# MentisDB
MentisDB, formerly ThoughtChain, is the standalone durable-memory crate in this
repository.
It stores semantically typed thoughts in an append-only, hash-chained memory
log through a swappable storage adapter layer. The current default backend is
binary, but the chain model is no longer tied to that format. Agents can:
- persist important insights, decisions, constraints, and checkpoints
- record retrospectives and lessons learned after hard failures or non-obvious fixes
- relate new thoughts to earlier thoughts with typed graph edges
- query memory by type, role, agent, tags, concepts, text, and importance
- reconstruct context for agent resumption
- export a Markdown memory view that can back `MEMORY.md`, MCP, REST, or CLI flows
The crate is intentionally independent from `cloudllm` so it can be embedded in
other agent systems without creating circular dependencies.
## Quick Start
If you just want the daemon:
```bash
cargo install mentisdb
mentisdbd
```
If you want to leave it running after closing your SSH session:
```bash
nohup mentisdbd &
```
## What Is In This Folder
`mentisdb/` contains:
- the standalone `mentisdb` library crate
- server support for HTTP MCP and REST, enabled by default
- the `mentisdbd` daemon binary
- dedicated tests under `mentisdb/tests`
## Build
From inside `mentisdb/`:
```bash
cargo build
```
Build only the library without the default daemon/server stack:
```bash
cargo build --no-default-features
```
## Test
Run the crate tests:
```bash
cargo test
```
Run tests for the library-only build:
```bash
cargo test --no-default-features
```
Run rustdoc tests:
```bash
cargo test --doc
```
## Generate Docs
Build local Rust documentation:
```bash
cargo doc --no-deps
```
Generate docs for the library-only build:
```bash
cargo doc --no-deps --no-default-features
```
## Run The Daemon
The standalone daemon binary is `mentisdbd`.
Run it from source:
```bash
cargo run --bin mentisdbd
```
Install it from the crate directory while working in this repo:
```bash
cargo install --path . --locked
```
When it starts, it serves both:
- an MCP server
- a REST server
Before serving traffic, it:
- migrates or reconciles discovered chains to the current schema and default storage adapter
- verifies chain integrity and attempts repair from valid local sources when possible
Once startup completes, it prints:
- the active chain directory, default chain key, and bound MCP/REST addresses
- a catalog of all exposed HTTP endpoints with one-line descriptions
- a per-chain summary with version, adapter, thought count, and per-agent counts
## Daemon Configuration
`mentisdbd` is configured with environment variables:
- `MENTISDB_DIR`
Directory where MentisDB storage adapters store chain files.
- `MENTISDB_DEFAULT_KEY`
Default `chain_key` used when requests omit one. Default: `borganism-brain`
- `MENTISDB_DEFAULT_STORAGE_ADAPTER`
Default storage backend for newly created chains. Supported values: `binary`, `jsonl`.
Default: `binary`
- `MENTISDB_STORAGE_ADAPTER`
Optional short alias for `MENTISDB_DEFAULT_STORAGE_ADAPTER`.
- `MENTISDB_VERBOSE`
When unset, verbose interaction logging defaults to `true`. Supported explicit values:
`1`, `0`, `true`, `false`.
- `MENTISDB_LOG_FILE`
Optional path for interaction logs. When set, MentisDB writes interaction logs to that file
even if console verbosity is disabled. If `MENTISDB_VERBOSE=true`, the same lines are also
mirrored to the console logger.
- `MENTISDB_BIND_HOST`
Bind host for both HTTP servers. Default: `127.0.0.1`
- `MENTISDB_MCP_PORT`
MCP server port. Default: `9471`
- `MENTISDB_REST_PORT`
REST server port. Default: `9472`
Example:
```bash
MENTISDB_DIR=/tmp/mentisdb \
MENTISDB_DEFAULT_KEY=borganism-brain \
MENTISDB_DEFAULT_STORAGE_ADAPTER=binary \
MENTISDB_VERBOSE=true \
MENTISDB_LOG_FILE=/tmp/mentisdb/mentisdbd.log \
MENTISDB_BIND_HOST=127.0.0.1 \
MENTISDB_MCP_PORT=9471 \
MENTISDB_REST_PORT=9472 \
cargo run --bin mentisdbd
```
## Server Surfaces
MCP endpoints:
- `GET /health`
- `POST /`
- `POST /tools/list`
- `POST /tools/execute`
REST endpoints:
- `GET /health`
- `GET /mentisdb_skill_md`
- `GET /v1/skills`
- `GET /v1/skills/manifest`
- `GET /v1/chains`
- `POST /v1/bootstrap`
- `POST /v1/agents`
- `POST /v1/agent`
- `POST /v1/agent-registry`
- `POST /v1/agents/upsert`
- `POST /v1/agents/description`
- `POST /v1/agents/aliases`
- `POST /v1/agents/keys`
- `POST /v1/agents/keys/revoke`
- `POST /v1/agents/disable`
- `POST /v1/thought`
- `POST /v1/thoughts/genesis`
- `POST /v1/thoughts`
- `POST /v1/thoughts/traverse`
- `POST /v1/retrospectives`
- `POST /v1/search`
- `POST /v1/recent-context`
- `POST /v1/memory-markdown`
- `POST /v1/skills/upload`
- `POST /v1/skills/search`
- `POST /v1/skills/read`
- `POST /v1/skills/versions`
- `POST /v1/skills/deprecate`
- `POST /v1/skills/revoke`
- `POST /v1/head`
## MCP Tool Catalog
The daemon currently exposes 29 MCP tools:
- `mentisdb_bootstrap`
Create a chain if needed and write one bootstrap checkpoint when it is empty.
- `mentisdb_append`
Append a durable semantic thought with optional tags, concepts, refs, and signature metadata.
- `mentisdb_append_retrospective`
Append a retrospective memory intended to prevent future agents from repeating a hard failure.
- `mentisdb_search`
Search thoughts by semantic filters, identity filters, time bounds, and scoring thresholds.
- `mentisdb_list_chains`
List known chains with version, storage adapter, counts, and storage location.
- `mentisdb_list_agents`
List the distinct agent identities participating in one chain.
- `mentisdb_get_agent`
Return one full agent registry record, including status, aliases, description, keys, and per-chain activity metadata.
- `mentisdb_list_agent_registry`
Return the full per-chain agent registry.
- `mentisdb_upsert_agent`
Create or update a registry record before or after an agent writes thoughts.
- `mentisdb_set_agent_description`
Set or clear the description stored for one registered agent.
- `mentisdb_add_agent_alias`
Add a historical or alternate alias to a registered agent.
- `mentisdb_add_agent_key`
Add or replace one public verification key on a registered agent.
- `mentisdb_revoke_agent_key`
Revoke one previously registered public key.
- `mentisdb_disable_agent`
Disable one agent by marking its registry status as revoked.
- `mentisdb_recent_context`
Render recent thoughts into a prompt snippet for session resumption.
- `mentisdb_memory_markdown`
Export a `MEMORY.md`-style Markdown view of the full chain or a filtered subset.
- `mentisdb_get_thought`
Return one stored thought by stable id, chain index, or content hash.
- `mentisdb_get_genesis_thought`
Return the first thought ever recorded in the chain, if any.
- `mentisdb_traverse_thoughts`
Traverse the chain forward or backward in append order from a chosen anchor, in chunks, with optional filters.
- `mentisdb_skill_md`
Return the official embedded `MENTISDB_SKILL.md` Markdown file.
- `mentisdb_list_skills`
List versioned skill summaries from the skill registry.
- `mentisdb_skill_manifest`
Return the versioned skill-registry manifest, including searchable fields and supported formats.
- `mentisdb_upload_skill`
Upload a new immutable skill version from Markdown or JSON.
- `mentisdb_search_skill`
Search skills by indexed metadata such as ids, names, tags, triggers, uploader identity, status, format, schema version, and time window.
- `mentisdb_read_skill`
Read one stored skill as Markdown or JSON. Responses include trust warnings for untrusted or malicious skill content.
- `mentisdb_skill_versions`
List immutable uploaded versions for one skill.
- `mentisdb_deprecate_skill`
Mark a skill as deprecated while preserving all prior versions.
- `mentisdb_revoke_skill`
Mark a skill as revoked while preserving audit history.
- `mentisdb_head`
Return head metadata, the latest thought at the current chain tip, and integrity state.
The detailed request and response shapes for the MCP surface live in
[`MENTISDB_MCP.md`](../MENTISDB_MCP.md). The REST equivalents live in
[`MENTISDB_REST.md`](../MENTISDB_REST.md).
## Thought Lookup And Traversal
MentisDB now distinguishes three different read patterns:
- `head` means the newest thought at the current tip of the append-only chain
- `genesis` means the very first thought in the chain
- traversal means sequential browsing by append order, forward or backward, in chunks
That traversal model is deliberately different from graph/context traversal through `refs` and typed relations. Graph traversal answers "what is connected to this thought?" Sequential traversal answers "what came before or after this thought in the ledger?"
Lookup and traversal support:
- direct thought lookup by `id`, `hash`, or `index`
- logical `genesis` and `head` anchors
- `forward` and `backward` traversal directions
- `include_anchor` control for inclusive vs exclusive paging
- chunked pagination, including `chunk_size = 1` for next/previous behavior
- optional filters reused from thought search, such as agent identity, thought type, role, tags, concepts, text, importance, confidence, and time windows
- numeric time windows expressed as `start + delta` with `seconds` or `milliseconds` units for MCP/REST callers
## Skill Registry
MentisDB now includes a versioned skill registry stored alongside chain data in a binary file. Skills are ingested through adapters:
- Markdown -> `SkillDocument`
- JSON -> `SkillDocument`
- `SkillDocument` -> Markdown
- `SkillDocument` -> JSON
Each uploaded skill version records:
- registry file version
- skill schema version
- upload timestamp
- responsible `agent_id`
- optional agent display name and owner from the MentisDB agent registry
- source format
- integrity hash
Uploaders must already exist in the agent registry for the referenced chain. Reusing an existing `skill_id` creates a new immutable version; it does not overwrite history.
`read_skill` responses include explicit safety warnings because `SKILL.md` content can be malicious. Treat every skill as advisory until provenance, trust, and requested capabilities are validated.
## Using With MCP Clients
`mentisdbd` exposes both:
- a standard streamable HTTP MCP endpoint at `POST /`
- the legacy CloudLLM-compatible MCP endpoints at `POST /tools/list` and
`POST /tools/execute`
That means you can:
- use native MCP clients such as Codex and Claude Code against `http://127.0.0.1:9471`
- keep using direct HTTP calls or `cloudllm`'s MCP compatibility layer when needed
### Codex
Codex CLI expects a streamable HTTP MCP server when you use `--url`:
```bash
codex mcp add mentisdb --url http://127.0.0.1:9471
```
Useful follow-up commands:
```bash
codex mcp list
codex mcp get mentisdb
```
This connects Codex to the daemon's standard MCP root endpoint.
### Qwen Code
Qwen Code uses the same HTTP MCP transport model:
```bash
qwen mcp add --transport http mentisdb http://127.0.0.1:9471
```
Useful follow-up commands:
```bash
qwen mcp list
```
For user-scoped configuration:
```bash
qwen mcp add --scope user --transport http mentisdb http://127.0.0.1:9471
```
### Claude Code
Claude Code supports MCP servers through its `claude mcp` commands and
project/user MCP config. For a remote HTTP MCP server, the configuration shape
is transport-based:
```bash
claude mcp add --transport http mentisdb http://127.0.0.1:9471
```
Useful follow-up commands:
```bash
claude mcp list
claude mcp get mentisdb
```
Claude Code also supports JSON config files such as `.mcp.json`. A MentisDB
HTTP MCP config looks like this:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"mentisdb": {
"type": "http",
"url": "http://127.0.0.1:9471"
}
}
}
```
Important:
- `/mcp` inside Claude Code is mainly for managing or authenticating MCP
servers that are already configured
- the server itself must already be running at the configured URL
### GitHub Copilot CLI
GitHub Copilot CLI can also connect to `mentisdbd` as a remote HTTP MCP
server.
From interactive mode:
1. Run `/mcp add`
2. Set `Server Name` to `mentisdb`
3. Set `Server Type` to `HTTP`
4. Set `URL` to `http://127.0.0.1:9471`
5. Leave headers empty unless you add auth later
6. Save the config
You can also configure it manually in `~/.copilot/mcp-config.json`:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"mentisdb": {
"type": "http",
"url": "http://127.0.0.1:9471",
"headers": {},
"tools": ["*"]
}
}
}
```
## Retrospective Memory
MentisDB supports a dedicated retrospective workflow for lessons learned.
- Use `mentisdb_append` for ordinary durable facts, constraints, decisions,
plans, and summaries.
- Use `mentisdb_append_retrospective` after a repeated failure, a long snag,
or a non-obvious fix when future agents should avoid repeating the same
struggle.
The retrospective helper:
- defaults `thought_type` to `LessonLearned`
- always stores the thought with `role = Retrospective`
- still supports tags, concepts, confidence, importance, and `refs` to earlier
thoughts such as the original mistake or correction
## Shared-Chain Multi-Agent Use
Multiple agents can write to the same `chain_key`.
Each stored thought carries a stable:
- `agent_id`
Agent profile metadata now lives in the per-chain agent registry instead of
being duplicated into every thought record. Registry records can store:
- `display_name`
- `agent_owner`
- `description`
- `aliases`
- `status`
- `public_keys`
- per-chain activity counters such as `thought_count`, `first_seen_index`, and `last_seen_index`
That allows a shared chain to represent memory from:
- multiple agents in one workflow
- multiple named roles in one orchestration system
- multiple tenants or owners writing to the same chain namespace
Queries can filter by:
- `agent_id`
- `agent_name`
- `agent_owner`
Administrative tools can also inspect and mutate the agent registry directly,
so agents can be documented, disabled, aliased, or provisioned with public keys
before they start writing thoughts.
## Related Docs
At the repository root:
- `MENTISDB_MCP.md`
- `MENTISDB_REST.md`
- `mentisdb/WHITEPAPER.md`
- `mentisdb/changelog.txt`