openviking

name	openviking
description	OpenViking context database for AI agents — filesystem-paradigm context management with tiered loading (L0/L1/L2), hierarchical retrieval, and automatic session memory. Alternative/complement to flat RAG for agent context.
triggers	["context database","agent context","openviking","hierarchical context","viking context","context management agent","tiered context"]
linksTo	["rag","ai-agents","context-engineering"]

OpenViking — Context Database for AI Agents

Open-source context management system using filesystem paradigm for AI agents. Source: https://github.com/volcengine/OpenViking | Stars: 6K+

Core Concept

OpenViking treats agent context like a filesystem (viking:// protocol):

• L0: One-sentence summary (always loaded)
• L1: ~2K token overview (loaded on demand)
• L2: Full details (loaded when deep dive needed)

Reduces token consumption vs loading full context every turn.

Installation

pip install openviking --upgrade --force-reinstall

Requirements: Python 3.10+, Go 1.22+, C++ compiler

Config (~/.openviking/ov.conf):

[embedding]
provider = "openai"  # or volcengine, litellm

[vlm]
provider = "openai"
model = "gpt-4o"

Key CLI Commands

# Add a resource to the context DB
ov add-resource ./docs/architecture.md --tags "architecture,backend"

# Search context
ov find "authentication patterns"
ov grep "database schema"

# Start VikingBot agent
ov bot start

Architecture

viking://
├── memories/          # Session memories (auto-extracted)
├── resources/         # Documents, code, specs
├── skills/            # Agent capabilities
└── preferences/       # User/project preferences

Tiered Retrieval Flow

1. Lock high-score directory (vector search over L0 summaries)
2. Refine: load L1 overviews of top directories
3. Zoom in: load L2 full content only when needed
4. Track: every retrieval trajectory is logged (transparent RAG)

vs UltraThink Memory

Feature	UltraThink	OpenViking
Storage	Neon Postgres + pgvector	Filesystem + vector index
Retrieval	Category/scope SQL	Hierarchical directory
Context tiers	Single level	L0/L1/L2 progressive
Session mgmt	Custom hooks	Built-in auto-extract
Language	TypeScript	Python + Go

Integration Pattern

OpenViking can serve as the resource/document layer for UltraThink — store large reference docs in OpenViking for efficient tiered retrieval while UltraThink handles episodic memory (solutions, patterns, decisions).

# Index UltraThink skills into OpenViking
ov add-resource .claude/skills/ --recursive --tags "skills"
ov add-resource memory/src/ --tags "memory,typescript"