konkondb 0.5.0

AI-oriented context DB middleware — Pluggable engine between Raw Data and Context serving

konkondb

Materialized views for AI — pre-build the context your LLM actually needs.

The Problem

Most RAG systems follow a Compute on Read pattern: chunk documents, vector-search at query time, and hope the retrieved fragments give the LLM enough context. This leads to:

• Lost context — chunking destroys document structure, cross-references, and the big picture
• Wasted tokens — raw fragments flood the context window, leaving less room for reasoning
• Fragile iteration — "AI gives bad answers" but you can't tell if the problem is your prompt, your retrieval, or your data

The Solution

konkondb flips this to Compute on Write. Instead of searching raw data at query time, you pre-build AI-optimized views — summaries, structured Markdown, relationship maps, filtered tables — and serve them directly.

Raw Data ──▶ build() ──▶ Context Store ──▶ query() ──▶ AI-ready context
             (your logic)   (your format)    (your logic)

You control the transformation. Write a konkon.py plugin with your own build() and query() logic. Use any technology inside — LLM summarization, vector DBs, SQL views, plain Markdown files. konkondb handles the rest: data storage, incremental builds, CLI, Python API, and serving over REST/MCP.

Why this matters

• Stable, predictable output — same query always returns the same pre-built context, no retrieval variance
• Fast iteration — change your transform logic, run konkon build, test immediately. No prompt tweaking.
• Token efficient — deliver exactly the context the LLM needs, pre-structured and pre-condensed
• Fully portable — SQLite-based, no external services required. Your data + plugin = reproducible context anywhere

Quick Start

# Install
pip install konkondb

# Initialize a project in the current directory
konkon init

# Store some raw data
konkon insert "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog"
konkon insert -m source_uri=notes.md "Meeting notes from 2026-02-27"

# Transform data via your plugin
konkon build

# Query the transformed context
konkon search "fox"

# Pass parameters to query()
konkon search "fox" --param view=summary

Plugin

konkon init generates a konkon.py template:

"""konkon plugin."""

from konkon.types import RawDataAccessor, QueryRequest, QueryResult


def schema():
    """Declare the query interface."""
    return {
        "description": "My konkon plugin",
        "params": {},
        "result": {
            "description": "Query result",
        },
    }


def build(raw_data: RawDataAccessor, context) -> None:
    """Transform raw data into AI-ready context."""
    pass


def query(request: QueryRequest) -> str | QueryResult:
    """Handle a query request."""
    return ""

All three functions are required:

• schema() declares the plugin's query interface — description, accepted parameters, and result metadata. Used by konkon describe, MCP tool definitions, and REST API docs.
• build() receives a read-only accessor over raw records and a build context. Use it to populate your own context store — a vector DB, a SQLite index, a set of Markdown files, or anything else.
• query() receives a search request (request.query + request.params) and returns results from your context store.

If your plugin uses external libraries, see the Plugin Environment Setup guide.

Using a plugin inside a src/ layout

If your plugin lives inside a Python package (e.g. src/myapp/plugin.py), use --import-root so that package imports work correctly:

konkon init --plugin src/myapp/plugin.py --import-root src

This tells konkondb to add src/ to sys.path when loading the plugin, so from myapp.utils import ... works as expected. Without --import-root, only the plugin's parent directory is added (suitable for standalone scripts).

CLI Commands

Command	Description
konkon init [DIR]	Create a konkon project (generates konkon.py template and .konkon/ directory). Use --plugin and --import-root for custom plugin locations
konkon insert [TEXT]	Append text data to Raw DB (supports stdin)
konkon update ID	Update an existing Raw Record's content or metadata
konkon build	Run build() from the plugin (supports incremental builds)
konkon search "query"	Run query() from the plugin and output results
konkon describe	Show the plugin's schema (query interface)
konkon raw list	List recent Raw Records (debug)
konkon raw get ID	Show a single Raw Record by ID (debug)
konkon serve api|mcp	Start a REST API or MCP server (not yet implemented)

Python API

konkondb can also be used as a library. The public API mirrors the CLI commands:

from pathlib import Path
import konkon

project = Path(".")
konkon.init(project)
record = konkon.insert("some content", {"source_uri": "test.md"}, project)
konkon.build(project)
result = konkon.search(project, "query", params={"view": "summary"})
schema = konkon.describe(project)

Example: Self-Indexing Plugin

examples/konkondb/ is a real-world plugin that konkondb uses to index its own project. It builds structured context for AI coding agents using LLM-based document condensation.

targets.py                   konkon.py                    context.json
┌─────────────┐              ┌──────────────┐             ┌──────────┐
│ BUILDS      │──build()────▶│ _build_*()   │────────────▶│ views    │
│ (what to store) │           │              │             │ tables   │
└─────────────┘              └──────────────┘             └──────────┘
┌─────────────┐              ┌──────────────┐             ┌──────────┐
│ QUERIES     │──query()────▶│ _render_*()  │◀────────────│ views    │
│ (how to assemble)│           │              │             │ tables   │
└─────────────┘              └──────────────┘             └──────────┘

The plugin provides multiple views via --param view=:

View	Purpose
implementation	Condensed design docs + source file map for implementation tasks
design	Raw design docs + doc index for architectural decisions
plugin-dev	Plugin Contract specs + example plugin code
dev-full	Combined design + implementation context

# Build context (LLM condenses docs, generates file summaries)
uv run konkon build --full

# Get implementation context
uv run konkon search "" --param view=implementation

# Filter by source path
uv run konkon search "" --param view=implementation --param source=cli

Key patterns demonstrated:

• Declarative configuration: targets.py separates build targets and query views from the engine in konkon.py
• LLM integration: Parallel LLM calls with caching for document condensation
• Multiple views: One plugin serves different context needs via params
• Context Store: Simple context.json as the materialized view

Architecture

konkondb is organized into three Bounded Contexts with an Application Layer providing unified orchestration:

CLI / Python API (Entry Points)
 |
 +---> Application Layer     — Thin Orchestrator (Use Cases)
        |
        +---> Ingestion Context       — Raw DB (SQLite, append-only)
        |
        +---> Transformation Context  — Plugin Host (load + invoke konkon.py)
        |
        +---> Serving Context         — REST API / MCP server adapters

• Application Layer orchestrates Context Facades without business logic. CLI and Python API are symmetric entry points that delegate to the same Use Cases.
• Ingestion owns the Raw DB (single source of truth). Plugins never access it directly — they receive a RawDataAccessor protocol instead.
• Transformation loads the user plugin, validates the contract (schema + build + query), and orchestrates execution.
• Serving exposes query() results over REST or MCP. Fully stateless — no direct DB access.

Module boundaries are enforced at the import level by tach.

Development

# Install dependencies
uv sync

# Run all tests (unit tests + module boundary checks)
uv run pytest

# Run boundary checks only
uv run tach check

Requires Python >= 3.11.

Status

Beta — usable for real projects. API may still evolve.

License

MIT — see LICENSE for details.