Project config
Project config is still needed, but most operational project settings are no longer stored inside the repository. Current installs use a small repo marker plus user-local project config/state directories. This keeps secrets and runtime files out of git while still letting agents discover the project.
Current files
| File or directory | Purpose | Commit? |
|---|---|---|
.mem/project.toml | Repo-local project marker, usually just the slug. | Usually yes |
.agents/memory-layer.toml | Agent-facing behavior: capture include/ignore paths, analyzers, retrieval, replacement policy. | Usually yes |
.agents/skills/ | Repo-local Memory Layer skill bundle copied by wizard, init, or upgrade. | Usually yes |
User-local projects/<project-key>/config.toml | Per-project runtime overrides and optional service/db/writer settings. | No |
User-local projects/<project-key>/memory-layer.env | Per-project secrets or provider env values. | No |
| User-local state/cache dirs | Runtime state, indexes, automation state, logs. | No |
Legacy .mem/config.toml, .mem/memory-layer.env, and .mem/runtime/ remain readable as fallbacks. Use memory doctor --fix to migrate missing legacy config/env values into the current user-local layout.
What belongs where
| Need | Put it in |
|---|---|
| Shared database URL, service token, LLM/embedding provider defaults | Global config/env |
| Project slug | .mem/project.toml |
| Project-specific runtime override, custom project DB, custom ports | User-local project config.toml |
| Dev cargo-run isolation values | User-local project config.dev.toml |
| Agent scan/curation/retrieval behavior that should travel with the repo | .agents/memory-layer.toml |
| API keys and secrets | Env files, not git |
Repo marker example
slug = "memory"The CLI can infer the project from this file in normal repo-local use. Scripts should still pass --project <slug> explicitly.
Agent behavior example
[capture]
include_paths = ["crates/", "docs/", "docs-site/content/docs/"]
ignore_paths = ["target/", "node_modules/", ".next/"]
[analysis]
analyzers = ["rust", "typescript", "python"]
[retrieval]
graph_enabled = true
[curation]
replacement_policy = "balanced"Available replacement policies are conservative, balanced, and aggressive.
Dev overlay
From a source checkout, cargo run --bin memory -- ... activates the dev profile. Dev reads the user-local project config.toml and layers config.dev.toml on top; it does not read global config. Bootstrap it with:
cargo run --bin memory -- init
cargo run --bin memory -- dev init --copy-from-global
cargo run --bin memory -- service runDefault dev endpoints are 127.0.0.1:4250 for HTTP and 127.0.0.1:4251 for Cap'n Proto TCP.
Commands
memory init --project my-project --dry-run
memory wizard --dry-run
memory upgrade --dry-run
memory doctor --project my-projectUse wizard for guided setup, init for scriptable repo bootstrap, and upgrade after installing a newer Memory Layer version.