diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 40e7d05..bb6b0de 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -144,6 +144,11 @@ export EPISODIC_MEMORY_API_TOKEN=your-token
 
 # Increase timeout for slow endpoints (milliseconds)
 export EPISODIC_MEMORY_API_TIMEOUT_MS=3000000
+
+# Save SDK session logs for debugging (default: false)
+# When enabled, creates .jsonl files in ~/.claude/projects/<cwd-path>/
+# where <cwd-path> is based on where the CLI/agent runs from
+export EPISODIC_MEMORY_SAVE_SDK_LOGS=true
 ```
 
 These settings only affect episodic-memory's summarization calls, not your interactive Claude sessions.
@@ -153,6 +158,7 @@ These settings only affect episodic-memory's summarization calls, not your inter
 | Component | Uses custom config? |
 |-----------|---------------------|
 | Summarization | Yes (up to 10 calls/sync) |
+| SDK session logs | Yes (SAVE_SDK_LOGS only) |
 | Embeddings | No (local Transformers.js) |
 | Search | No (local SQLite) |
 | MCP tools | No |
diff --git a/dist/summarizer.js b/dist/summarizer.js
index f24cb83..0ec7ff5 100644
--- a/dist/summarizer.js
+++ b/dist/summarizer.js
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import { SUMMARIZER_CONTEXT_MARKER } from './constants.js';
  * - EPISODIC_MEMORY_API_BASE_URL: Custom API endpoint
  * - EPISODIC_MEMORY_API_TOKEN: Auth token for custom endpoint
  * - EPISODIC_MEMORY_API_TIMEOUT_MS: Timeout for API calls (default: SDK default)
+ * - EPISODIC_MEMORY_SAVE_SDK_LOGS: Save SDK session files for debugging (default: false)
  */
 function getApiEnv() {
     const baseUrl = process.env.EPISODIC_MEMORY_API_BASE_URL;
@@ -48,6 +49,7 @@ async function callClaude(prompt, sessionId, useFallback = false) {
         options: {
             model,
             max_tokens: 4096,
+            persistSession: process.env.EPISODIC_MEMORY_SAVE_SDK_LOGS === 'true',
             env: getApiEnv(),
             resume: sessionId,
             // Don't override systemPrompt when resuming - it uses the original session's prompt
diff --git a/src/summarizer.ts b/src/summarizer.ts
index 85ba8d0..e4c73c6 100644
--- a/src/summarizer.ts
+++ b/src/summarizer.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import { SUMMARIZER_CONTEXT_MARKER } from './constants.js';
  * - EPISODIC_MEMORY_API_BASE_URL: Custom API endpoint
  * - EPISODIC_MEMORY_API_TOKEN: Auth token for custom endpoint
  * - EPISODIC_MEMORY_API_TIMEOUT_MS: Timeout for API calls (default: SDK default)
+ * - EPISODIC_MEMORY_SAVE_SDK_LOGS: Save SDK session files for debugging (default: false)
  */
 function getApiEnv(): Record<string, string | undefined> | undefined {
   const baseUrl = process.env.EPISODIC_MEMORY_API_BASE_URL;
@@ -56,6 +57,7 @@ async function callClaude(prompt: string, sessionId?: string, useFallback = fals
     options: {
       model,
       max_tokens: 4096,
+      persistSession: process.env.EPISODIC_MEMORY_SAVE_SDK_LOGS === 'true',
       env: getApiEnv(),
       resume: sessionId,
       // Don't override systemPrompt when resuming - it uses the original session's prompt