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Quickstart

Requirements

  • Python 3.11 or newer.
  • SQLite with FTS5.
  • One model backend: Codex (the default), Claude Code, Antigravity, or OpenRouter.
  • macOS for the local Messages, WhatsApp, Calendar, and Reminders integrations.

Install

git clone https://github.com/cuuush/memcal.git
cd memcal
./install.sh

The installer puts a memcal launcher on your PATH that points at this checkout, initializes ~/.memcal on the first run, imports available contacts, and writes the first brief.

Chat sources need extra libraries (see each source page), installable together:

pip install "memcal[chat]"

signal-cli is not a pip package — it is a JVM program, installed separately (see Signal).

Choose a model backend

memcal setup

The setup flow asks for the provider and model, then saves only the owned settings in ~/.memcal/.env. Existing source credentials and hand-written settings are preserved.

Check the result:

memcal doctor
memcal brief

First ingest

See which connectors are available, then pull from one source with a small limit before collecting everything:

memcal sources
memcal ingest slack --limit 20
memcal ingest all

Preview the size and estimated cost of an extraction pass, then run it:

memcal dream --dry-run
memcal dream

To collect and update automatically, install the nightly job:

memcal schedule install

Connect an agent

memcal openclaw setup
openclaw gateway restart

ln -s /path/to/memcal/integrations/hermes/memcal ~/.hermes/plugins/memcal
hermes memory setup

Any other harness: read brief.md and connect python3 -m memcal.mcp_server. See Integrations.

Next steps