mindkeep 0.2.0

Cross-project on-disk memory store for AI coding agents (stdlib-only, SQLite/WAL).

🧠 mindkeep

Crash-safe, per-project long-term memory for AI coding agents. Zero runtime dependencies · SQLite + WAL · Python ≥ 3.9 · MIT

Give your agents a real memory: facts, ADRs, preferences and session recaps that survive across runs, machines and Ctrl-C. All stored locally in plain SQLite files you can read, back up or git diff.

✨ Features

• 🔒 Crash-safe — WAL + 30s flush, survives SIGKILL
• 🗂 Per-project isolation — one SQLite file per repo hash
• 🌐 Global preferences — user tastes follow you across projects
• 🛡 Secrets redactor — 11 credential patterns scrubbed by default
• 🪶 stdlib-only core — no deps at runtime, pip stays quiet
• 🔌 CLI + Python API — mindkeep show or from mindkeep import MemoryStore
• 📦 JSON export/import — portable, inspectable, diffable

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🔐 Verify before running

One-line curl | bash / iwr | iex is convenient but executes remote code blindly. For anything production-sensitive, download first, review, then run:

Windows (PowerShell):

iwr https://github.com/AllenS0104/mindkeep/releases/latest/download/install.ps1 -OutFile install.ps1
# open install.ps1 in your editor and review it, then:
.\install.ps1

macOS / Linux:

curl -fsSL https://github.com/AllenS0104/mindkeep/releases/latest/download/install.sh -o install.sh
# open install.sh in your editor and review it, then:
bash install.sh

Every GitHub Release ships a SHA256SUMS file alongside the wheel / sdist / install scripts, so you can pin to a tagged version and verify integrity:

curl -fsSL -o SHA256SUMS https://github.com/AllenS0104/mindkeep/releases/latest/download/SHA256SUMS
sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS --ignore-missing

# PowerShell equivalent
Get-FileHash -Algorithm SHA256 .\install.ps1
# compare the output against the matching line in SHA256SUMS

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🚀 Quickstart

Option A · One-shot install (recommended)

Windows (PowerShell):

iwr https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AllenS0104/mindkeep/main/install.ps1 | iex

macOS / Linux:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AllenS0104/mindkeep/main/install.sh | bash

The installer checks Python ≥ 3.9, installs pipx if missing, adds the scripts dir to your PATH, and runs mindkeep doctor so you know it works.

Option B · Manual via pipx

pipx install git+https://github.com/AllenS0104/mindkeep.git

Option C · Offline wheel

Grab the .whl from the Releases page:

pip install --user ./mindkeep-0.2.0-py3-none-any.whl

Verify

mindkeep --version
mindkeep doctor

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🎬 Real-world scenario

A day in the life of an AI coding agent that doesn't lose its mind on Ctrl-C. Reads use the CLI; writes use the Python one-liner (the CLI is intentionally read-only — agents call the API directly).

# === Session 1 — agent opens a checkout API repo ===
$ cd ~/code/checkout-api
$ mindkeep where
data_dir: ~/.local/share/mindkeep · project=7c4e1a9f0b3d

# agent thinking: "before I touch anything, what do I already know?"
$ mindkeep show --kind facts --limit 20
(no rows yet)

# agent thinking: "user just confirmed JWT RS256 over HS256. Persist it."
$ python -c "from mindkeep import MemoryStore; \
    s = MemoryStore.open(); \
    s.add_fact('auth.method: JWT RS256 — rotated quarterly via KMS', tags=['auth','security']); \
    s.add_adr('RS256 over HS256', \
              decision='Use asymmetric JWT signing (RSA-256).', \
              rationale='Downstream services verify without sharing the secret.'); \
    s.close()"

# === ~~~ ⚡ process killed (laptop sleep / SIGKILL / OOM) ~~~ ===

# === Session 2 — agent reboots, same repo ===
$ cd ~/code/checkout-api
$ mindkeep show --kind facts
content="auth.method: JWT RS256 — rotated quarterly via KMS"  tags=auth,security  2026-04-27T09:42:11Z
# agent thinking: "good, I remember. Continue where I left off."

# === Session 3 — agent switches to a different repo ===
$ cd ~/code/admin-portal
$ mindkeep where
data_dir: ~/.local/share/mindkeep · project=2e8b6d04ac17   ← different ID
$ mindkeep show --kind facts
(no rows yet)   ← admin-portal has its own memory, untainted by checkout-api

Each repo gets its own SQLite file. Crash, switch context, reboot — your agent's memory follows the project.

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🤖 Plug into your AI agent

Wire mindkeep into whichever agent you use. Two recipes below; the pattern (recall on start, store on decision) is identical for any other tool.

GitHub Copilot CLI

Drop this into ~/.copilot/copilot-instructions.md (or your repo's AGENTS.md):

## Project memory

At session start, load prior decisions for this project:
  mindkeep show --kind facts --limit 20
  mindkeep show --kind adrs  --limit 10

When you make architectural decisions or capture user preferences, persist
them via the Python API (the CLI is intentionally read-only):
  python -c "from mindkeep import MemoryStore; s=MemoryStore.open(); \
             s.add_fact('<short claim about the project>', tags=['<topic>']); s.close()"
  python -c "from mindkeep import MemoryStore; s=MemoryStore.open(); \
             s.add_adr('<short title>', decision='<the decision>', rationale='<why>'); s.close()"

Forget secrets — the redactor handles them, but don't rely on it.

Claude Code

Add the same pattern to ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md (or wrap it as a project skill):

# Project memory

Before answering, check project memory:
  mindkeep show --kind facts --limit 10
  mindkeep show --kind adrs  --limit 10

After confirming a decision with the user, persist it via the Python API:
  python -c "from mindkeep import MemoryStore; s=MemoryStore.open(); \
             s.add_adr('<short title>', decision='<the decision>', rationale='<one-paragraph rationale>'); s.close()"

Full CLI surface and Python API are in docs/USAGE.md.

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📖 Documentation

Full docs live in docs/ — start at the portal for role- and task-based navigation.

Guide	One-liner
INSTALL	4 ways to install, enterprise & air-gap, doctor diagnostics
USAGE	CLI reference + Python API + 8 cookbook recipes
UNINSTALL	Backup, removal, PATH restore, compliance exit
FAQ	22 questions across 5 categories
TROUBLESHOOTING	19 symptoms in symptom / cause / diagnose / fix form

See also: ARCHITECTURE.md · CHANGELOG.md · CONTRIBUTING.md

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📖 Usage / 使用方式

CLI — 命令行

Eight subcommands, all --help-friendly:

list      list all known projects
show      show rows for a project  (--kind facts|adrs|preferences|sessions|all)
clear     delete rows from a project
export    dump a project to JSON
import    load a JSON dump into a project
where     print data_dir and current project id
doctor    run environment health checks
upgrade   pull the latest release (pip/pipx auto-detected)

One full example — inspect the current repo's memory:

cd ~/code/my-app
mindkeep where              # → C:\Users\you\AppData\Roaming\mindkeep · project=a1b2c3d4e5f6
mindkeep show --kind facts --limit 5
mindkeep export ./my-app-memory.json

Python API — 程序化调用

from mindkeep import MemoryStore

with MemoryStore.open() as store:          # resolves project from cwd
    store.add_fact("stack: Postgres 15 + FastAPI", tags=["stack"])
    store.add_adr("use RSA-256 for JWT",
                  decision="Sign JWTs with RS256.",
                  rationale="Asymmetric keys let downstream services verify without sharing the secret.")
    store.set_preference("style.quote", "single", scope="user")

    for row in store.list_facts(tag="stack"):
        print(row["value"])

The store auto-flushes every 30 seconds, on close(), and on atexit / SIGTERM. Secrets are redacted before they hit disk.

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🏗 How it works

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Your agent process                                         │
│                                                             │
│   MemoryStore ─► SecretsRedactor ─► SQLite (WAL mode)       │
│        │                                  │                 │
│        └── flush scheduler (30s) ─────────┘                 │
└──────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┘
                           ▼
        <data_dir>/
          ├── projects/
          │     ├── a1b2c3d4e5f6.db      ← repo A (hashed path)
          │     ├── a1b2c3d4e5f6.meta.json
          │     └── 9f8e7d6c5b4a.db      ← repo B
          └── preferences.db             ← cross-project user tastes

• Project ID = first 12 hex chars of sha256(git-remote || abs-path)
• data_dir = %APPDATA%\mindkeep\ (Windows), ~/Library/Application Support/mindkeep/ (macOS), or $XDG_DATA_HOME/mindkeep/ (Linux). Override with $MINDKEEP_HOME.
• Crash safety = WAL + synchronous=NORMAL + atomic rename for .meta.json + atexit/SIGTERM flush hooks

See ARCHITECTURE.md for the full contract and ADRs.

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❓ FAQ

The 4 most-asked questions are inline below. For the full 22-question FAQ (getting started, usage, security, internals, troubleshooting) see docs/FAQ.md.

Q: If I Ctrl-C the CLI, do I lose data? A: No. WAL mode flushes on every commit; the 30-second scheduler plus atexit / SIGTERM hooks guarantee durability. SIGKILL is safe too — SQLite replays the WAL on next open.

Q: Is it safe to store prompts and errors in here? A: Yes. SecretsRedactor is on by default and scrubs 11 classes of credentials before write: PEM private keys, JWTs, GitHub PATs (classic + fine-grained), AWS access & secret keys, Google API keys, Slack tokens, OpenAI keys, Azure storage keys, plus a generic password|token|api_key=… sweep. Still — don't store secrets on purpose.

Q: I installed it but mindkeep isn't found. A: Run python -m mindkeep doctor — it prints the exact PATH it expects. Usually it's fixed by opening a new terminal (installers edit PATH for future shells). See docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md for more.

Q: How do I upgrade / uninstall? A: mindkeep upgrade (auto-detects pipx vs pip). To remove: pipx uninstall mindkeep. Your data in data_dir is not deleted — see docs/UNINSTALL.md for a clean wipe.

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🛠 Development

git clone https://github.com/AllenS0104/mindkeep.git
cd mindkeep
pip install -e ".[dev]"
pytest

PRs welcome — please run pytest and keep the stdlib-only rule for src/mindkeep/ (dev-deps are fine).

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📜 License

MIT — see LICENSE.

👤 Author

Built by Allen Song (@AllenS0104) with help from a fleet of AI sub-agents (architect, coder, ops, PMO, UX inspector — see .github/agents/). The stdlib-only constraint is intentional: a memory layer shouldn't depend on a memory of dependencies.

Issues, ideas, PRs welcome at github.com/AllenS0104/mindkeep/issues.