Backup & Migration

TL;DR: Stop the stack, copy $DATA_DIR. Or run pg_dump against DATABASE_URL. That's it.

# Option A: file copy
mememory uninstall                              # stops containers, preserves data
cp -a "$DATA_DIR" "$DATA_DIR.backup-$(date +%F)"
mememory setup                                  # back up

# Option B: logical dump
pg_dump "$DATABASE_URL" > mememory-$(date +%F).sql

All mememory data lives in a single directory on your machine. This page covers backup, restore, export/import, and migration between machines.

Data Location

By default, all persistent data is stored under an OS-standard path resolved by the mememory CLI:

Platform	Default
Linux	~/.local/share/mememory (or $XDG_DATA_HOME/mememory)
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/mememory
Windows	%LOCALAPPDATA%\mememory

$DATA_DIR/
├── postgres/       # PostgreSQL data files (memories, vectors, indexes)
└── ollama/         # Ollama model files (nomic-embed-text, etc.)

This location is controlled by the DATA_DIR environment variable. If unset, the CLI auto-resolves it.

Backup

Full backup (recommended)

Stop the stack and copy the data directory:

# Stop services to ensure data consistency (containers only, data preserved)
mememory uninstall

# Copy the data directory
cp -a "$DATA_DIR" "$DATA_DIR.backup-$(date +%Y%m%d)"

# Restart
mememory setup

WARNING

Always stop PostgreSQL before copying its data directory. Copying while PostgreSQL is running may produce a corrupted backup.

Logical dump (works against any Postgres)

pg_dump "$DATABASE_URL" > mememory-$(date +%F).sql

Restore later with psql "$DATABASE_URL" < mememory-2026-04-08.sql.

JSON export (portable across embedding providers)

Export memories as JSON via the Admin API. This exports content and metadata but not vector embeddings — vectors are re-computed on import.

curl http://localhost:4200/api/memories/export \
  -X POST \
  -o memories-backup.json

The exported JSON is an array of memory objects:

[
  {
    "id": "a1b2c3d4-...",
    "content": "Never commit .env files",
    "scope": "global",
    "type": "rule",
    "tags": ["security"],
    "weight": 1.0,
    "created_at": "2025-01-15T10:30:00Z",
    "updated_at": "2025-01-15T10:30:00Z"
  }
]

Restore

From full backup

mememory uninstall
cp -a "$DATA_DIR.backup-20250115" "$DATA_DIR"
mememory setup

From JSON export

curl http://localhost:4200/api/memories/import \
  -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d @memories-backup.json

The import process:

1. Each memory is re-embedded through the current embedding provider
2. New UUIDs are generated (old IDs are not preserved)
3. supersedes references are not preserved (old IDs no longer exist)
4. The response reports how many memories were imported

{"imported": 42}

TIP

JSON export/import is the recommended method when migrating between different embedding providers. The re-embedding ensures vectors are compatible with the new provider.

Migration Between Machines

Method 1: Full data copy

If both machines use the same embedding provider and model:

# On source machine
mememory uninstall
tar czf mememory-data.tar.gz -C "$(dirname "$DATA_DIR")" "$(basename "$DATA_DIR")"

# Transfer to target machine
scp mememory-data.tar.gz user@target:~/

# On target machine
tar xzf mememory-data.tar.gz -C "$(dirname "$DATA_DIR")"
mememory setup

Method 2: JSON export/import

Works across different embedding providers:

# On source machine
curl http://localhost:4200/api/memories/export -X POST -o memories.json

# Transfer
scp memories.json user@target:~/

# On target machine (stack must be running)
curl http://localhost:4200/api/memories/import \
  -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d @memories.json

Resetting

To delete all data and start fresh, use mememory uninstall --purge. This requires interactive confirmation (you must type the full data directory path):

mememory uninstall --purge

The CLI never destroys Docker volumes — all data lives in a bind-mounted directory you control, and removal happens through os.RemoveAll against the path you confirmed.

Selective Deletion

Delete memories matching specific filters via the Admin API:

# Delete all memories for a specific project
curl "http://localhost:4200/api/memories?project=old-project" -X DELETE

# Delete all memories of a specific type
curl "http://localhost:4200/api/memories?type=context" -X DELETE

# Delete all memories in a scope
curl "http://localhost:4200/api/memories?scope=project&project=match" -X DELETE

Or delete individual memories by ID:

curl http://localhost:4200/api/memories/MEMORY-UUID-HERE -X DELETE