must be runnable
- Systemd services (daily/weekly timers) depend on the wrapper — must test after
- mcp_server.py also imports `_load_memory_config, MEMORY_DIR` from client — move to common.py
- 4 module-level helper functions are used across concerns — belong in common.py

Priority: active. Line count growing, 66 methods in one class makes navigation painful.