shodh-memory 0.1.5

Cognitive memory system for AI agents - Hebbian learning, activation decay, semantic consolidation in a single binary
Documentation


We built this because AI agents forget everything between sessions. They make the same mistakes, ask the same questions, lose context constantly.

Shodh-Memory fixes that. It's a cognitive memory system—Hebbian learning, activation decay, semantic consolidation—packed into a single 8MB binary that runs offline.

How it works:

Experiences flow through three tiers based on Cowan's working memory model [1]. New information enters capacity-limited working memory, overflows into session storage, and consolidates into long-term memory based on importance. When memories are retrieved together successfully, their connections strengthen—classic Hebbian learning [2]. After enough co-activations, those connections become permanent. Unused memories naturally fade.

Working Memory ──overflow──▶ Session Memory ──importance──▶ Long-Term Memory
   (100 items)                  (500 MB)                      (RocksDB)

Architecture

Storage & Retrieval

  • Vamana graph index for approximate nearest neighbor search [3]
  • MiniLM-L6 embeddings (384-dim, 25MB) for semantic similarity
  • TinyBERT NER (15MB) for entity extraction (Person, Organization, Location, Misc)
  • RocksDB for durable persistence across restarts

Cognitive Processing

  • Named entity recognition — TinyBERT extracts entities; boosts importance and enables graph relationships
  • Spreading activation retrieval — queries activate related memories through semantic and graph connections [5]
  • Activation decay — exponential decay A(t) = A₀ · e^(-λt) applied each maintenance cycle
  • Hebbian strengthening — co-retrieved memories form graph edges; weight increases on co-activation
  • Long-term potentiation — edges surviving threshold co-activations become permanent

Semantic Consolidation

  • Episodic memories older than 7 days compress into semantic facts
  • Entity extraction preserves key information during compression

Use cases

Local LLM memory — Give Claude, GPT, or any local model persistent memory across sessions.

Robotics & drones — On-device experience accumulation without cloud round-trips.

Edge AI — Run on Jetson, Raspberry Pi, industrial PCs. Sub-millisecond retrieval, zero network dependency.

Personal knowledge base — Your own searchable memory. Decisions, learnings, discoveries—private and local.

Compared to alternatives

Shodh-Memory Mem0 Cognee
Deployment Single 8MB binary Cloud API Neo4j + Vector DB
Offline 100% No Partial
Learning Hebbian + decay + LTP Vector similarity Knowledge graphs
Latency Sub-millisecond Network-bound Database-bound
Best for Local-first, edge, privacy Cloud scale Enterprise ETL

Performance

Measured on Intel i7-1355U (10 cores, 1.7GHz), release build.

API Latencies

Endpoint Operation Latency
POST /api/remember Store memory (existing user) 55-60ms
POST /api/recall Semantic search 34-58ms
POST /api/recall/tags Tag-based search ~1ms
GET /api/list List memories ~1ms
GET /health Health check ~1ms

Knowledge Graph (Criterion benchmarks)

Operation Latency
Entity lookup 763ns
Relationship query 2.2µs
Hebbian strengthen 5.7µs
Graph traversal (3-hop) 30µs

Neural Models

Model Operation Latency
MiniLM-L6-v2 (25MB) Embedding (384-dim) 33ms
TinyBERT-NER (15MB) Entity extraction 15ms

Installation

Claude Code / Claude Desktop:

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "shodh-memory": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@shodh/memory-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Config file locations:

  • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
  • Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
  • Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Python:

pip install shodh-memory

From source:

cargo build --release
./target/release/shodh-memory-server

Usage

Python

from shodh_memory import Memory

memory = Memory(storage_path="./my_data")

# Store
memory.remember("User prefers dark mode", memory_type="Decision")
memory.remember("JWT tokens expire after 24h", memory_type="Learning")

# Search
results = memory.recall("user preferences", limit=5)

# Get memory statistics
stats = memory.get_stats()

REST API

# Store
curl -X POST http://localhost:3030/api/remember \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-API-Key: your-key" \
  -d '{"user_id": "agent-1", "content": "Deployment requires Docker 24+", "tags": ["deployment"]}'

# Search
curl -X POST http://localhost:3030/api/recall \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-API-Key: your-key" \
  -d '{"user_id": "agent-1", "query": "deployment requirements", "limit": 5}'

Memory types

Different types get different importance weights in the scoring model:

  • Decision (+0.30) — choices, preferences, conclusions
  • Learning (+0.25) — new knowledge, facts learned
  • Error (+0.25) — mistakes, things to avoid
  • Discovery, Pattern (+0.20) — findings, recurring behaviors
  • Task (+0.15) — work items
  • Context, Observation (+0.10) — general info

API reference

Python client (API parity with REST)

Method What it does
Core Memory
remember(content, memory_type, tags, ...) Store a memory
recall(query, limit, mode, ...) Semantic search
list_memories(limit, memory_type) List all memories
get_memory(memory_id) Get single memory by ID
get_stats() Memory statistics
Forget Operations
forget(memory_id) Delete single memory by ID
forget_by_age(days) Delete memories older than N days
forget_by_importance(threshold) Delete low-importance memories
forget_by_pattern(regex) Delete memories matching pattern
forget_by_tags(tags) Delete memories by tags
forget_by_date(start, end) Delete memories in date range
forget_all() Delete ALL memories (GDPR)
Context & Introspection
context_summary(max_items, ...) Categorized context for LLM bootstrap
brain_state(longterm_limit) 3-tier memory visualization
flush() Flush data to disk

REST endpoints

All protected endpoints require X-API-Key header.

Endpoint Method Description Avg Latency
Core Memory
/api/remember POST Store memory (embedding + NER) 55ms
/api/recall POST Semantic search 45ms
/api/recall/tags POST Tag-based search (no embedding) 1ms
/api/recall/date POST Date-range search 5ms
/api/list/{user_id} GET List all memories 1ms
/api/context_summary POST Categorized context for session bootstrap 15ms
Forget Operations
/api/forget/age POST Delete memories older than threshold 5ms
/api/forget/importance POST Delete low-importance memories 5ms
/api/forget/pattern POST Delete memories matching regex 10ms
/api/forget/tags POST Delete memories by tags 5ms
/api/forget/date POST Delete memories in date range 5ms
Hebbian Learning
/api/retrieve/tracked POST Search with feedback tracking 45ms
/api/reinforce POST Hebbian reinforcement feedback 10ms
Batch & Consolidation
/api/batch_remember POST Store multiple memories 55ms/item
/api/consolidate POST Trigger semantic consolidation 250ms
Introspection
/api/memory/{id} GET/PUT/DELETE Single memory operations 10ms
/api/users/{id}/stats GET User statistics 10ms
/api/graph/{id}/stats GET Knowledge graph statistics 10ms
/api/brain/{user_id} GET 3-tier state visualization 50ms
/api/search/advanced POST Multi-filter search 50ms
Health & Metrics
/health GET Health check (no auth) <1ms
/health/live GET Kubernetes liveness (no auth) <1ms
/health/ready GET Kubernetes readiness (no auth) <1ms
/metrics GET Prometheus metrics (no auth) <1ms

Authentication

# Development mode (SHODH_API_KEYS not set)
curl -H "X-API-Key: sk-shodh-dev-4f8b2c1d9e3a7f5b6d2c8e4a1b9f7d3c" ...

# Production mode (required)
export SHODH_API_KEYS="your-secure-key-1,your-secure-key-2"
export SHODH_ENV=production

Configuration

SHODH_PORT=3030                    # Default: 3030
SHODH_MEMORY_PATH=./data           # Default: ./shodh_memory_data
SHODH_API_KEYS=key1,key2           # Required in production
SHODH_MAINTENANCE_INTERVAL=300     # Decay cycle (seconds)
SHODH_ACTIVATION_DECAY=0.95        # Decay factor per cycle

Platform support

Platform Status Use case
Linux x86_64 Servers, workstations
macOS ARM64 Development (Apple Silicon)
Windows x86_64 Development, industrial PCs
Linux ARM64 Coming soon Jetson, Raspberry Pi, drones

References

[1] Cowan, N. (2010). The Magical Mystery Four: How is Working Memory Capacity Limited, and Why? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 19(1), 51-57. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4207727/

[2] Magee, J.C., & Grienberger, C. (2020). Synaptic Plasticity Forms and Functions. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 43, 95-117. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10410470/

[3] Subramanya, S.J., et al. (2019). DiskANN: Fast Accurate Billion-point Nearest Neighbor Search on a Single Node. NeurIPS 2019. https://papers.nips.cc/paper/9527-diskann-fast-accurate-billion-point-nearest-neighbor-search-on-a-single-node

[4] Dudai, Y., Karni, A., & Born, J. (2015). The Consolidation and Transformation of Memory. Neuron, 88(1), 20-32. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4183265/

[5] Anderson, J.R. (1983). A Spreading Activation Theory of Memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 22(3), 261-295.

License

Apache 2.0


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