Shodh-Memory fixes this. It's persistent memory that actually learns — memories you use often become easier to find, old irrelevant context fades automatically, and recalling one thing brings back related things. Works for chat agents (MCP/HTTP), robots (Zenoh/ROS2), and edge devices. No API keys. No cloud. No external databases. No LLM in the loop. One binary.
Why Not Just Use mem0 / Cognee / Zep?
Every other memory system delegates intelligence to LLM API calls — that's why they're slow, expensive, and can't work offline.
No LLM in the Loop
Storing a memory makes zero LLM calls. Recalling makes zero LLM calls. Entity extraction, relation typing, knowledge-graph construction, causal tracing, ranking, decay, consolidation — all of it runs locally as algorithms, not API round-trips:
- Local embeddings — MiniLM (22MB, INT8) via ONNX Runtime, on-device semantic search
- Local reranking — a cross-encoder (ms-marco-MiniLM-L6, 23 MB int8, ONNX) reads the query and each of the top 30 candidates together, where the embedder sees them apart. On by default in the server: +16.5pp precision@1 and +8.7pp recall@10 on LoCoMo (1,531 held-out questions). It is a 22M-parameter ranking model, not an LLM, and it runs on CPU
- Local NER — GLiNER bi-edge-v2 span typer (ONNX, schema-driven: 141 fine / 18 coarse entity types), auto-downloaded on first run from the pinned release, with a rule-based fallback
- Typed relation extraction without an LLM — directed lexical cues + exemplar-matched semantic typing build a typed knowledge graph (
LocatedIn,WorksAt,Causes…) from plain text - Causal lineage — "what was the root cause of X?" is answered by walking typed causal edges backward through the graph, not by asking a model
- Mathematical memory dynamics — Hebbian strengthening, exponential→power-law decay, spreading activation, long-term potentiation
What that buys you: fully offline operation, millisecond latency instead of multi-second API calls, zero inference cost at any scale, deterministic, testable behavior, and data that never leaves the machine. Your agent's LLM does the reasoning — its memory doesn't need one.
Get Started
Unified CLI
# Download from GitHub Releases (or brew tap varun29ankuS/shodh-memory && brew install shodh-memory)
shodh init # First-time setup — creates config, generates API key, downloads AI model
shodh server # Start the memory server on :3030
shodh setup-hooks # Print instructions to set up Claude Code hooks
shodh tui # Launch the TUI dashboard
shodh status # Check server health
shodh doctor # Diagnose issues
One binary, all functionality. No Docker, no API keys, no external dependencies.
Claude Code
# 1. Add the MCP server (auto-downloads the backend binary)
claude mcp add shodh-memory -- npx -y @shodh/memory-mcp
# 2. Enable automatic memory capture (optional but recommended)
npx @shodh/memory-mcp setup-hooks
Step 1 gives Claude persistent memory tools. Step 2 installs Claude Code hooks that automatically capture context from every session — memories surface without you having to ask.
# 1. Start the server
docker run -d -p 3030:3030 -v shodh-data:/data varunshodh/shodh-memory
# 2. Add to Claude Code
claude mcp add shodh-memory -- npx -y @shodh/memory-mcp
For Linux users who want the Rust HTTP server supervised separately from MCP clients, see Direct server mode with systemd.
{
"mcpServers": {
"shodh-memory": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@shodh/memory-mcp"]
}
}
}
For local use, no API key is needed — one is generated automatically. For remote servers, add "env": { "SHODH_API_KEY": "your-key" }.
Python
pip install shodh-memory
from shodh_memory import Memory
memory = Memory(storage_path="./my_data")
memory.remember("User prefers dark mode", memory_type="Decision")
results = memory.recall("user preferences", limit=5)
Rust
[dependencies]
shodh-memory = "0.1"
use shodh_memory::{MemorySystem, MemoryConfig};
let memory = MemorySystem::new(MemoryConfig::default())?;
memory.remember("user-1", "User prefers dark mode", MemoryType::Decision, vec![])?;
let results = memory.recall("user-1", "user preferences", 5)?;
Docker
docker run -d -p 3030:3030 -v shodh-data:/data varunshodh/shodh-memory
What It Does
You use a memory often → it becomes easier to find (Hebbian learning)
You stop using a memory → it fades over time (activation decay)
You recall one memory → related memories surface too (spreading activation)
A connection is used → it becomes permanent (long-term potentiation)
Under the hood, memories flow through three tiers:
Working Memory ──overflow──▶ Session Memory ──importance──▶ Long-Term Memory
(100 items) (100 MB) (RocksDB)
This is based on Cowan's working memory model and Wixted's memory decay research. The neuroscience isn't a gimmick — it's why the system gets better with use instead of just accumulating data.
Performance
Single binary. No GPU required. Content-hash dedup ensures identical memories are never stored twice.
The reranker numbers are an order of magnitude, not a promise: on identical code, runner speed moved the gate's p50 by up to 2.3× between runs (140 to 544ms). The gate now runs with per-stage timing on (SHODH_STAGE_TIMING=1, STAGE_TIMING rows in its recall-eval.log), which is how the cost above is attributed to the cross-encoder rather than to the runner.
51 MCP Tools
Full list of tools available to Claude, Cursor, and other MCP clients:
remember · recall · recall_by_tags · proactive_context · context_summary · list_memories · read_memory · forget
quick_recall · query · topic · what_i_know · recent_memories · pending_work · count · memory_health · session_summary
session_digest · session_history · fact_narratives · purge_facts
add_todo · list_todos · update_todo · complete_todo · delete_todo · reorder_todo · list_subtasks · add_todo_comment · list_todo_comments · update_todo_comment · delete_todo_comment · todo_stats
add_project · list_projects · archive_project · delete_project
set_reminder · list_reminders · dismiss_reminder
memory_stats · verify_index · repair_index · token_status · reset_token_session · consolidation_report · backup_create · backup_list · backup_verify · backup_restore · backup_purge
REST API
160+ endpoints on http://localhost:3030. All /api/* endpoints require X-API-Key header.
# Store a memory
curl -X POST http://localhost:3030/api/remember \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "X-API-Key: your-key" \
-d '{"user_id": "user-1", "content": "User prefers dark mode", "memory_type": "Decision"}'
# Search memories
curl -X POST http://localhost:3030/api/recall \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "X-API-Key: your-key" \
-d '{"user_id": "user-1", "query": "user preferences", "limit": 5}'
Robotics & ROS2
Shodh-Memory isn't just for chat agents. It's persistent memory for robots — Spot, drones, humanoids, any system running ROS2 or Zenoh. No cloud, survives power cycles, learns from rewards, speaks Zenoh natively.
# Enable Zenoh transport (compile with --features zenoh)
SHODH_ZENOH_ENABLED=true SHODH_ZENOH_LISTEN=tcp/0.0.0.0:7447 shodh server
# ROS2 robots connect via zenoh-bridge-ros2dds or rmw_zenoh — zero code changes
ros2 run zenoh_bridge_ros2dds zenoh_bridge_ros2dds
See Robotics Quickstart for full setup and examples.
What robots can do over Zenoh:
Each robot uses its own user_id as the key segment (e.g., shodh/spot-1/remember). The robot_id is an optional payload field for fleet grouping.
Every Experience carries 26 robotics-specific fields: geo_location, local_position, heading, sensor_data, robot_id, mission_id, action_type, reward, terrain_type, nearby_agents, decision_context, action_params, outcome_type, confidence, failure/anomaly tracking, recovery actions, and prediction learning.
{
"user_id": "spot-1",
"content": "Detected crack in concrete at waypoint alpha",
"robot_id": "spot_v2",
"mission_id": "building_inspection_2026",
"geo_location": [37.7749, -122.4194, 10.0],
"local_position": [12.5, 3.2, 0.0],
"heading": 90.0,
"sensor_data": {"battery": 72.5, "temperature": 28.3},
"action_type": "inspect",
"reward": 0.9,
"terrain_type": "indoor",
"tags": ["crack", "concrete", "structural"]
}
{
"user_id": "spot-1",
"query": "structural damage near entrance",
"mode": "spatial",
"lat": 37.7749,
"lon": -122.4194,
"radius_meters": 50.0,
"mission_id": "building_inspection_2026"
}
SHODH_ZENOH_ENABLED=true # Enable Zenoh transport
SHODH_ZENOH_MODE=peer # peer | client | router
SHODH_ZENOH_LISTEN=tcp/0.0.0.0:7447 # Listen endpoints
SHODH_ZENOH_CONNECT=tcp/1.2.3.4:7447 # Connect endpoints
SHODH_ZENOH_PREFIX=shodh # Key expression prefix
# Auto-subscribe to ROS2 topics (via zenoh-bridge-ros2dds)
SHODH_ZENOH_AUTO_TOPICS='[
{"key_expr": "rt/spot1/status", "user_id": "spot-1", "mode": "sensor"},
{"key_expr": "rt/nav/events", "user_id": "spot-1", "mode": "event"}
]'
Works with ROS2 Kilted (rmw_zenoh), PX4 drones, Boston Dynamics Spot, humanoids — anything that speaks Zenoh or ROS2 DDS.
Platform Support
Linux x86_64 · Linux ARM64 · macOS Apple Silicon · macOS Intel · Windows x86_64
Production Deployment
SHODH_ENV=production # Production mode
SHODH_API_KEYS=key1,key2,key3 # Comma-separated API keys
SHODH_HOST=127.0.0.1 # Bind address (default: localhost)
SHODH_PORT=3030 # Port (default: 3030)
SHODH_MEMORY_PATH=/var/lib/shodh # Data directory
# SHODH_IPC_ENABLED=false # Local IPC is enabled by default; false disables it
# SHODH_IPC_ENDPOINT=/private/path/shodh-memory.sock # Optional platform-specific override
# SHODH_IPC_REQUIRED=true # Fail closed instead of falling back to HTTP
SHODH_REQUEST_TIMEOUT=60 # Request timeout in seconds
SHODH_MAX_CONCURRENT=200 # Max concurrent requests
SHODH_ROCKSDB_BLOCK_CACHE_MB=256 # Shared RocksDB block cache (MiB)
SHODH_CE_RERANK=1 # Cross-encoder reranking (server default: on; 0 disables, e.g. for latency-bound robots)
SHODH_CE_DEPTH=30 # Candidates the cross-encoder rescores (latency scales with this)
# SHODH_CE_MODEL_PATH=/models/ce # Reranker assets; default: fetched on first start into the cache dir
# SHODH_OFFLINE=true # Never download models; a missing reranker means unreranked recall
SHODH_CORS_ORIGINS=https://app.example.com
The server enables authenticated local IPC by default and keeps HTTP available.
Native shodh serve prefers the platform-default IPC endpoint and falls back to
SHODH_API_URL unless fail-closed mode is enabled; the TypeScript MCP client uses IPC only when
SHODH_IPC_ENDPOINT is set. See the local IPC architecture
for platform defaults, security properties, and limitations.
services:
shodh-memory:
image: varunshodh/shodh-memory:latest
environment:
- SHODH_ENV=production
- SHODH_HOST=0.0.0.0
- SHODH_API_KEYS=${SHODH_API_KEYS}
volumes:
- shodh-data:/data
networks:
- internal
caddy:
image: caddy:latest
ports:
- "443:443"
volumes:
- ./Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile
networks:
- internal
volumes:
shodh-data:
networks:
internal:
The server binds to 127.0.0.1 by default. For network deployments, place behind a reverse proxy:
memory.example.com {
reverse_proxy localhost:3030
}
Community
References
[1] Cowan, N. (2010). The Magical Mystery Four. Current Directions in Psychological Science. [2] Magee & Grienberger (2020). Synaptic Plasticity Forms and Functions. Annual Review of Neuroscience. [3] Subramanya et al. (2019). DiskANN. NeurIPS 2019.
License
Apache 2.0
Keywords: LLM-free memory · no LLM in the loop · local-first AI memory · offline agent memory · persistent memory for AI agents · long-term memory for LLM agents · MCP memory server · Claude Code memory · knowledge graph memory · hybrid vector + graph search · causal lineage · Hebbian learning · memory decay · edge AI memory · robotics memory · ROS2 / Zenoh robot memory · air-gapped RAG alternative
