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Sometimes you’re working on something that shouldn’t go into shared memory — a client project under NDA, a personal experiment, or code you’re not ready for the team to see. Hyper’s incognito mode lets you keep your AI tools connected and fully functional while silently pausing everything that would normally be written to memory. You can still look things up; you just won’t leave a trace. This guide explains how to toggle incognito mode and when to use it.

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What Incognito Mode Does

Incognito mode is a write pause, not a disconnect. The distinction matters:

What stops

All memory writes are paused: remember() calls, observe hooks, and any automatic capture triggered by UserPromptSubmit or Stop hooks. Nothing from this session is saved to your workspace.

What keeps working

Read operations continue normally. ask() and connect() still retrieve existing memories and load your workspace context — you just won’t add to them.

Persists across sessions

Incognito mode stays on until you explicitly toggle it off. Closing your editor, restarting your machine, or starting a new conversation doesn’t turn it off.

Instant toggle

Switching between muted and unmuted takes a single command or one click in the desktop app, with no reconnection needed.
Because mute state persists across sessions, it’s easy to forget you left it on. Get into the habit of checking your status at the start of sensitive work — and checking again when you’re done.

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How to Toggle via the Desktop App

1

Open the Hyper desktop app

Launch the Hyper desktop app and ensure you’re connected to your workspace.
2

Find the incognito toggle

Look for the Incognito or Mute Memory toggle in the main toolbar or the status area at the bottom of the app window.
3

Click to enable or disable

Click the toggle. The app will show a clear visual indicator — typically a distinct icon or color change — confirming whether writes are currently paused.

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How to Toggle via the MCP Tool

If you prefer staying in your editor, you can toggle incognito mode directly through Hyper’s mute() MCP tool. Ask your AI assistant to call it, or trigger it via a prompt: 
Please call the Hyper mute tool.
The tool returns a single string indicating the new state after the toggle:
Return valueMeaning
MUTEDIncognito mode is now on — all writes are paused
UNMUTEDIncognito mode is now off — writes have resumed
mute() is a toggle, not a setter — each call flips the current state. To check your current state without changing it, call connect() and look for a mute indicator in the briefing output.

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Quick Toggle Examples

In a Claude conversation, type:
Call the Hyper mute tool to enable incognito mode.
Claude will call mute() and report back MUTED or UNMUTED.To verify the state later without toggling, type:
Call the Hyper connect tool and tell me if incognito mode is on.

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When to Use Incognito Mode

Client work under NDA

Proprietary code, data, or architecture details that belong to a client should never end up in your team’s shared memory. Enable incognito before you start and disable it when you switch back.

Personal projects

Side projects or personal experiments you’re running on work hardware don’t need to bleed into your team workspace.

Exploratory prototyping

Early-stage experiments that might never ship — and whose dead ends you don’t want cluttering team memory.

Security research

Vulnerability analysis, penetration testing notes, or exploit research that could be misread out of context.

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Checking Your Current Status

Incognito mode persists across sessions, so always verify your state before starting sensitive work:
1

Ask your AI to connect

Prompt your AI tool with Call the Hyper connect tool. The workspace briefing will indicate if mute is active.
2

Or check in the desktop app

Open the Hyper desktop app. The incognito indicator in the toolbar reflects the live mute state.
3

Toggle off when done

When your sensitive session is over, call mute() again (which returns UNMUTED) or click the toggle in the desktop app to resume normal memory capture.
Consider adding a personal reminder to your workflow: put “check Hyper mute status” in your task list at the top of any session involving confidential work, then again when you wrap up.

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Incognito Mode vs. Disconnecting

You might wonder why not just remove the MCP server when you need privacy. Here’s why incognito mode is the better choice:
Incognito ModeDisconnecting
ask() / memory reads✅ Still work❌ Unavailable
connect() / workspace load✅ Still works❌ Unavailable
Memory writes⏸ Paused❌ Unavailable
Time to enableInstant (one call)Requires config change + restart
Time to disableInstant (one call)Requires config change + restart
AI context still available✅ Yes❌ No
Incognito mode gives you privacy without sacrificing the context and recall that make Hyper valuable.