Configuration

Global Config

Located at ~/.mempalace/config.json:

{
  "palace_path": "/custom/path/to/palace",
  "collection_name": "mempalace_drawers",
  "people_map": {"Kai": "KAI", "Priya": "PRI"},
  "max_backups": 10
}

Key	Default	Description
palace_path	~/.mempalace/palace	Where ChromaDB stores your drawers
collection_name	mempalace_drawers	ChromaDB collection name
people_map	{}	Entity name → AAAK code mappings
max_backups	10	How many timestamped palace backups to keep before the oldest are pruned. Applies to mempalace migrate (<palace>.pre-migrate.*) and mempalace repair max-seq-id (chroma.sqlite3.max-seq-id-backup-*), which each write a full copy every run. Set to 0 to keep every backup (e.g. when an external retention policy manages cleanup).

Project Config

Generated by mempalace init in your project directory:

mempalace.yaml

wing: myproject
rooms:
  - backend
  - frontend
  - decisions
palace_path: ~/.mempalace/palace

entities.json

{
  "Kai": "KAI",
  "Priya": "PRI"
}

Wings are auto-detected during mempalace init from:

• Directory names → project wings
• Detected people in file content → person wings
• Explicit --wing flag on mine commands

Identity

Located at ~/.mempalace/identity.txt. Plain text. Becomes Layer 0 — loaded every session.

I am Atlas, a personal AI assistant for Alice.
Traits: warm, direct, remembers everything.
People: Alice (creator), Bob (Alice's partner).
Project: A journaling app that helps people process emotions.

TIP

Write your identity file in first person from the AI's perspective. This becomes the AI's self-concept on wake-up.

Palace Path Override

All commands accept --palace <path> to override the default location:

mempalace search "query" --palace /tmp/test-palace
mempalace mine ~/data/ --palace /tmp/test-palace

The MCP server also accepts --palace:

python -m mempalace.mcp_server --palace /custom/palace

Environment Variables

Variable	Description
MEMPALACE_PALACE_PATH	Override palace path (same as --palace)
MEMPAL_DIR	Directory for auto-mining in hooks
MEMPALACE_MAX_BACKUPS	Override max_backups retention count (0 disables pruning)