core

Persistent memory for AI coding agents

Install

uvx omega-memory

README.md

OMEGA

Cross-model memory for AI agents. Local-first. Works with Claude, GPT, Gemini, Cursor, Claw Code, and any MCP client. Your agent's brain shouldn't live on someone else's server, or be locked to one provider.

The Problem

AI coding agents are stateless. Every new session starts from zero. The "solutions" either lock you into one model provider or send your codebase context to their cloud.

Context loss. Agents forget every decision, preference, and architectural choice between sessions. Developers spend 10-30 minutes per session re-explaining context that was already established.
Repeated mistakes. Without learning from past sessions, agents make the same errors over and over. They don't remember what worked, what failed, or why a particular approach was chosen.
Cloud memory = someone else's database. Services like Mem0 require API keys and send your data to their servers. When they change pricing, get acquired, or go down, your agent's accumulated intelligence disappears.
Vendor lock-in. Anthropic's Memory Tool only works with Claude. OpenAI's memory only works with GPT. Switch models, lose your memory.

OMEGA solves this. Memory, coordination, and learning that runs entirely on your machine. Works with every major LLM and coding agent. No cloud. No API keys. No vendor lock-in.

Quick Install

OMEGA needs Python 3.11 or newer. Check with python3 --version: macOS ships Python 3.9, which is too old. If pip answers No matching distribution found for omega-memory, that is the reason; install a newer Python first (for example brew install python@3.12, or from python.org).

Install OMEGA into its own environment. Homebrew's Python refuses a plain pip install (PEP 668), and an isolated install keeps OMEGA's dependencies away from your projects. Pick one:

# pipx
pipx install "omega-memory[server]"

# or uv
uv tool install "omega-memory[server]"

# or a virtual environment
python3.12 -m venv ~/.venvs/omega     # any Python 3.11 or newer
~/.venvs/omega/bin/pip install "omega-memory[server]"
export PATH="$HOME/.venvs/omega/bin:$PATH"

Keep the quotes around "omega-memory[server]": zsh, the default macOS shell, treats bare square brackets as a pattern and fails. The [server] extra installs the MCP server, which also runs the hook daemon; without it Claude Code gets no OMEGA tools and no hooks.

Then:

omega setup     # downloads the embedding model, registers the MCP server, installs hooks
omega doctor    # checks every step, and names the fix for anything that failed

omega setup --dry-run shows what setup would change without writing or downloading anything.

Claude Desktop

omega setup --client claude-desktop

This registers OMEGA as an MCP server in Claude Desktop's config. Restart Claude Desktop to activate.

Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, Codex, Antigravity

omega setup --client cursor      # or: windsurf, cline, codex, antigravity

Codex and Antigravity get their config file written; for the others setup prints the JSON block to paste. For any other MCP client, omega setup --client venv prints the command and arguments to use. Hooks (automatic capture and surfacing) are available with Claude Code only.

Library-only install (no MCP server)

If you only need OMEGA as a Python library for scripts, CI/CD, or automation, install it into your project's environment:

pip install omega-memory    # Core only, no MCP server

from omega import store, query, remember

store("Always use TypeScript strict mode", "user_preference")
results = query("TypeScript preferences")

This gives you the full storage and retrieval API without running an MCP server. Hooks need the MCP server (the hook daemon runs inside it), so a library-only install has no automatic capture or surfacing.

From Source

git clone https://github.com/omega-memory/omega-memory.git
cd omega-memory
python3.12 -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e ".[server,dev]"
omega setup

omega setup will:

Create ~/.omega/ (or $OMEGA_HOME if you set it)
Download the ONNX embedding model, bge-small-en-v1.5 (~130 MB), and a reranker (~90 MB) to ~/.cache/omega/models/
Register omega-memory as an MCP server (Claude Code auto-detected, or specify --client)
Install session hooks into ~/.claude/settings.json
Add an OMEGA block to ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md

If a step fails, the summary marks it [FAIL] with the reason and setup exits with an error.

60-Second Quickstart

OMEGA works through natural language — no API calls, no configuration. Just talk to Claude.

1. Tell Claude to remember something:

"Remember that the auth system uses JWT tokens, not session cookies"

Claude stores this as a permanent memory with semantic embeddings.

2. Close the session. Open a new one.

3. Ask about it:

"What did I decide about authentication?"

OMEGA surfaces the relevant memory automatically:

Found 1 relevant memory:
  [decision] "The auth system uses JWT tokens, not session cookies"
  Stored 2 days ago | accessed 3 times

That's it. Memories persist across sessions, accumulate over time, and are surfaced automatically when relevant — even if you don't explicitly ask.

Key Features

Memory & Learning — Stores decisions, lessons, error patterns, and preferences with semantic search. Claude recalls what matters without you re-explaining everything each session. Tools cover compaction, consolidation, timeline, graph traversal, and checkpoint/resume.
Multi-Agent Coordination (omega-pro) — File and branch locking, session management, task queues with dependencies, intent broadcasting, and agent-to-agent messaging, so agents don't overwrite each other's work.
Intelligent LLM Routing (omega-pro) — Classifies tasks and routes to the optimal model. Coding → Claude Sonnet. Quick edit → Llama 8b at 1/60th the cost. 1M token context → Gemini Flash. 5 providers, 4 priority modes, sub-2ms intent classification.
Knowledge Base (omega-pro) — Ingest PDFs, markdown, web pages, and text files into a searchable knowledge base with semantic chunking.
Entity Registry (omega-pro) — Multi-entity corporate memory with relationships, hierarchies, and entity-scoped memories/profiles/documents.
Secure Profile (omega-pro) — AES-256 encrypted personal data storage with macOS Keychain integration.

How OMEGA Compares

Feature	OMEGA	Anthropic Memory	Mem0	Zep
Works with any LLM/agent	Yes	Claude only	Yes	Yes
Your data stays on your machine	Yes	Partial*	No	No
No cloud dependency	Yes	No (needs API)	No	No
Semantic search + knowledge graph	Yes	No (file CRUD)	$249/mo	Yes
Multi-agent coordination	Yes (pro)	Research preview	No	No
Works with Claude Code, Cursor, Claw Code	Yes	Claude only	Partial	No
Free & open source	Yes (Apache 2.0)	No	Freemium	Freemium

Anthropic's Memory Tool stores data client-side but requires Claude API calls for all memory operations. OMEGA runs entirely on-device, including embeddings (ONNX).

Anthropic Memory is for Anthropic. OMEGA is for everyone.

Architecture

     Claude Code  ·  Cursor  ·  Claw Code  ·  Any MCP Client
               │         │         │              │
               └─────────┴─────┬───┴──────────────┘
                               │ stdio/MCP
               ┌───────────────▼─────────────┐
               │   OMEGA MCP Server   │
               │   core memory tools  │
               └──┬──────────────────┘
                  │
         ┌────────▼──────────────┐
         │ Core Memory Engine    │
         │ (semantic search,     │
         │  embeddings, graphs)  │
         └─────┬─────────────────┘
               │
               ▼
         ┌──────────────────────────────────────┐
         │         omega.db (SQLite)             │
         │  memories | edges | embeddings        │
         └──────────────────────────────────────┘

Single database, modular handlers. Optional modules (coordination, router, entity, knowledge, profile) are available with OMEGA Pro and register into the same server process. No separate daemons, no microservices.

MCP Tools Reference

OMEGA runs as an MCP server inside Claude Code. By default it shows the client five tools (omega_store, omega_welcome, omega_protocol, omega_tools, omega_call) to save context: omega_tools lists everything available and omega_call runs any of it. Set OMEGA_CONDENSED=0 in the server's environment to expose every tool directly.

Core tools

Tool	What it does
`omega_store`	Store a memory (decision, lesson, error, preference, ...)
`omega_query`	Search memories: semantic, exact phrase, timeline, or browse
`omega_welcome`	Session briefing: recent context, reminders, profile
`omega_protocol`	Operating rules for the session
`omega_checkpoint`	Save task state for cross-session continuity
`omega_resume_task`	Resume a checkpointed task
`omega_memory`	Edit, delete, supersede, rate, or link one memory; find similar ones
`omega_profile`	Read or update the user profile and preferences
`omega_remind`	Set, list, or dismiss time-based reminders
`omega_maintain`	Health, consolidation, compaction, backup and restore
`omega_stats`	Type breakdown, session stats, weekly digest
`omega_reflect`	Find contradictions; trace how a topic's decisions evolved
`omega_review`	Review a diff with memory of your codebase's conventions
`context_packet`	Compact, task-aware memory packet for the current work
`omega_consult_gpt`, `omega_consult_claude`	Ask another model for a second opinion (needs your own API key for that provider)

OMEGA Pro adds coordination, routing, entity, knowledge base, and profile tools.

CLI

Command	Description
`omega setup`	Create dirs, download model, register MCP, install hooks (`--dry-run` to preview)
`omega doctor`	Verify installation health
`omega hooks setup` / `omega hooks doctor`	Install or check the Claude Code hooks only
`omega status`	Memory count, store size, model status
`omega query <text>`	Search memories by semantic similarity
`omega store <text>`	Store a memory with a specified type
`omega remember <text>`	Store a permanent preference
`omega timeline`	Show memory timeline grouped by day
`omega activity`	Show recent session activity overview
`omega stats`	Memory type distribution and health summary
`omega consolidate`	Deduplicate, prune, and optimize memory
`omega compact`	Cluster and summarize related memories
`omega backup`	Back up omega.db (keeps last 5)
`omega validate`	Validate database integrity
`omega logs`	Show recent hook errors
`omega migrate-db`	Migrate legacy JSON to SQLite
`omega serve`	Run the MCP server (`omega serve --help` for the HTTP daemon)

Free and Pro

Core is free and open source. On the free tier, once the store holds 2,000 memories search switches from semantic search to a plain text match, and new memories stop being stored at 5,000. omega status shows where you are. OMEGA Pro removes both limits.

Advanced Details

Hooks

All hooks run fast_hook.py, which hands the work to the hook daemon inside the MCP server over ~/.omega/hook.sock. If no server is running, the hooks return at once without doing anything, except reply capture, which runs on its own; none of them blocks Claude Code.

Hook	Matcher	Handler	Purpose
SessionStart	all	`session_start`	Welcome briefing, session resume
Stop	all	`assistant_capture`	Capture decisions and fixes from the reply
Stop	all	`session_stop`	Session summary
UserPromptSubmit	all	`auto_capture`	Auto-capture lessons/decisions
PostToolUse	Edit/Write/NotebookEdit/Bash/Read	`surface_memories`	Surface relevant memories

Memory text the hooks inject is labelled as stored data, not instructions.

With OMEGA Pro, additional coordination handlers register automatically: session lifecycle, file/branch claim guards, heartbeat, and git push guards.

HTTP daemon (optional)

omega serve install runs one shared server under launchd instead of one per session (macOS). It listens on 127.0.0.1:8377, refuses requests whose Host or Origin is not local, and requires a bearer key kept in ~/.omega/mcp_api_key. omega serve migrate-config points Claude Code at the daemon and writes that key into its config; omega serve restore-config switches back.

Storage

Path	Purpose
`~/.omega/omega.db`	SQLite database (memories, embeddings, edges); set `OMEGA_HOME` to move `~/.omega`
`~/.omega/profile.json`	User profile
`~/.omega/hooks.log`	Hook error log
`~/.cache/omega/models/bge-small-en-v1.5-onnx/`	ONNX embedding model

Search Pipeline

Vector similarity via sqlite-vec (cosine distance, 384-dim bge-small-en-v1.5)
Full-text search via FTS5 (fast keyword matching)
Type-weighted scoring (decisions/lessons weighted 2x)
Contextual re-ranking (boosts by tag, project, and content match)
Deduplication at query time

Memory Lifecycle

Dedup: SHA256 hash (exact) + embedding similarity 0.85+ (semantic) + Jaccard per-type
Evolution: Similar content (55-95%) appends new insights to existing memories
TTL: Session summaries expire after 1 day, lessons/preferences are permanent
Auto-relate: Creates related edges (similarity >= 0.45) to top-3 similar memories
Compaction: Clusters and summarizes related memories

Memory Footprint

Startup: ~31 MB RSS
After first query (ONNX model loaded): ~337 MB RSS
Database: ~10.5 MB for ~242 memories

What Gets Modified

omega setup modifies these files outside ~/.omega/:

~/.claude.json — Adds omega-memory MCP server entry
~/.claude/settings.json — Adds hook entries
~/.claude/CLAUDE.md — Adds a managed  block

All changes are idempotent.

Troubleshooting

omega doctor shows FAIL on import:

Ensure pip install -e ".[server]" from the repo root
Check python3 -c "import omega" works

MCP server fails to start:

Install the server extra into the same environment as OMEGA: pip install "omega-memory[server]" (or pipx install --force "omega-memory[server]")

MCP server not registered:

Run omega setup again, or run the claude mcp add -s user omega-memory -- ... command that omega doctor prints: it names the Python from OMEGA's own environment

Hooks not firing:

Run omega hooks doctor; omega hooks setup repairs missing or outdated entries
Check ~/.omega/hooks.log for errors

Development

pip install -e ".[server,dev]"
pytest tests/                # Test suite
ruff check src/              # Lint

Uninstall

claude mcp remove -s user omega-memory
omega serve uninstall        # only if you installed the HTTP daemon
rm -rf ~/.omega ~/.cache/omega
pipx uninstall omega-memory  # or: uv tool uninstall omega-memory, or delete the venv

Manually remove OMEGA entries from ~/.claude/settings.json and the  block from ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md.

Contributing

License

Apache-2.0. See LICENSE.