PostToolUse hook missing `cwd` field - observations not being saved

[YuTian9292]

Environment

• Claude Code version: 2.0.67 (also tested on 2.0.36)
• claude-mem version: 7.1.3
• OS: macOS Darwin 25.1.0
• Node.js: v25.1.0
• Bun: 1.3.4

Description

The PostToolUse hook is being triggered, but the cwd field is missing from the input data, causing observations to fail to save. According to Claude Code hooks documentation, the cwd field should be included in all hook inputs.

Error Messages

From ~/.claude-mem/silent.log:

[2025-12-13T07:41:19.402Z] [HAPPY-PATH-ERROR] [save-hook.js:11] Missing cwd in PostToolUse hook input {"session_id":"f51cc89f-5f2a-44e9-8f42-5797f766ee66","tool_name":"Bash"} [2025-12-13T07:41:19.407Z] [HAPPY-PATH-ERROR] [worker-service.cjs:1035] Missing cwd when queueing observation in SessionRoutes {"sessionDbId":16,"tool_name":"Bash"} [2025-12-13T07:41:26.738Z] [HAPPY-PATH-ERROR] [summary-hook.js:15] Missing transcript_path in Stop hook input {"session_id":"f51cc89f-5f2a-44e9-8f42-5797f766ee66"}

Expected Behavior

According to Claude Code documentation, PostToolUse hook should receive:

{
  "session_id": "abc123",
  "transcript_path": "/Users/.../.claude/projects/.../xxx.jsonl",
  "cwd": "/Users/...",
  "permission_mode": "default",
  "hook_event_name": "PostToolUse",
  "tool_name": "Bash",
  "tool_input": {...},
  "tool_response": {...}
}

Actual Behavior

The hook receives data without cwd and transcript_path:

{
"session_id": "f51cc89f-5f2a-44e9-8f42-5797f766ee66",
"tool_name": "Bash"
}

Impact

observations table remains empty (0 records)
user_prompts table works correctly (UserPromptSubmit hook functions properly)
Session summaries also fail due to missing transcript_path
Additional Issue: VSCode Extension
When using Claude Code through the VSCode extension (not CLI), hooks are not triggered at all. The worker log shows no incoming requests from the VSCode session, while CLI sessions do trigger hooks (albeit with missing fields).

Database State

SELECT COUNT() FROM observations; -- 0
SELECT COUNT() FROM user_prompts; -- 4 (working)
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM session_summaries; -- 0

Steps to Reproduce

Install claude-mem: /plugin marketplace add thedotmack/claude-mem && /plugin install claude-mem
Start a CLI session with claude or use VSCode extension
Execute any tool (e.g., run a Bash command)
Check ~/.claude-mem/silent.log for "Missing cwd" errors
Verify observations table is empty

Possible Cause

This could be:
A Claude Code bug where cwd is not being passed to plugin hooks
A field name mismatch (Claude Code might use a different field name)
A regression in recent Claude Code versions

[thedotmack]

Issue Resolved ✅

I've identified and fixed the root cause of the "Missing cwd" errors.

Root Cause

This was not a Claude Code bug. The issue was in how claude-mem was using the happy_path_error__with_fallback utility function. The function was being called unconditionally, causing it to log errors even when the values were present.

Investigation Results

Through debug logging, I confirmed that Claude Code is correctly passing all expected fields to the PostToolUse hook:

• ✅ session_id
• ✅ cwd
• ✅ transcript_path
• ✅ tool_name
• ✅ tool_input
• ✅ tool_response
• Plus: permission_mode, hook_event_name, tool_use_id

The Fix

Fixed the incorrect usage pattern in 4 locations:

1. save-hook.ts (PostToolUse hook)
2. summary-hook.ts (Stop hook)
3. SessionRoutes.ts (observation queueing)
4. SessionRoutes.ts (summary queueing)

Before (WRONG):

cwd: happy_path_error__with_fallback('Missing cwd', {}, cwd || '')
// ^ Always calls function, always logs error

After (CORRECT):

cwd: cwd || happy_path_error__with_fallback('Missing cwd', {}, '')
// ^ Only calls function if cwd is falsy

Testing

Verified after fix:

• ✅ No more false "Missing cwd" errors
• ✅ No more false "Missing transcript_path" errors
• ✅ Hooks execute normally
• ✅ silent.log now only shows actual errors

About Empty Observations

If your observations table is still empty after this fix, it's likely due to a different issue:

1. Privacy tags - Content in <private> tags isn't stored
2. Worker not running - Check npm run worker:status
3. SDK agent failures - Check ~/.claude-mem/logs/worker-*.log

The fix is committed on the feature/error-messages branch and will be included in the next release (7.1.12).

Commit: f47eb13

[thedotmack]

This was a red herring, pushing updates