PulseDB

The database that gives your agents shared consciousness. Not message passing. Not RAG. Actual collective memory.

PulseDB is an embedded database purpose-built for agentic AI systems. It provides the substrate for "hive mind" architectures where multiple AI agents share experiences and learn from each other — without coordination overhead.

Features

• Experience-native storage — First-class support for agent experiences with importance, confidence, domain tags, and typed variants (insights, errors, patterns, decisions)
• Integrated vector search — Built-in HNSW approximate nearest neighbor search for semantic similarity (384-dimensional embeddings)
• Knowledge graph — Typed relations between experiences (Supports, Contradicts, Elaborates, Supersedes, Implies, RelatedTo)
• Real-time notifications — In-process watch streams via crossbeam channels (<100ns overhead per event) and cross-process change detection
• Context assembly — Single API call retrieves similar experiences, recent activity, insights, relations, and active agents
• SubstrateProvider — Async trait adapter for PulseHive integration
• Optional ONNX embeddings — Built-in all-MiniLM-L6-v2 (384d) with automatic model download (builtin-embeddings feature)
• ACID transactions — redb-backed storage with crash safety via shadow paging

Quick Start

use pulsedb::{PulseDB, Config, NewExperience};

// Open or create a database
let db = PulseDB::open("my-agents.db", Config::default())?;

// Create a collective (isolated namespace)
let collective = db.create_collective("my-project")?;

// Record an experience
db.record_experience(NewExperience {
    collective_id: collective,
    content: "Always validate user input before processing".to_string(),
    importance: 0.8,
    embedding: Some(vec![0.1f32; 384]),
    ..Default::default()
})?;

// Search for relevant experiences
let query_embedding = vec![0.1f32; 384];
let results = db.search_similar(collective, &query_embedding, 10)?;

// Clean up
db.close()?;

Installation

Add PulseDB to your Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]
pulsehive-db = "0.1"

With built-in embedding generation (no external embedding service needed):

[dependencies]
pulsehive-db = { version = "0.1", features = ["builtin-embeddings"] }

Performance

Measured on Apple Silicon (M-series), single-threaded:

Run benchmarks yourself: cargo bench

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        CONSUMER APPLICATIONS                     │
│  (PulseHive, Custom Agent Systems, RAG Pipelines)               │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                  │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│  │                    PulseDB Public API                        ││
│  │  record_experience()  get_context_candidates()  watch()     ││
│  │  create_collective()  store_relation()  store_insight()     ││
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│                              │                                   │
│  ┌───────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │                     PULSEDB CORE                           │  │
│  │                           │                                │  │
│  │  ┌─────────────┐  ┌──────┴────────┐  ┌─────────────────┐  │  │
│  │  │  Embedding  │  │  Query Engine │  │  Watch System   │  │  │
│  │  │  Provider   │  │  (candidates) │  │  (crossbeam)    │  │  │
│  │  └─────────────┘  └───────────────┘  └─────────────────┘  │  │
│  │         │                 │                   │            │  │
│  │  ┌──────┴─────────────────┴───────────────────┴──────────┐│  │
│  │  │                   Storage Layer                        ││  │
│  │  │  ┌─────────────┐              ┌─────────────────────┐ ││  │
│  │  │  │    redb     │              │    HNSW Index       │ ││  │
│  │  │  │  (KV store) │              │   (hnsw_rs)         │ ││  │
│  │  │  └─────────────┘              └─────────────────────┘ ││  │
│  │  └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│  │
│  └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
│                                                                  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Comparison

PulseDB's unique position: The only embedded database with experience-native storage, integrated vector + graph search, and real-time awareness primitives — purpose-built for agentic AI.

Key Concepts

Collective

A collective is an isolated namespace for experiences, typically one per project. Each collective has its own vector index.

Experience

An experience is a unit of learned knowledge: content, embedding, importance, confidence, domain tags, and a typed variant (insight, error pattern, success pattern, etc.).

SubstrateProvider

The SubstrateProvider trait enables PulseDB to serve as the storage layer for PulseHive's HiveMind architecture. PulseDBSubstrate wraps sync operations with tokio::spawn_blocking for async compatibility.

Documentation

• API Reference (docs.rs)
• CHANGELOG

License

PulseDB is dual-licensed:

• Open Source: GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPL-3.0) — free for open-source projects and internal use. If you modify PulseDB and offer it as a network service, you must release your source code under AGPL-3.0.
• Commercial License: For proprietary use without AGPL obligations, contact us for a commercial license.

This ensures PulseDB remains free for the community while protecting against unauthorized commercial hosting.