CortexDB
AI memory and a knowledge graph in one SQLite file. Pure Go, no service to run, works without an embedding model.
Install
| Go library | go get github.com/liliang-cn/cortexdb/v2 |
| Claude Code | /plugin marketplace add liliang-cn/cortexdb, then /plugin install cortexdb@cortexdb |
| Codex | codex plugin marketplace add liliang-cn/cortexdb && codex plugin add cortexdb@cortexdb |
| Claude Code mod (optional) | /plugin install cortexdb-live@cortexdb |
| DeepSeek Harness | dsh plugin --profile web add "github:liliang-cn/cortexdb#semver:^2&path:/plugins/dsh-cortexdb-memory" (guide) |
| Obsidian | unzip a release's cortexdb-obsidian.zip into <vault>/.obsidian/plugins/ (guide) |
| Shared-brain server | go install github.com/liliang-cn/cortexdb/v2/cmd/cortexdb-grpc@latest |
| Clients | cargo add cortexdb-client · pip install cortexdb-client · npm install cortexdb-client |
Use
db, _ := cortexdb.Open(cortexdb.DefaultConfig("brain.db"))
defer db.Close()
brain := db.KnowledgeMemory()
_, _ = brain.Remember(ctx, cortexdb.KnowledgeMemoryRememberRequest{MemoryID: "alice-tabs", UserID: "alice", Scope: "user", Content: "Alice prefers tabs."})
rec, _ := brain.Recall(ctx, cortexdb.KnowledgeMemoryRecallRequest{Query: "what does Alice prefer?", UserID: "alice"})
fmt.Println(rec.ContextPack.Text)
The plugin gives Claude Code and Codex one global brain at ~/.cortexdb/cortexdb.db, /remember, /recall and an auto-recall hook. A session starts with an index of what the brain knows about its project, an agent about to open a file is told what happened to it before, and a session's durable facts are captured with <private> text and credentials kept out. Point several agents or machines at one cortexdb-grpc and they share the same memory and graph.
In Codex, review and trust the plugin hooks in /hooks to activate automatic
recall. See the plugin guide for setup and
cortexdb-mcp --doctor --self-test diagnostics (v2.119.0+).
Claude Code mod
cortexdb-live is an optional mod that runs inside Claude Code on top of the cortexdb plugin. Install it after the plugin:
/plugin install cortexdb-live@cortexdb
The mod calls three of the plugin's tools itself, and a hook gets no permission prompt, so allow them once in ~/.claude/settings.json (not needed in bypass mode):
"permissions": {
"allow": [
"mcp__plugin_cortexdb_cortexdb__knowledge_memory_recall",
"mcp__plugin_cortexdb_cortexdb__graph_statistics",
"mcp__plugin_cortexdb_cortexdb__memory_save"
]
}
Without them the status line names the missing rules.
- Planned recall. Before the brain is searched, haiku turns each prompt into keywords in Chinese and English, aliases, entity names and a retrieval mode. A bare "ok" or "go ahead" searches nothing. The band above the prompt shows what was recalled; expand it to see the plan and every hit. Hide lasts until the next recall;
/cortexdb-showbrings the hidden one back. - Status line. Which brain the session uses, its node count and how long the last recall took, or why the brain can't be reached.
- Capture. 90 seconds after a session goes idle, haiku distils the new part of the