alt-memory 4.5.4

Local-first AI memory system — realms, domains, entities, hybrid search, entity graph, MCP

Alt Memory

Local-first persistent memory for AI agents. Store, search, and manage structured memory with hybrid vector/keyword search, a knowledge graph, agent diaries, personas, file mining, and an MCP server — all offline, no external services.

pip install alt-memory

Benchmarked at ~8ms/tool (FAISS backend, numpy embedder) — roughly 7x faster than the predecessor system.

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Table of Contents

• Installation
• Quick Start — CLI
• Core Concepts
• Full CLI Reference
• Python API
• MCP Server
• Search Architecture
• Embedder System
• Backend Switching
• Knowledge Graph
• Agent Records / Diaries
• File Mining
• Personas
• AAAK Compression
• Palace Graph (Tunnels)
• Sync & Maintenance
• Configuration
• Docker
• Architecture
• License

---

Installation

pip install alt-memory

This gives you FAISS + tokenizers (for numpy BERT embedder). On first use, it auto-selects the best embedder available.

Install	Backend	Embedder
pip install alt-memory	FAISS	numpy BERT (all-MiniLM-L6-v2 via pure numpy)
pip install alt-memory[chroma]	+ ChromaDB	same
pip install alt-memory[onnx]	same	+ ONNX MiniLM / Gemma / BERT
pip install alt-memory[all]	+ ChromaDB	+ ONNX + sentence-transformers

Extras explained

Extra	Packages
[chroma]	chromadb>=1.5.4
[onnx]	onnxruntime, huggingface_hub, transformers
[all]	chroma + onnx + sentence-transformers

Requirements: Python ≥ 3.10, Windows/Linux/macOS.

---

Quick Start — CLI

# Initialize a new dimension
alt-memory init

# Check status
alt-memory status

# Store a memory (realm=work, domain=bugs)
alt-memory add --realm work --domain bugs --content "Login freezes on Safari 18.2"

# Search — hybrid by default (vector + keyword)
alt-memory search "login safari" --limit 5

# Browse
alt-memory list --realm work
alt-memory realms
alt-memory rooms

# Knowledge graph
alt-memory kg-add --subject LoginBug --predicate affects --object Safari
alt-memory kg-query LoginBug
alt-memory kg-stats

# Agent diary
alt-memory record --agent claude --entry "Investigated the Safari freeze"

# Mine a file (auto-chunk, extract entities)
alt-memory mine --realm work --domain code src/auth.py

# MCP server
alt-memory mcp --transport stdio

Init with project detection

# Run init in a project directory — auto-detects corpus origin, entities, domains
alt-memory init /path/to/project --llm-provider ollama --llm-model qwen2.5

---

Core Concepts

Concept	What it is	Default MCP prefix	SQL analogy
Dimension	A directory on disk containing SQLite + FAISS/Chroma + config	(implicit)	database server
Realm	Top-level bucket (e.g. work, personal, agent_claude)	*_realm	database
Domain	Category within a realm (e.g. bugs, ideas, code)	*_domain	table
Entity	Individual memory item with content + metadata	*_entity	row
KG fact	Relationship triple (subject → predicate → object) with temporal validity	kg_*	edge
Node	Cross-reference entry connecting source files to entity references	*_node	index
Tunnel	Cross-realm link between domains (the "palace graph")	*_tunnel	foreign key
Record	Per-agent temporal diary entry	record_* / memory_*	log
Persona	Character definition (system prompt + name) with isolated realm	*_persona	schema

Hybrid search combines FAISS/Chroma vector similarity with SQLite FTS5 keyword matching, re-ranked by weighted BM25.

On-disk layout

~/.alt-memory/
├── dimension.db          # SQLite + FTS5 (all entities, metadata, KG)
├── index.faiss           # FAISS vector index (or chroma.sqlite3 for ChromaDB)
├── dimension.json        # Config (backend, embedder, model settings)
├── persona.json          # Persona registry
├── nodes/                # Packed cross-reference node storage
├── entity_registry.json  # Entity name → ID mappings
├── knowledge_graph.json  # Relationship store (backup/sync)
└── aaak_cache.json       # AAAK compression cache

All data is portable — copy ~/.alt-memory to another machine and it works.

---

Full CLI Reference

30+ commands. The dimension path defaults to ~/.alt-memory; override with --dimension.

Init & Status

Command	Description
alt-memory init [dir]	Initialize dimension; optionally scan a project directory for entities/domains
alt-memory status	Show dimension status (JSON: entity count, realms, domains, embedder)
alt-memory repair-status	Quick health check (entity count, SQLite integrity)

CRUD

Command	Description
alt-memory add -w <realm> -r <domain> -c <content>	Add an entity
alt-memory get <entity_id>	Get an entity by ID
alt-memory list [-w <realm>] [-r <domain>] [-l <limit>] [-o <offset>]	List entities with pagination
alt-memory delete <entity_id>	Delete an entity
alt-memory realms [--verbose]	List all realms
alt-memory rooms [--realm]	List all domains (optionally filtered)

Search

Command	Description
alt-memory search <query> [-w <realm>] [-r <domain>] [--mode <mode>]	Search. Modes: hybrid (default), vector, keyword
alt-memory check-dup <content> [--threshold 0.9]	Check for duplicate content

Knowledge Graph

Command	Description
alt-memory kg-add -s <subject> -p <predicate> -o <object>	Add a KG fact
alt-memory kg-query [entity] [--predicate] [--as-of] [--direction]	Query KG facts
alt-memory kg-invalidate -s <subject> -p <predicate> -o <object>	Mark a fact as ended
alt-memory kg-stats	KG statistics

Records (Agent Diaries)

Command	Description
alt-memory record -a <agent> -e <entry> [-t <topic>]	Write a diary entry
alt-memory record-read -a <agent> [--last-n 10]	Read diary entries
alt-memory record-ingest --dir <path>	Ingest daily summary files into the dimension

Mining

Command	Description
alt-memory mine <file>	Mine a single file into the dimension
alt-memory mine <dir> [--mode projects|convos|extract]	Mine a directory of files
alt-memory sweep <path>	Sweep .jsonl files (message-granular mining)
alt-memory split [--source] [--output-dir]	Split mega-files into per-session files

MCP Server

Command	Description
alt-memory mcp --transport stdio	Run MCP server over stdio (for AI coding agents)
alt-memory mcp --transport sse --port 8316	Run MCP server over HTTP SSE

Maintenance

Command	Description
alt-memory sync [--apply] [--project-dir DIR]	Prune stale entities (gitignored/deleted sources)
alt-memory rebuild-fts	Rebuild FTS5 full-text search index
alt-memory migrate [--rebuild-faiss] [--status]	Schema migration and FAISS rebuild
alt-memory repair [--integrity] [--vacuum] [--rebuild-fts]	Repair utilities
alt-memory rebuild-from-sqlite	Rebuild FAISS index from SQLite ground truth
alt-memory aaak <text>	Compress text to AAAK format

Other

Command	Description
alt-memory wake-up [--agent <name>]	Show L0+L1 wake-up context
alt-memory hook run --hook <h> --harness <h>	Run a hook (claude-code / codex)
alt-memory instructions <topic>	Output skill instructions for AI agents

---

Python API

from alt_memory import Dimension

d = Dimension(path="~/.alt-memory")  # or Dimension(path="./my-dim", backend="faiss")
d.init()

Core CRUD

# Add an entity
eid = d.add_entity("work", "bugs", "Login freezes on Safari",
                   metadata={"priority": "high"}, source_file="src/auth.py")

# Get by ID
entity = d.get_entity(eid)

# List with filters
entities = d.list_entities(realm="work", domain="bugs", limit=20, offset=0)

# Update
d.update_entity(eid, content="Updated description", metadata={"status": "fixed"})

# Delete
d.delete_entity(eid)
d.delete_entities([eid1, eid2])

# Batch add
ids = d.batch_add_entities([
    ("work", "bugs", "Bug one", {}, "", None),
    ("work", "bugs", "Bug two", {}, "", None),
])

Search

# Hybrid (default) — vector + keyword, re-ranked
results = d.search("login safari", n_results=10, mode="hybrid")

# Vector-only — semantic similarity
results = d.search("authentication timeout", mode="vector")

# Keyword-only — exact match via FTS5
results = d.search("Safari 18.2", mode="keyword")

# Filter by realm/domain
results = d.search("login", realm="work", domain="bugs")

# Programmatic search (used by MCP)
results = d.search_memories("login", n_results=5, realm="work",
                            max_distance=0.5, candidate_strategy="union")

Each SearchResult has: id, text, distance, metadata, realm, domain.

Realm & Domain Management

# Realms
d.list_realms()                           # → [{"name": "work", "entity_count": 42, ...}]
d.get_or_create_realm("work", "Work stuff")
d.delete_realm("work")                    # deletes all domains and entities within

# Domains
d.list_domains(realm="work")              # → [{"name": "bugs", "entity_count": 10, ...}]
d.get_or_create_domain("work", "bugs", "Bug tracking")
d.delete_domain("work", "bugs")

Knowledge Graph

# Add facts
d.kg.add("LoginBug", "affects", "Safari", valid_from="2026-05-01")
d.kg.add("LoginBug", "priority", "high")

# Query
facts = d.kg.query("LoginBug")                           # all facts about LoginBug
facts = d.kg.query("LoginBug", as_of="2026-05-15")        # temporal query
facts = d.kg.query("LoginBug", direction="outgoing")      # outgoing edges only

# Invalidate
d.kg.invalidate("LoginBug", "affects", "Safari", ended="2026-06-01")

# Stats & timeline
d.kg.stats()
d.kg.timeline(entity="LoginBug")          # chronological story of an entity

Agent Records (Diaries)

# Write entries at different layers
d.diary_write("claude", "DEBUG: found race condition in auth retry", topic="debug")
d.diary_write("claude", "SESSION:2026-05-31|fixed.auth|★★★", topic="summary")

# Read
entries = d.diary_read("claude", last_n=5)

# List all agents with records
d.list_agents()  # Note: standalone function, see API note below

Note on standalone functions: Some operations are standalone functions in their respective modules, not Dimension methods. These include sync (sync_dimension in sync.py), traversal functions (traverse, build_graph, create_tunnel in dim_graph.py), and mining functions (mine_file_into_dimension, mine_text_into_dimension, batch_mine in miner.py). They accept a dimension path string or Dimension object. See the MCP tools table for the full list — all operations are available via the MCP server regardless.

Backend & Embedder Control

# Switch vector store backend
d.set_backend("chroma")        # FAISS → ChromaDB
d.set_backend("faiss")         # ChromaDB → FAISS

# Switch embedding model (auto-reindexes all entities)
d.set_embedder("sentence")     # sentence-transformers (best quality)
d.set_embedder("numpy")        # TF-IDF+SVD (lightest)
d.set_embedder("minilm")       # ONNX MiniLM
d.set_embedder("spacy")        # spaCy GloVe
d.set_embedder("embeddinggemma")  # Google Gemma via ONNX

# Device control for ONNX embedders
d.set_embedder("minilm", device="cpu")
d.set_embedder("minilm", device="cuda")
d.set_embedder("minilm", device="dml")    # DirectML on Windows

Status & Maintenance

# Status
status = d.status()         # → {entities, realms, domains, embedder, ...}
taxonomy = d.get_taxonomy() # → {realm: {domain: count, ...}, ...}

# FTS rebuild
d.rebuild_fts()

# Duplicate check
dup = d.check_duplicate("new content to check", threshold=0.9)

# Reconnect after external changes
d.reconnect()

# Memories filed away check
d.memories_filed_away()

Export / Import

# Export all entities as JSON-serializable list
export = d.export_collection()
export = d.export_collection(realm="work", domain="bugs")  # filtered

# Import entities from list
count = d.import_entities(export, overwrite=False)

Personas

See the full dedicated docs at docs/personas.md.

# Quick reference
d.create_persona("coder", system_prompt="You are an expert Python developer.")
d.set_persona("coder")
d.get_persona()                        # → active persona dict
d.get_persona_character()              # → "You are an expert Python developer."
d.get_persona_character("coder")       # → same, by name
d.list_personas()                      # → all registered personas
d.delete_persona("coder")              # → True/False
d.switch_persona("architect")          # alias for set_persona

---

MCP Server

The MCP server exposes 65 tools over stdio (for coding agents) or SSE (for remote access).

# Stdio mode — for AI coding agents (Claude Code, Codex, Cline)
alt-memory mcp --transport stdio

# SSE mode — for remote/local HTTP access
alt-memory mcp --transport sse --port 8316

AI Agent Configuration

Configure in your MCP client:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "alt-memory": {
      "command": "alt-memory",
      "args": ["mcp", "--transport", "stdio"]
    }
  }
}

All 65 MCP Tools

Category	Tool	Required Params	Optional Params	Description
Search	search	query	n_results, realm, domain, mode	Hybrid/vector/keyword search
	check_duplicate	content	threshold	Check if content exists
CRUD	add_entity	realm, domain, content	metadata, source_file, entity_id	Store a memory
	get_entity	entity_id	—	Fetch by ID
	update_entity	entity_id	content, metadata, realm, domain	Update fields
	delete_entity	entity_id	—	Delete one
	delete_entities	entity_ids (array)	—	Bulk delete
	list_entities	—	realm, domain, limit, offset	List with pagination
	batch_add_entities	entities (array)	—	Bulk add
	import_entities	entities (array)	overwrite	Import from JSON
	export_collection	—	realm, domain	Export as JSON
Realms	create_realm	name	description	Create top-level bucket
	delete_realm	name	—	Delete realm + contents
	list_realms	—	—	List all
	get_taxonomy	—	—	Realm → domain → count
	get_status	—	—	Entity count, embedder info
Domains	create_domain	realm, name	description	Create domain
	delete_domain	realm, name	—	Delete domain
	list_domains	—	realm	List domains
KG	kg_add	subject, predicate, object	valid_from, valid_to, source	Add fact
	kg_query	—	entity, predicate, as_of, all, direction	Query facts
	kg_invalidate	subject, predicate, object	ended	End a fact
	kg_stats	—	—	KG statistics
	kg_timeline	—	entity	Chronological story
Records	record_write	agent, entry	topic, realm	Diary entry
	record_read	agent	last_n, realm	Read diary
	list_agents	—	—	All agents with records
Mine	mine_file	filepath, realm, domain	—	Mine a single file
	mine_text	text, realm, domain	source, chunk	Mine text content
	batch_mine	directory	realm, pattern	Mine a directory
	sync	—	project_dir, realm, apply	Prune stale entities
Graph	create_tunnel	source_realm, source_domain, target_realm, target_domain	label, source_entity_id, target_entity_id	Link domains
	delete_tunnel	tunnel_id	—	Remove a tunnel
	list_tunnels	—	realm	List all tunnels
	find_tunnels	—	realm_a, realm_b	Find bridges between realms
	follow_tunnels	realm, domain	—	Follow connections
	traverse	start_domain	max_hops	Walk the graph
	graph_stats	—	—	Overview of connections
Backend	set_backend	backend (faiss|chroma)	reindex	Switch vector store
	get_backend	—	—	Current backend name
Embedder	set_embedder	model	device, reindex	Switch embedder
	set_default_embedder	model	—	Set global default
	get_default_embedder	—	—	Get global default
Persona	get_persona	—	—	Active persona
	set_persona	name	system_prompt, description, metadata	Set/switch persona
	switch_persona	name	system_prompt, description, metadata	Alias for set
	create_persona	name	system_prompt, description, metadata	Create without activating
	list_personas	—	—	All registered
	delete_persona	name	—	Remove from registry
	get_persona_character	—	name	Get system prompt string
AAAK	aaak_compress	text	max_len	Compress to AAAK
	aaak_decompress	text	—	Decompress AAAK
	aaak_parse	text	—	Parse AAAK entry
	get_aaak_spec	—	—	Full AAAK specification
Other	hook_settings	—	silent_save, desktop_toast	Configure hooks
	memories_filed_away	—	—	Checkpoint status
	rebuild_fts	—	—	Rebuild FTS5 index
	reconnect	—	—	Reconnect to database
	get_people_map	—	—	Name variant mappings
	set_people_map	map	—	Set name variant mappings
	init_dimension	—	—	Initialize dimension
	close_dimension	—	—	Close dimension gracefully
	ping	—	—	Health check

All 65 tools are available as JSON-RPC calls. Example:

{"name": "add_entity", "arguments": {"realm": "work", "domain": "bugs", "content": "Login freezes on Safari 18.2"}}
{"name": "search", "arguments": {"query": "login safari", "n_results": 5}}
{"name": "set_embedder", "arguments": {"model": "minilm"}}
{"name": "set_backend", "arguments": {"backend": "chroma"}}

---

Search Architecture

Three Search Modes

Mode	Method	How it works	Best for
Vector	mode="vector"	Embed query → FAISS/Chroma cosine distance ranking	Semantic similarity ("find related concepts")
Keyword	mode="keyword"	FTS5 token match → BM25 ranking	Exact term lookup ("find where I wrote 'login bug'")
Hybrid	mode="hybrid" (default)	Vector + keyword merged, re-ranked by 0.6 vector + 0.4 BM25	General-purpose

Search Pipeline

search(query, realm, domain, mode)
│
├── mode="keyword" ──▶ _build_fts_query(query)
│                      │  "login safari" → "login* AND safari*"
│                      │  "login AND safari" → passed through
│                      │  "\"login safari\"" → phrase query
│                      ▼
│                      FTS5 MATCH on entities_fts
│                      JOIN entities for realm/domain filter
│                      ORDER BY rank (BM25)
│                      Fallback to vector search if FTS5 fails
│
├── mode="vector" ────▶ embedder.embed(query) → np.ndarray
│                       FAISS IndexIDMap.search() or ChromaDB query()
│                       Cosine distance → filter by realm/domain → top-k
│
└── mode="hybrid" ────▶ Over-fetch 2× from both vector + keyword
                        Union dedup by entity ID (vector first)
                        Final score = 0.6 × vec_sim + 0.4 × BM25_norm
                        Return top-n_results

Full Pipeline (search_memories)

Used by the MCP search tool for richer results:

1. Over-fetch 3× candidates from vector + keyword
2. Apply max_distance threshold (filter out distant results)
3. Merge candidates — "vector" strategy (default) or "union" (append BM25-only results)
4. Node boost — entities from files with cross-reference nodes get priority
5. Hydration — for boosted results, expand with ±1 neighbor chunks for context
6. BM25 re-rank with weights 0.6 vector + 0.4 BM25
7. Attach node_preview text to boosted results
8. Return top-n_results dict

FTS5 Query Construction

Input	Output	Rule
"login safari"	"login* AND safari*"	Bare terms → prefix wildcard + AND
"login AND safari"	passed through	Operators (AND, OR, NOT, NEAR) verbatim
"\"login safari\""	passed through	Phrase queries verbatim
"multi-part"	"multi* AND part*"	Hyphenated terms split on -

Direct Lookups (non-search)

d.get_entity("entity_id")          # SQL PK lookup
d.list_entities(realm="...")       # SQL with filters, ORDER BY created_at DESC

---

Embedder System

Auto-Detection

Alt Memory automatically picks the best embedder at runtime. No configuration needed.

Priority: sentence-transformers → numpy BERT → TF-IDF+SVD
Quality:  ★★★★★                 → ★★★★      → ★★
Speed:    ★★★★                  → ★★★       → ★★★★★
Deps:     PyTorch (~800MB)       → tokenizers → none

Embedder Reference

Name	Quality	Speed	Dependencies	Platform
sentence	★★★★★	★★★★	sentence-transformers + PyTorch	all
numpy_bert	★★★★	★★★	tokenizers (included)	all incl. Alpine
minilm	★★★★	★★★★★	onnxruntime [onnx]	glibc
embeddinggemma	★★★★★	★★★★	onnxruntime [onnx]	glibc
bert	★★★★	★★★★	onnxruntime or tokenizers [onnx]	all
spacy	★★★	★★★	spacy + en_core_web_md	all
numpy	★★	★★★★★	none (always available)	all

All embedders produce 384-dimensional vectors.

Switching Embedders

# CLI
export ALT_DEFAULT_EMBEDDER=minilm      # set global default
export ALT_DEFAULT_EMBEDDER=numpy       # TF-IDF+SVD (lightest)

# Python
d.set_embedder("sentence")              # auto-reindexes all entities
d.set_embedder("numpy", reindex=False)  # skip reindex (existing vectors stale)

# MCP
{"name": "set_embedder", "arguments": {"model": "minilm", "device": "cpu"}}
{"name": "set_default_embedder", "arguments": {"model": "numpy"}}

Device control for ONNX embedders:

• "auto" — probe CUDA → CoreML → DirectML → CPU (default)
• "cpu" — force CPU execution
• "cuda" — NVIDIA GPU via CUDA
• "coreml" — Apple Silicon
• "dml" — Windows DirectML

When you change the embedder, all entities are automatically re-embedded. On large dimensions this can take time.

---

Backend Switching

Swap between FAISS and ChromaDB at runtime. All data persists in SQLite — only the vector index changes.

# CLI
alt-memory backend chroma   # Note: use MCP or Python API for switching

# Python
d = Dimension(path="~/.alt-memory", backend="chroma")  # initial backend
d.set_backend("faiss")        # hot-swap — moves vectors between backends
d.set_backend("chroma")

# MCP
{"name": "set_backend", "arguments": {"backend": "chroma"}}
{"name": "get_backend", "arguments": {}}

When reindex=True (default), all entities are re-embedded into the new store.

---

Knowledge Graph

The KG stores structured relationship triples with temporal validity.

Concepts

• Subject — the entity doing/being something (e.g. LoginBug)
• Predicate — the relationship type (e.g. affects, priority, found_in)
• Object — the connected entity (e.g. Safari, high, v4.3.0)
• Temporal validity — valid_from / valid_to dates let you answer "what was true at a given time"

MCP Usage

{"name": "kg_add", "arguments": {"subject": "LoginBug", "predicate": "affects", "object": "Safari"}}
{"name": "kg_add", "arguments": {"subject": "LoginBug", "predicate": "priority", "object": "high", "valid_from": "2026-05-01"}}
{"name": "kg_query", "arguments": {"entity": "LoginBug"}}
{"name": "kg_query", "arguments": {"entity": "LoginBug", "as_of": "2026-05-15"}}
{"name": "kg_invalidate", "arguments": {"subject": "LoginBug", "predicate": "priority", "object": "high", "ended": "2026-06-01"}}
{"name": "kg_stats", "arguments": {}}
{"name": "kg_timeline", "arguments": {"entity": "LoginBug"}}

---

Agent Records / Diaries

Per-agent temporal entries with three memory layers.

L0 — Immediate Records (per-exchanges)

d.diary_write("claude", "DEBUG: found race condition in auth retry", topic="debug")
d.diary_write("claude", "User prefers async Python with asyncio", topic="preference")

L1 — Daily Summaries (end of session)

d.diary_write("claude", "SESSION:2026-05-31|fixed.auth.race.cond|★★★", topic="summary")

L2 — Patterns (weekly/ongoing)

d.diary_write("claude", "PATTERN: auth.timeouts→rate.limit.insufficient|★★★★★", topic="pattern")

Reading

alt-memory wake-up --agent claude --last-n 5   # L0+L1 context
alt-memory record-read --agent claude --last-n 10

entries = d.diary_read("claude", last_n=5)

MCP

{"name": "record_write", "arguments": {"agent": "claude", "entry": "Fixed login bug", "topic": "debug"}}
{"name": "record_read", "arguments": {"agent": "claude", "last_n": 5}}
{"name": "list_agents", "arguments": {}}

---

File Mining

Mine source files, conversations, and text into the dimension. Auto-chunks, extracts metadata, and stores entities with source file references.

CLI

# Mine a single file
alt-memory mine src/auth.py --realm myproject --domain code

# Mine a directory (auto-globs, respects .gitignore)
alt-memory mine /path/to/project --realm myproject

# Conversation mode
alt-memory mine /path/to/convos --mode convos

# Extraction mode
alt-memory mine /path/to/formats --mode extract

# Preview without filing
alt-memory mine /path/to/project --dry-run

# Sweep .jsonl files
alt-memory sweep /path/to/file.jsonl

Python

from alt_memory.miner import mine_file_into_dimension, batch_mine, mine_text_into_dimension

# Single file
mine_file_into_dimension(dim, "src/auth.py", "myproject", "code")

# Directory (batch)
batch_mine(dim, "/path/to/project", realm="myproject",
           respect_gitignore=True, file_limit=100)

# Text content
mine_text_into_dimension(dim, text, "myproject", "notes", source="clipboard")

MCP

{"name": "mine_file", "arguments": {"filepath": "src/auth.py", "realm": "myproject", "domain": "code"}}
{"name": "batch_mine", "arguments": {"directory": "/path/to/project", "realm": "myproject"}}
{"name": "mine_text", "arguments": {"text": "raw text...", "realm": "myproject", "domain": "notes"}}

---

Personas

Full documentation: docs/personas.md

A persona is a character definition — a system prompt with a name, matching the Eternal AI .txt file model. Model and framework are deployment choices, not part of the character definition.

Each persona gets an isolated persona_<name> realm for memories, KG facts, and diary entries.

d.create_persona("donald_trump", system_prompt="Act as if you are Donald Trump...")
d.set_persona("donald_trump")
prompt = d.get_persona_character()
# → "Act as if you are Donald Trump..."
# Inject as {"role": "system", "content": prompt} in your LLM call

7 MCP tools: get_persona, set_persona, switch_persona, create_persona, list_personas, delete_persona, get_persona_character.

---

AAAK Compression

AAAK is a compressed memory dialect — readable by humans and LLMs without decoding. Uses 3-letter entity codes, emotion markers, pipe-separated fields, and importance ratings.

# CLI
alt-memory aaak "Alice loves Jordan, they have two kids: Riley (18, into sports)"
# → FAM: ALC→♡JOR | 2D(kids): RIL(18,sports) | ★★★★

# Decompress / parse
alt-memory aaak "FAM: ALC→♡JOR" --output-format json

from alt_memory import aaak_compress, aaak_decompress, aaak_parse_entry

compressed = aaak_compress("Long text here")
parsed = aaak_parse_entry(compressed)
original = aaak_decompress(compressed)

{"name": "aaak_compress", "arguments": {"text": "Your long text here"}}
{"name": "aaak_decompress", "arguments": {"text": "FAM: ALC→♡JOR..."}}
{"name": "aaak_parse", "arguments": {"text": "FAM: ALC→♡JOR..."}}
{"name": "get_aaak_spec", "arguments": {}}

---

Palace Graph (Tunnels)

The palace graph connects domains across realms via tunnels — explicit cross-realm relationships.

from alt_memory.dim_graph import create_tunnel, traverse, graph_stats, find_tunnels

# Link two domains
create_tunnel(
    source_realm="work", source_domain="bugs",
    target_realm="personal", target_domain="learnings",
    label="Same root cause",
)

# Walk the graph from a domain
traverse(start_domain="bugs", max_hops=2)

# Find bridges between realms
find_tunnels(realm_a="work", realm_b="personal")

{"name": "create_tunnel", "arguments": {
  "source_realm": "work", "source_domain": "bugs",
  "target_realm": "personal", "target_domain": "learnings",
  "label": "Same root cause"
}}
{"name": "traverse", "arguments": {"start_domain": "bugs", "max_hops": 2}}
{"name": "graph_stats", "arguments": {}}
{"name": "follow_tunnels", "arguments": {"realm": "work", "domain": "bugs"}}

---

Sync & Maintenance

Sync (prune stale entities)

Removes entities whose source files were deleted or moved:

# Dry-run preview
alt-memory sync --project-dir /path/to/repo

# Actually delete
alt-memory sync --project-dir /path/to/repo --apply

# Limited to one realm
alt-memory sync --project-dir /path/to/repo --realm myproject --apply

Repair

# Quick health check
alt-memory repair-status

# Check SQLite integrity
alt-memory repair --integrity

# Run VACUUM
alt-memory repair --vacuum

# Rebuild FTS5 index
alt-memory repair --rebuild-fts

# Interactive repair mode
alt-memory repair --mode status
alt-memory repair --mode scan
alt-memory repair --mode prune
alt-memory repair --mode rebuild

# Full rebuild from SQLite (covers FAISS corruption)
alt-memory rebuild-from-sqlite

Migration

# Check schema status
alt-memory migrate --status

# Apply pending migrations
alt-memory migrate

# Rebuild FAISS from SQLite
alt-memory migrate --rebuild-faiss

# Dry run
alt-memory migrate --dry-run

Maintenance

# Rebuild just the FTS5 index
alt-memory rebuild-fts

# Check for duplicate content
alt-memory check-dup "content to check"

---

Configuration

Global configuration is stored in ~/.alt-memory/config.json.

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
ALT_DIM_PATH	~/.alt-memory	Default dimension path
ALT_DEFAULT_EMBEDDER	auto	Force a specific embedder (numpy, numpy_bert, sentence, minilm, spacy)
ALT_EMBEDDING_DEVICE	auto	ONNX device (cpu, cuda, coreml, dml)

Config File (~/.alt-memory/config.json)

{
  "dim_path": "~/.alt-memory",
  "default_embedder": "numpy_bert",
  "embedding_device": "auto",
  "people_map": {"Alex": "Alexander", "Beth": "Elizabeth"},
  "hooks_auto_save": true,
  "hook_silent_save": true,
  "hook_desktop_toast": false
}

Hook Settings (via MCP)

{"name": "hook_settings", "arguments": {"silent_save": true, "desktop_toast": false}}

---

Docker

# FAISS + numpy BERT (Alpine, ~117MB content)
docker run -v ~/.alt-memory:/root/.alt-memory kilv/alt-memory:alpine mcp

# Full install (Debian, includes chroma + onnx)
docker run -v ~/.alt-memory:/root/.alt-memory kilv/alt-memory:latest mcp

Tags:

• kilv/alt-memory:latest — Debian-based, full install

• kilv/alt-memory:4.5.4 — versioned Debian

  • kilv/alt-memory:4.5.4-alpine — versioned Alpine

---

Architecture

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              MCP Server (stdio / SSE)                 │
│           65 JSON-RPC tools for AI agents             │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                     Dimension                         │
│         orchestrates realms, domains, entities        │
├──────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────┤
│    Vector Store       │    SQLite + FTS5              │
│  (FAISS / ChromaDB)   │  (entities, KG, metadata)    │
├──────────────────────┴───────────────────────────────┤
│              Embedder Layer (pluggable)                │
│  numpy (TF-IDF+SVD) ── numpy_bert ── minilm (ONNX)    │
│  sentence-transformers ── spaCy ── embeddinggemma      │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Key files

File	Purpose
alt_memory/dimension.py	Main Dimension class — all CRUD, search, status, personas
alt_memory/mcp_server.py	MCP server — 65 JSON-RPC tools over stdio/SSE
alt_memory/cli.py	CLI — 30+ commands
alt_memory/backends/embedder.py	Embedder factory — numpy, ONNX, sentence, spaCy
alt_memory/backends/faiss_store.py	FAISS vector store
alt_memory/backends/chroma_store.py	ChromaDB vector store
alt_memory/backends/knowledge_graph.py	Knowledge Graph (temporal triples)
alt_memory/searcher.py	BM25 ranking, hybrid re-rank, neighbor expansion
alt_memory/dim_graph.py	Palace graph — tunnels, traversal
alt_memory/miner.py	File mining — auto-chunk, entity extraction
alt_memory/sync.py	Sync — prune stale entities
alt_memory/dialect.py	AAAK compression dialect
alt_memory/layers.py	L0/L1/L2 memory stack
alt_memory/config.py	Configuration manager

---

License

MIT