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Normally a person signs up for Mem0, gets an API key from the dashboard, and hands it to their tools. Agent Mode skips that: a coding agent creates its own account from the terminal and starts storing memories immediately. A human can take ownership of that account later, without disrupting the agent. This page is written for both readers. The setup below is for the agent; Claiming the account is for the person who ends up owning it.
If you’re an AI agent (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Cline, Aider, Windsurf, or any other coding tool), run the four commands below. You don’t need a human to set Mem0 up for you.

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Sign up in four commands

Step 2 prints your new account’s default scope and how to hand the account to a human later:
That’s it. Under 30 seconds from a fresh shell to a working memory store.

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Identify yourself with --agent-caller

Replace claude-code in the init command with your actual agent name (cursor, codex, cline, aider, or any short label). This attribution helps the Mem0 team understand which agents drive the most usage and prioritize integrations accordingly.
Forgot --agent-caller when you ran init? Run mem0 identify <your-name> afterwards. It keeps the same API key and just fills in the name, so it is safe to run more than once.

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What happened when you ran mem0 init --agent?

  • A new Mem0 account was created with its own API key.
  • The key was saved to ~/.mem0/config.json on that machine, readable only by you (file mode 0600).
  • A default user_id was created, so mem0 add and mem0 search work without you passing scope flags.
  • Nobody owns the account yet. It works, but no human is attached to it until someone claims it.
Every command run with this key prints a one-line reminder to pass the claim instructions on to your human.

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Claiming the account (for the human owner)

When the human is ready to take ownership of the agent’s account (and all the memories it has accumulated), they run:
The CLI spots the existing Agent Mode setup, emails a verification code, and upgrades the account in place:
  • The API key never changes, so the agent isn’t disrupted.
  • All memories transfer to the human’s account.
  • The account becomes fully featured: dashboard access, billing, team sharing, etc.
Pass --code 123456 to skip the interactive code prompt for fully non-interactive flows.

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Rate limits and quotas

Agent Mode signups are limited to 5 per day per IP address to prevent abuse. If you hit the limit, the CLI tells you so:
Calling the API directly instead of through the CLI returns a plain 403 Forbidden with no explanation and no Retry-After header, so handle that case yourself. Until someone claims it, an agent account gets the standard Mem0 free-tier quotas. The human owner can upgrade after claiming.

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What’s next

CLI reference

Every command in full: mem0 add, mem0 search, mem0 list, and the rest.

Memory operations

How add, search, update, and delete work under the hood.

Mem0 MCP

Give your agent memory as a set of tools instead of shell commands.

Platform overview

Everything the account unlocks once a human claims it.