Shorthand Mem

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Semantic compression for Claude — backed by a local MCP server

60–80% fewer tokens  ·  persistent library  ·  diff, merge, summarise  ·  four document domains

Skill Docs  ·  Install Skill  ·  Issues

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What It Does

shorthand-mem compresses verbose documents into a structured symbolic notation (SHM), stores them in a local library, and reconstructs them on demand. It runs as a Claude skill in Claude.ai, backed by a local MCP server that handles all compression, retrieval, and library operations.

The skill itself is a thin routing layer — you type commands in Claude.ai, the skill calls your local MCP server, the server does the work, the result comes back to Claude.

Claude.ai (you type commands here)
         │
         ▼
shorthand-mem MCP server  ← runs on your machine
         │
         ├── SQUEEZE  → Claude Haiku (compression)
         ├── EXPAND   → Haiku / Sonnet / Opus (your choice, remembered)
         ├── DIFF     → structural token comparison
         ├── MERGE    → combine multiple squeezes
         └── SUMMARISE → 5-bullet plain English via Haiku

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⚠️ What You Need

Requirement	Why
Claude.ai subscription	To use the skill in chat
Anthropic API key	The MCP server calls Haiku/Sonnet directly from your machine
Python 3.10+	To run the MCP server

The API key is set once as an environment variable — never stored in any file you push to GitHub. SQUEEZE always uses Haiku (~$0.0003 per 1 000-token document). EXPAND uses your chosen model.

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Installation

1. Clone and install

git clone https://github.com/jai2010/shorthand-mem.git
cd shorthand-mem
pip install -e .

2. Set your API key

cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env and add your key:
# ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...

source .env

Or set it permanently in your shell profile:

echo 'export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-your-key' >> ~/.zshrc

3. Register the MCP server with Claude

python install.py

This writes the server config to ~/.claude/claude_desktop_config.json (Claude Desktop) and ~/.config/claude/mcp.json (Claude Code). Restart Claude after running.

To uninstall:

python install.py uninstall

4. Install the skill in Claude.ai

1. Download shorthand-mem.skill
2. Go to Claude.ai → Settings → Skills
3. Click Install Skill and upload the file

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Commands

Command	What It Does	Model
SQUEEZE PRD | CODE | PAPER | MEETING <text>	Compress document into SHM notation	Haiku (always)
EXPAND [label or SHM block]	Reconstruct full prose	Your preference
SET MODEL haiku | sonnet | opus	Save EXPAND model preference	—
LIST SQUEEZES	Show library with compression stats	—
RECALL [label]	Retrieve a saved squeeze	—
SEARCH [keyword or RISK( or REQ:]	Search library — keyword or token-level	—
DELETE [label]	Remove a squeeze (asks for confirmation)	—
EXPORT ALL	Dump full library to .shm file	—
DIFF [label1] [label2]	Structural diff between two versions	—
MERGE [label1] [label2] ...	Combine squeezes under SCOPE headers	—
SUMMARISE [label]	5-bullet executive summary (lossy)	Haiku (always)

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Token Reference

Universal — All Domains

Token	Meaning
OBJ(Name)	Core entity, system, module, or actor
SCOPE: Name	Module or domain boundary
GOAL(Action)	Primary intent
REQ: action()	Strict functional mandate
RULE: constraint	Business logic, rate limit, or guardrail
DEP(X)	Dependency — ++ for hard/critical
RISK(Factor)	Failure mode — ++ for high severity
ERR(Type) → THROW(Behaviour)	Failure boundary

Conditional syntax:

IF (condition) → THEN (action) ! EXCEPT (override_condition)
ELSE → (fallback_action)

PAPER Domain

HYP	METH	RESULT	LIMIT
Hypothesis	Methodology	Outcome	Limitation

MEETING Domain

Token	Meaning
DEC(Decision)	Decision made
ACT(Owner → Action → Date)	Action item with owner and due date
ESC(Risk → Owner)	Escalation raised
BLOCK(Item → Blocker → ETA)	Blocker with expected resolution

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Full Example: PRD Compression

Input (~880 tokens)

The Notification Delivery Service (NDS) routes alerts across in-app, email, and push. Critical notifications must be delivered within 5 seconds; Standard within 60 seconds. Email is routed through SendGrid — on a 5xx error or 3-second timeout, retry up to 3 times with exponential backoff starting at 500ms. After 3 failures, write to DeadLetterQueue and page PagerDuty. Push via FCM — if push_enabled=false, skip silently. If FCM returns token-expired, delete the stale token from UserDevices and skip. Hard dependency on UserPreferences — if unavailable, suspend all dispatches and queue for replay. Soft dependency on Analytics — if unavailable, send notification but drop the delivery event with a warning log. Rate limit: 50 notifications/user/hr across all channels. Excess: silently dropped + EventLog entry. Critical delivery failures must escalate to the engineering lead immediately.

SQUEEZE PRD output (~195 tokens — 78% reduction)

@ASSET:PRD | @TARGET:60-80% | @CCR:a3f2b1c9 | @DATE:2025-06-24

OBJ(Notification_Delivery_Svc)
GOAL: Multi_channel_alert_routing(in-app, email, push)

IF (priority == Critical) → THEN (deliver <= 5s)
IF (priority == Standard) → THEN (deliver <= 60s)

REQ: Email_via_SendGrid
ERR(SendGrid_5xx || timeout>3s) → RETRY x3 | backoff(500ms, exponential)
IF (retry_count == 3 && fail) → WRITE(DeadLetterQueue) + PAGE(PagerDuty)

RULE: user.push_enabled == false → SKIP silently
ERR(FCM_token_expired) → DELETE(UserDevices.token) + SKIP

DEP(UserPreferences_Svc)++ → IF (unavailable) → SUSPEND_ALL + QUEUE_replay
RULE: NO notification WITHOUT confirmed_preference_lookup

DEP(Analytics_Svc) → IF (unavailable) → SEND + DROP(delivery_event) + WARN_LOG

REQ: RateLimit == 50 notifications/user/hr (all channels)
IF (rate_exceeded) → DROP silently + WRITE(EventLog.RateLimitExceeded)

RISK(Critical_delivery_failure)++ → ESCALATE(engineering_lead)

📊 Compression: ~880 → ~195 tokens (78% reduction) 🎯 Fidelity: 📅 0/0 dates · 💰 2/2 amounts · 🚦 0/0 statuses · 👤 6/6 entities

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MEETING Domain Example

SQUEEZE MEETING
Attendees: Jai, Priya, Rohan
Decision: Migrate billing to Stripe by Q3 2025.
Action: Rohan to complete API contract by Jul 15.
Action: Priya to sign off on compliance review by Jul 10.
Blocker: Legal approval pending — ETA Jul 8.
Escalation: Stripe SLA risk escalated to CTO.

@ASSET:MEETING | @TARGET:60-80% | @CCR:b7e3d2f1 | @DATE:2025-06-24

OBJ(Billing_Migration_Meeting)
DEC(Migrate billing to Stripe by Q3 2025)
ACT(Rohan → Complete API contract → Jul 15)
ACT(Priya → Sign off compliance review → Jul 10)
BLOCK(Legal_approval → Pending → Jul 8)
ESC(Stripe_SLA_risk → CTO)

📊 Compression: ~196 → ~42 tokens (79% reduction) 🎯 Fidelity: 📅 3/3 dates · 💰 0/0 amounts · 🚦 0/0 statuses · 👤 3/3 entities

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DIFF Example

Track what changed week-over-week in a SteerCo doc:

DIFF MEETING_steerco_2025-06-17 MEETING_steerco_2025-06-24

Summary: 🟢 2 added · 🔴 1 removed · 🟡 1 changed · ⚪ 8 unchanged

🟢 Added
  + ACT(Priya → Sign off compliance review → Jul 10)
  + ESC(Stripe_SLA_risk → CTO)

🔴 Removed
  - BLOCK(Procurement → Vendor shortlist → Jun 28)

🟡 Changed
  before: DEC(Evaluate Stripe migration)
  after:  DEC(Migrate billing to Stripe by Q3 2025)

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Token-Level SEARCH

Search your entire library for all instances of a specific token type:

SEARCH RISK(       → all risks across all squeezes
SEARCH DEC(        → all decisions across all meetings
SEARCH REQ:        → all requirements across all PRDs
SEARCH ACT(Rohan   → all actions assigned to Rohan

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Persistence & Library

LIST SQUEEZES

| # | Label                             | Domain  | Date       | Original   | Compressed | Saved |
|---|-----------------------------------|---------|------------|------------|------------|-------|
| 1 | PRD_notification_delivery_2025-06 | PRD     | 2025-06-24 | ~880 tok   | ~195 tok   | 78%   |
| 2 | MEETING_billing_migration_2025-06 | MEETING | 2025-06-24 | ~196 tok   | ~42 tok    | 79%   |
| 3 🧩 | PRD_large_spec_2025-06-24     | PRD     | 2025-06-24 | ~12,400 tok| ~890 tok   | 93%   |

🧩 = document was automatically chunked (exceeded single-context limit)

All squeezes stored at ~/.shorthand-mem/library.json. Original documents cached at ~/.shorthand-mem/ccr/ for lossless retrieval.

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File Structure

shorthand-mem/
├── SKILL.md                    ← Skill instructions (install in Claude.ai)
├── shorthand-mem.skill         ← Packaged skill file
├── install.py                  ← One-command MCP registration
├── requirements.txt
├── setup.py
├── .env.example                ← API key template
└── server/
    ├── main.py                 ← MCP server entry point (FastMCP)
    ├── store.py                ← Library, Settings, CCR store
    ├── utils.py                ← Chunking, fidelity, labelling, SHA-8
    └── tools/
        ├── squeeze.py          ← Haiku compression + chunking + fidelity
        ├── expand.py           ← Model-selectable expansion
        ├── library.py          ← LIST, RECALL, SEARCH, DELETE, EXPORT
        ├── diff.py             ← Structural token diff
        ├── merge.py            ← Multi-block merge
        └── summarise.py        ← 5-bullet executive summary

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Cost Reference

Operation	Model	Approx. cost per 1 000-token doc
SQUEEZE	Haiku	~$0.0003
EXPAND	Haiku	~$0.0003
EXPAND	Sonnet	~$0.003
EXPAND	Opus	~$0.015
SUMMARISE	Haiku	~$0.0001

Once compressed, RECALL, SEARCH, LIST, DIFF, and MERGE are free (no API calls).

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License

MIT