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)