mmpl-exte-memo-setu

name	mmpl-exte-memo-setu
description	Use when Hermes needs a local external memory layer via MemPalace, or when a user asks to install, isolate, validate, or MCP-connect MemPalace. Activate when you need durable verbatim searchable memory outside Hermes' small built-in memory budget.
tags	["memory","mempalace","mcp","local-first","setup"]
version	1

Goal

• Stand up MemPalace as an isolated local external memory layer.
• Avoid polluting the main Python environment.
• Verify with a tiny corpus before wiring MCP.

Why this skill exists

• Hermes built-in memory is intentionally small and should only hold compact durable preferences/facts.
• Project-specific workflow state belongs in project docs/skills/session recall, not long-term memory.
• MemPalace is a better fit for searchable verbatim external memory, but setup has practical pitfalls.

Recommended approach

1. Clone into a separate workspace.
2. Create a dedicated venv.
3. Install MemPalace inside that venv.
4. Run a tiny trial corpus first.
5. Only after search works, use the MCP server from the same venv.

Verified paths from a working setup

• Repo: ~/Downloads/external-memory/mempalace
• Venv: ~/Downloads/external-memory/mempalace-venv
• Trial notes dir: ~/Downloads/external-memory/mempalace-trial/notes
• Verification log: ~/Downloads/external-memory/mempalace-verified.txt

Install

python3 -m venv ~/Downloads/external-memory/mempalace-venv
~/Downloads/external-memory/mempalace-venv/bin/python -m pip install --upgrade pip setuptools wheel
~/Downloads/external-memory/mempalace-venv/bin/python -m pip install --default-timeout=120 ~/Downloads/external-memory/mempalace

Minimal verification flow

VENV=~/Downloads/external-memory/mempalace-venv/bin
$VENV/mempalace init --yes ~/Downloads/external-memory/mempalace-trial/notes
$VENV/mempalace mine ~/Downloads/external-memory/mempalace-trial/notes
$VENV/mempalace search "PostgreSQL auth concurrent writes"
$VENV/mempalace status

Expected verification outcome

• mine should file drawers successfully.
• search should return the expected matching note first.
• status should show non-zero drawers.

MCP hookup

~/Downloads/external-memory/mempalace-venv/bin/python -m mempalace.mcp_server

Common pitfalls

• Do not install into the main environment if you care about dependency stability.
  • In one real setup, non-isolated install upgraded protobuf and conflicted with streamlit.
• mempalace init is interactive by default.
  • Use --yes for non-interactive automation.
• First mine may appear stalled because Chroma downloads the local ONNX embedding model.
  • Wait for ~/.cache/chroma/onnx_models/all-MiniLM-L6-v2/onnx.tar.gz to finish.
  • This can be slow and dominate setup time.
• Telemetry warnings like capture() takes 1 positional argument but 3 were given may appear.
  • Treat as noisy but non-blocking if indexing/search still work.
• Default palace path used by CLI is typically ~/.mempalace/palace.

Decision rule

• Use Hermes built-in memory for compact long-term preferences.
• Use project docs/skills/session_search for project workflow guidance.
• Use MemPalace for large searchable verbatim external memory.