agentmem
mcp-name: io.github.oxgeneral/agentmem
Lightweight persistent memory for AI agents. One SQLite file. Hybrid search (keywords + semantics). Zero to 12MB install.
No PyTorch. No cloud. No server. Just memory.
Why
Every AI agent session starts from zero. Context windows compress, conversations end, memory vanishes. agentmem gives agents persistent memory that survives across sessions — in a single SQLite file.
- Hybrid search: FTS5 full-text keywords + vector semantic search, fused with adaptive ranking
- 4 operational modes: from zero dependencies (stdlib only) to best quality (12MB)
- 16 MCP tools: recall, remember, save_state, compact, consolidate, entities, and more
- HTTP REST API: 14 endpoints, zero-dependency server, CORS-ready
- 5 memory tiers: core, learned, episodic, working (auto-expires), procedural (behavioral rules)
- Namespaces: multi-user, multi-agent memory isolation
- Temporal versioning: fact evolution chains with supersedes tracking
- Entity extraction: auto-extracts @mentions, URLs, IPs, env vars, money amounts
- Conversation extraction: auto-extracts facts, decisions, TODOs from chat history
- Importance scoring: auto-scores memories by tier, length, specificity, structure
- Memory consolidation: finds and merges near-duplicate memories
- Recency boost: newer memories rank higher with configurable decay
- Multilingual: Russian keywords via FTS5, English semantics via embeddings
- Fast: <1ms/query hybrid search, <5ms cold start, <0.2ms/chunk import
Install
# Best quality (sqlite-vec + model2vec, 12MB total)
pip install agentmem[all]
# Minimal (sqlite-vec + hash embeddings, 151KB)
pip install agentmem
# Zero dependencies (pure Python, stdlib only)
pip install agentmem --no-deps
Quick Start
Python API
from agentmem import MemoryStore, get_embedding_model
# Auto-selects best available backend
embed = get_embedding_model()
store = MemoryStore("memory.db", embedding_dim=embed.dim)
store.set_embed_fn(embed)
# Store memories with namespaces
store.remember("Server costs $50/month", tier="core", namespace="infra")
store.remember("API returns 403 without auth", tier="learned", namespace="api")
store.remember("Deployed v2.1 at 15:30", tier="episodic")
# Search — hybrid keyword + semantic, with recency boost
results = store.recall("server costs", recency_weight=0.15)
# Namespace isolation
results = store.recall("server", namespace="infra")
# Save working state before context compression
store.save_state("Working on auth fix, step 3/5, blocked by CORS")
# Add behavioral rules (procedural memory)
store.add_procedure("Always use HTTPS in production")
store.add_procedure("Never expose debug endpoints")
rules = store.get_procedures() # → formatted for system prompt
# Update facts with version chain
store.update_memory(old_id=1, new_content="Server costs $75/month")
history = store.history(memory_id=2) # → trace fact evolution
# Find related memories by entity
related = store.related("10.0.0.1") # → all memories mentioning this IP
entities = store.entities(entity_type="ip") # → list all known IPs
# Auto-extract from conversations
messages = [
{"role": "user", "content": "Set API_KEY to sk-abc123. Always validate input."},
{"role": "assistant", "content": "Noted. I decided to use pydantic for validation."},
]
result = store.process_conversation(messages, namespace="project")
# → extracts config, preferences, decisions automatically
# Maintenance
store.compact(max_age_days=90) # archive old low-value memories
store.consolidate(similarity_threshold=0.85) # merge near-duplicates
# Import markdown files
store.import_markdown("MEMORY.md", tier="core")
CLI
# Initialize database
agentmem init --db memory.db
# Import markdown files
agentmem import MEMORY.md --tier core -n my-agent
agentmem import-dir ./daily-logs/ --tier episodic
# Search with namespace filter
agentmem search "deployment process" --limit 5 -n infra
# Manage procedures
agentmem add-procedure "Always use markdown formatting"
agentmem procedures
# View entities and relations
agentmem entities --type ip
agentmem related 10.0.0.1
# Maintenance
agentmem compact --max-age-days 90 --dry-run
agentmem consolidate --threshold 0.85
# Process conversation
agentmem process chat.json -n project
# Stats and export
agentmem stats
agentmem export --tier core
MCP Server (stdio)
python -m agentmem --db memory.db
Add to your MCP client config:
{
"mcpServers": {
"memory": {
"command": "python",
"args": ["-m", "agentmem", "--db", "/path/to/memory.db"]
}
}
}
HTTP REST API
# Start HTTP server
agentmem serve-http --port 8422
# Or directly
agentmem-http --port 8422 --db memory.db
# Store a memory
curl -X POST http://localhost:8422/remember \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"content": "Server IP is 10.0.0.1", "tier": "core", "namespace": "infra"}'
# Search
curl "http://localhost:8422/recall?query=server+IP&namespace=infra"
# Health check
curl http://localhost:8422/health
16 MCP tools / 14 HTTP endpoints:
| Tool | HTTP | Description |
|---|---|---|
recall | GET /recall | Hybrid keyword + semantic search |
remember | POST /remember | Store a new memory |
save_state | POST /save_state | Emergency save before context compression |
today | GET /today | Get all memories from today |
forget | POST /forget | Archive a memory (soft delete) |
unarchive | POST /unarchive | Restore an archived memory |
stats | GET /stats | Memory statistics and health |
compact | POST /compact | Archive low-value memories |
consolidate | POST /consolidate | Merge near-duplicate memories |
update_memory | POST /update_memory | Replace a memory with version chain |
history | GET /history | Trace fact version history |
related | GET /related | Find memories by entity |
entities | GET /entities | List all extracted entities |
get_procedures | — | Get behavioral rules for system prompt |
add_procedure | — | Add a behavioral rule |
process_conversation | — | Auto-extract from chat history |
Memory Tiers
| Tier | Purpose | Auto-compacted | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
core | Permanent facts | Never | "Server IP is 10.0.0.1" |
procedural | Behavioral rules | Never | "Always use HTTPS" |
learned | Discovered knowledge | After 90 days | "API returns 403 without auth" |
episodic | Events | After 90 days | "Deployed v2.1 at 15:30" |
working | Current task state | After 24 hours | "Working on step 3/5" |
Namespaces
Isolate memories per user, agent, or project:
# Store in namespaces
store.remember("Alice's API key", namespace="user/alice")
store.remember("Bob's config", namespace="user/bob")
store.remember("Shared fact", namespace="team")
# Search within namespace (prefix matching)
store.recall("API", namespace="user/alice") # only Alice's memories
store.recall("API", namespace="user") # Alice + Bob (prefix match)
store.recall("API") # everything
Temporal Versioning
Track how facts evolve over time:
# Initial fact
r1 = store.remember("Server costs $50/month", tier="core")
# Fact changes — old version archived, linked via supersedes
r2 = store.update_memory(r1["id"], "Server costs $75/month")
# Trace the history
history = store.history(r2["id"])
# → [{"id": 2, "content": "...$75..."}, {"id": 1, "content": "...$50..."}]
Entity Extraction
Automatic regex-based NER on every remember() call:
| Type | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
mention | @username | @alice |
url | https://... | https://api.example.com |
ip | N.N.N.N | 10.0.0.1 |
port | :NNNN | :8080 |
email | user@domain | admin@example.com |
env_var | ALL_CAPS | OPENAI_API_KEY |
money | $NNN | $50 |
path | /unix/path | /etc/nginx/conf.d |
hashtag | #tag | #deployment |
# Find all memories mentioning an entity
store.related("10.0.0.1")
store.related("@alice", entity_type="mention")
# List all known entities
store.entities() # sorted by memory count
store.entities(entity_type="ip")
Conversation Auto-Extraction
Auto-extract memories from chat history (regex-only, no LLM):
messages = [
{"role": "user", "content": "Set DATABASE_URL to postgres://localhost/mydb"},
{"role": "assistant", "content": "I decided to use connection pooling. Important: max 20 connections."},
{"role": "user", "content": "Always validate input. TODO: add rate limiting."},
]
result = store.process_conversation(messages)
# Extracts: config→core, decisions→episodic, preferences→procedural, todos→working, important→core
Operational Modes
agentmem automatically selects the best available mode:
| Mode | Install Size | Init Time | Query Time | Dependencies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sqlite-vec + model2vec | 12 MB | ~5ms* | ~1ms | sqlite-vec, model2vec, numpy |
| sqlite-vec + hash | 151 KB | ~5ms | ~0.8ms | sqlite-vec |
| pure Python + hash | 0 KB | ~3ms | ~1.8ms | none (stdlib only) |
| pure + int8 quantize | 0 KB | ~3ms | ~3ms | none (stdlib only) |
*With lazy loading — model2vec loads on first query, not on init
Architecture
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ MemoryStore │
│ ┌──────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌────────────┐ │
│ │ FTS5 │ │ Vector │ │ Entity │ │
│ │ keywords │ │ Index │ │ Index │ │
│ │ + BM25 │ │ cosine │ │ regex NER │ │
│ └────┬─────┘ └────┬─────┘ └─────┬──────┘ │
│ └──────┬───────┘ │ │
│ Adaptive Hybrid Scorer │ │
│ (query classify + recency + │ │
│ importance boost) │ │
│ ┌──────────────────────────────────┴───────┐ │
│ │ SQLite + WAL │ │
│ │ memories │ memories_fts │ vecs │ entities│ │
│ └──────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ One file: memory.db │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Comparison
| Feature | agentmem | ChromaDB | LanceDB | mem0 | Zep |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Install size | 0-12 MB | 400+ MB | 100+ MB | 500+ MB | Cloud |
| Cold start | 3-5 ms | seconds | seconds | seconds | N/A |
| PyTorch required | No | Yes | No | Yes | N/A |
| Cloud required | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Zero-dep mode | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Keyword search | FTS5 (BM25) | No | No | No | Yes |
| MCP server | 16 tools | No | No | Yes | No |
| HTTP API | Built-in | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Single file DB | Yes | No | Yes | No | No |
| Namespaces | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Temporal versioning | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Entity extraction | Auto (regex) | No | No | No | No |
| Procedural memory | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Importance scoring | Auto | No | No | No | No |
| Conversation extraction | Auto (regex) | No | No | Yes (LLM) | Yes (LLM) |
| Memory consolidation | Yes | No | No | Yes (LLM) | No |
License
MIT