Wenlan Commands and MCP Tools

At a glance

Most Claude Code users need /wenlan for setup, then four daily commands: /brief, /capture, /recall, and /handoff.

MCP clients start with context, then use capture, recall, distill, list pending, confirm memory, forget, and doctor.

Daily commands

Use these commands for the normal memory loop in Claude Code.

/wenlan: check status, or set up Wenlan when it is not ready. Add plain words to run any other workflow, such as /wenlan lint.
/brief: load relevant context at the start of a session.
/capture: save one durable memory with the reason it matters.
/recall: search local memory for a specific topic.
/handoff: close a session with decisions, lessons, gotchas, and next context.

Curation commands

Use these when memory needs inspection, cleanup, or synthesis. They run as words after /wenlan and stay out of the slash menu. Since v0.19.2 the old standalone forms such as /lint and /distill are gone.

/wenlan curate captures: walk unconfirmed captures; bare /wenlan curate only prints help.
/wenlan curate revisions: walk pending revisions when /brief shows more than the top few.
/wenlan steep: write pages from material no page uses yet, then bring out of date pages up to date, using your AI tool. This is how pages are made in On demand, the default steeping mode for new installs.
/wenlan distill: organize related memories into pages.
/wenlan pages: list recent pages or open a matching page in your editor.
/wenlan lint: run the canonical read-only memory and page health report.
/wenlan wiki: read the repository, plan the pages a newcomer needs, and write the missing ones, each tied to the code lines it relies on. It writes new pages only; /wenlan steep keeps them current. It replaced /wenlan map in v0.20.0, with no alias.
/wenlan forget: delete a memory by ID when it should not remain in Wenlan.

MCP tools

Other MCP clients call tools instead of slash commands. The names are intentionally close to the Claude Code workflow.

context: load session context at the start of work or major topic shifts.
capture: store a durable memory.
recall: search for relevant memories.
distill: organize or refresh pages.
steep: list the pages waiting for steep and the material no page uses yet, then claim and commit each rewrite.
list_pending and confirm_memory: inspect and accept pending captures.
forget: delete a memory.
doctor: diagnose daemon and setup state.

How to choose

Start with /brief in Claude Code or context in another MCP client. Save durable knowledge with capture. Search history with recall. Close a serious session with /handoff.

Use /wenlan steep to turn new material into pages and bring out of date ones up to date. Use /wenlan wiki to write a wiki for the repository you are in. Use /wenlan lint, /wenlan curate, /wenlan distill, and /wenlan pages when memory needs diagnosis, maintenance, or a topic deserves a page.

Claude Code Plugin

Install the Wenlan plugin in Claude Code and check its connection.

Commands and Tools