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🌐 Ecosystem

NeuralVaultCore is the foundation. Build on top of it with the full NeuralVault stack:

Component	Role
🧠 NeuralVaultCore (you are here)	MCP memory server — the brain
⚡ NeuralVaultSkill	Session memory automation — /nvc:init + /nvc:end
🧹 NeuralVaultArchivist	Memory consolidation — on-demand cleanup
🛠️ NeuralSkillBuilder	Skill builder — design, scaffold and audit Claude Code skills
🔄 NeuralVaultFlow	Dev workflow — brainstorm, plan, execute, audit, deploy

⚠️ Prerequisites
NeuralVaultCore is the memory server — but without a skill prompt, your agent won't know how to use it efficiently.
At minimum, install NeuralVaultSkill alongside this server.

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💡 Why Low-Token Matters

Most MCP servers waste thousands of tokens on verbose output.
NeuralVaultCore cuts overhead by up to 7× using smart truncation and pipe-delimited ASCII responses.

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✨ Features

🧠 Core Memory

• Persistent long-term memory across sessions — agents remember everything
• Local-first SQLite storage — zero cloud, zero telemetry
• Namespace separation for clean project/context isolation
• _state checkpoint memory for instant project continuity
• Automatic version history (up to 5 versions per record) with restore support
• Storage statistics and health visibility

🤖 MCP / Agent Tools

• Full tool suite: store_memory, retrieve_memory, search_memories, list_all_memories, get_context, delete_memory, get_versions, restore_version, get_stats
• Token-efficient compact responses — up to 7× less overhead
• Output truncation and view modes (head_tail, full)
• Full-text search (FTS5) + optional semantic search (all-MiniLM-L6-v2)
• SSE transport with Bearer-token authentication for remote access

🖥️ Web Dashboard

• Dashboard — totals, DB size, namespaces and recent memories at a glance
• Memories — full directory with namespace filter, tags, pagination
• Memory detail — metadata, tags, content view, version history, delete
• Calendar — monthly timeline with day drill-down
• Search — interactive full-text memory lookup
• New Memory — manual memory entry
• Import — JSON, Markdown, Obsidian, Notion, plain text
• Export — preview and download
• Theme switching and keyboard shortcuts

⚙️ Automation & Capture

• Shell command auto-capture for Bash, Zsh and PowerShell
• File watcher for directory changes
• Activity summarization
• Background daemon mode with automatic daily backups

📥 Import / Export

• Import from: JSON, plain text, Markdown folders, Obsidian vaults, Notion exports
• Export to: JSON and plain text
• Migration from ContextKeep JSON (nvc migrate)

🔧 Admin & Maintenance

• Installer wizard — venv, deps, search model, MCP config, all automated
• Config generation for Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, OpenCode
• nvc doctor — diagnostic checks
• nvc repair — DB maintenance and optimization
• nvc backup / nvc restore-backup — manual backup and restore
• Schema migration support

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🔌 Ports

Service	Port	URL
MCP Server	9998	http://localhost:9998/sse
Web Dashboard	9999	http://localhost:9999

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🚀 Installation

Option 1 — Installer Wizard (Recommended)

git clone https://github.com/getobyte/NeuralVaultCore.git
cd NeuralVaultCore
python install.py

The wizard will:

1. Create a Python virtual environment
2. Install all dependencies
3. Download the semantic search model (~80 MB)
4. Generate .env with a secure API key
5. Initialize the SQLite database
6. Generate mcp_config.json for your IDE
7. Ask which deployment profile to use
8. Ask if you want shell auto-capture hooks

Deployment profiles:

Profile	Use case
local-stdio	Single IDE, no web UI, simplest setup
local-ui	Local use + web dashboard on localhost:9999 (recommended)
remote-homelab	Network access with Bearer-token auth + Docker

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Option 2 — Manual Setup

git clone https://github.com/getobyte/NeuralVaultCore.git
cd NeuralVaultCore
python -m venv venv

source venv/bin/activate    # Linux / macOS
venv\Scripts\activate       # Windows

pip install -e ".[full]"
nvc init
nvc print-config --client claude-code

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Option 3 — Docker (LAN / Homelab)

Step 1 — Clone and configure:

git clone https://github.com/getobyte/NeuralVaultCore.git
cd NeuralVaultCore
cp .env.example .env

Step 2 — Generate an API key and paste it into .env at NVC_API_KEY:

python -c "import secrets; print('nvc_' + secrets.token_hex(24))"

Step 3 — Start the containers:

docker compose up -d

This starts two services:

• nvc-mcp — MCP server on port 9998
• nvc-webui — Web dashboard on port 9999

Step 4 — Find your server IP:

ip addr | grep "inet " | grep -v 127.0.0.1   # Linux
ipconfig | findstr "IPv4"                      # Windows
ifconfig | grep "inet " | grep -v 127.0.0.1   # macOS

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🔗 Connecting to Your Client

NeuralVaultCore works with any MCP-compatible client. Choose your setup below.

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Claude Code (CLI)

Generate config automatically:

nvc print-config --client claude-code

Or add manually to ~/.claude.json:

Local (stdio):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "neural-vault-core": {
      "command": "/path/to/NeuralVaultCore/venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["/path/to/NeuralVaultCore/server.py"]
    }
  }
}

Remote / Docker (SSE):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "neural-vault-core": {
      "url": "http://<YOUR_SERVER_IP>:9998/sse",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer nvc_YOUR_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Then install the skill:

npx github:getobyte/NeuralVaultSkill --global

Restart Claude Code and use /nvc:init to start a session.

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Cursor

Generate config automatically:

nvc print-config --client cursor

Or add manually to .cursor/mcp.json (global) or <project>/.cursor/mcp.json (local):

Local (stdio):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "neural-vault-core": {
      "command": "/path/to/NeuralVaultCore/venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["/path/to/NeuralVaultCore/server.py"]
    }
  }
}

Remote / Docker (SSE):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "neural-vault-core": {
      "url": "http://<YOUR_SERVER_IP>:9998/sse",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer nvc_YOUR_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Then install the skill — paste the contents of SKILL.md into Cursor's System Prompt or run:

curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/getobyte/NeuralVaultSkill/main/SKILL.md > .cursorrules

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VS Code (with Copilot / Continue / Cline)

Generate config:

nvc print-config --client vscode

Or add to .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace:

{
  "servers": {
    "neural-vault-core": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "/path/to/NeuralVaultCore/venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["/path/to/NeuralVaultCore/server.py"]
    }
  }
}

For Continue extension, add to ~/.continue/config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": [
    {
      "name": "neural-vault-core",
      "command": "/path/to/NeuralVaultCore/venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["/path/to/NeuralVaultCore/server.py"]
    }
  ]
}

For Cline extension, add via Settings → Cline → MCP Servers.

Paste the contents of SKILL.md into your extension's system prompt field.

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OpenCode

Generate config:

nvc print-config --client opencode

Or add to ~/.config/opencode/config.json:

{
  "mcp": {
    "neural-vault-core": {
      "command": "/path/to/NeuralVaultCore/venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["/path/to/NeuralVaultCore/server.py"]
    }
  }
}

Paste the contents of SKILL.md into your system prompt.

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Ollama (with Open WebUI or AnythingLLM)

Ollama itself does not implement MCP natively. Connect via Open WebUI or AnythingLLM which both support MCP tool servers.

Start NeuralVaultCore in SSE mode:

nvc serve --transport sse --host 0.0.0.0 --port 9998

Then configure your frontend to point to http://localhost:9998/sse (see Open WebUI and AnythingLLM sections below).

Paste the contents of SKILL.md into your model's system prompt in the UI.

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Open WebUI

Start NeuralVaultCore in SSE mode first:

nvc serve --transport sse --host 0.0.0.0 --port 9998

In Open WebUI:

1. Go to Settings → Tools (or Admin → Tools)
2. Click Add Tool Server
3. Set URL to http://localhost:9998/sse
4. If auth is enabled, add header: Authorization: Bearer nvc_YOUR_API_KEY
5. Save and enable the tool server

Then in any chat, click the tools icon and enable neural-vault-core.

Paste the contents of SKILL.md into your model's system prompt.

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LM Studio

Start NeuralVaultCore in SSE mode:

nvc serve --transport sse --host 0.0.0.0 --port 9998

In LM Studio:

1. Go to Developer → MCP Servers
2. Click Add MCP Server
3. Set type to SSE
4. Set URL to http://localhost:9998/sse
5. If auth is enabled, add the Authorization header

Paste the contents of SKILL.md into the System Prompt field of your chat preset.

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OpenAI Codex CLI

Start NeuralVaultCore in SSE mode:

nvc serve --transport sse --host 0.0.0.0 --port 9998

Add to your Codex config (~/.codex/config.toml or equivalent):

[[mcp_servers]]
name = "neural-vault-core"
url = "http://localhost:9998/sse"

[mcp_servers.headers]
Authorization = "Bearer nvc_YOUR_API_KEY"

Paste the contents of SKILL.md into your system prompt instructions file.

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AnythingLLM

Start NeuralVaultCore in SSE mode:

nvc serve --transport sse --host 0.0.0.0 --port 9998

In AnythingLLM:

1. Go to Settings → Agent Skills → Custom MCP Servers
2. Add a new server with URL http://localhost:9998/sse
3. If auth is enabled, add: Authorization: Bearer nvc_YOUR_API_KEY
4. Enable the server

Paste the contents of SKILL.md into the workspace system prompt.

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Any MCP-Compatible Client (Generic)

Start the server in the appropriate mode:

# stdio mode (local, single process)
nvc serve --transport stdio

# SSE mode (remote, network accessible)
nvc serve --transport sse --host 0.0.0.0 --port 9998

stdio config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "neural-vault-core": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["/path/to/NeuralVaultCore/server.py"]
    }
  }
}

SSE config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "neural-vault-core": {
      "url": "http://localhost:9998/sse",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer nvc_YOUR_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Then paste SKILL.md contents into your agent's system prompt.

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⚡ Installing NeuralVaultSkill

NeuralVaultSkill teaches your agent how to use NeuralVaultCore efficiently — when to save, how to resume, and how to stay within token limits.

Claude Code (slash commands)

npx github:getobyte/NeuralVaultSkill --global    # all workspaces
npx github:getobyte/NeuralVaultSkill --local     # current project only

This installs /nvc:init and /nvc:end as slash commands in Claude Code.

Cursor / VS Code / Any IDE

curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/getobyte/NeuralVaultSkill/main/SKILL.md > .cursorrules

Or copy SKILL.md manually and paste into your IDE's system prompt field.

Ollama / LM Studio / Open WebUI / AnythingLLM

Copy the full contents of SKILL.md and paste it into the System Prompt of your model or chat preset. The skill is plain text — it works with any model that follows instructions.

Usage

/nvc:init  →  loads project context at session start
/nvc:end   →  saves a short _state checkpoint at session end

Between those two commands, the agent saves important decisions autonomously in the background.

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🧹 NeuralVaultArchivist — Memory Consolidation

Over time, memories accumulate. The Archivist consolidates overlapping fragments into a single canonical master record — without deleting anything.

Install

Copy the contents of SKILL.md and paste it as a System Prompt in a new chat session when you need to run maintenance.

Usage

Trigger with natural language:

"Consolidate memories for the auth-system namespace."
"Merge all overlapping memories related to deployment."
"Clean up project:myapp memories, but do not delete anything."

The Archivist will:

1. Search for all related memory fragments
2. Synthesize them into one canonical master record
3. Save the consolidated record
4. Report which source memories were used and suggest cleanup candidates (without deleting)

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🔄 NeuralVaultFlow — Full Dev Workflow

Once your memory is set up, use NeuralVaultFlow to orchestrate the full development cycle with NVC persistence baked in at every step.

npx github:getobyte/NeuralVaultFlow --global

Command	What it does
/nvc:brainstorm	Structured requirements gathering
/nvc:plan	Executable plan with acceptance criteria
/nvc:execute	Step-by-step execution with verify loops
/nvc:audit	Static analysis — dead code, errors, security
/nvc:review	Opinionated code review
/nvc:seo	Technical SEO audit
/nvc:geo	AI search visibility (GEO Score 0–100)
/nvc:perf	Performance audit
/nvc:security	OWASP Top 10 + exploit scenarios
/nvc:deploy	Pre-deployment gate — blocks on CRITICAL failures

Every command reads from and writes to NeuralVaultCore — so your brainstorm, plans, and audit results persist across sessions automatically.

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🛠️ NeuralSkillBuilder — Build Your Own Skills

Want to create custom Claude Code skills that integrate with NeuralVaultCore? Use NeuralSkillBuilder.

npx github:getobyte/NeuralSkillBuilder --global

Command	What it does
/nvc:skill discover	Guided 6-phase interview to design a new skill
/nvc:skill scaffold	Generate a complete skill directory from a spec
/nvc:skill distill	Transform raw knowledge into framework chunks
/nvc:skill audit	Check compliance against NVC skill conventions

The discovery phase includes a dedicated step for designing NVC integration — which keys to read, which events trigger saves, and what namespace convention to use.

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🛠️ CLI Reference

Core Operations

nvc store <key> <content> [--tags t1,t2] [--ns default]
nvc get <key> [--ns default]
nvc search <query> [--ns ...]
nvc list [--limit 50] [--keys_only]
nvc delete <key> [--ns default] [--yes]
nvc stats
nvc namespaces

Versioning

nvc versions <key> [--ns default]
nvc restore <key> <version> [--ns default]

Workflow

nvc checkpoint <namespace> <content>
# Example:
nvc checkpoint project:myapp "Finished auth refactor. Next: write tests."

Import / Export

nvc export [output.json]
nvc import <file.json>
nvc import-from markdown ./docs/ [--ns project:docs]
nvc import-from obsidian ./vault/ [--ns project:notes]
nvc import-from notion ./notion-export/ [--ns project:notion]
nvc import-from text ./notes.txt
nvc import-from json ./backup.json
nvc migrate ./path/to/contextkeep/memories/

Automation

nvc install-hooks --shell bash
nvc install-hooks --shell zsh
nvc install-hooks --shell powershell
nvc uninstall-hooks

nvc watch ./src/ --interval 2
nvc summarize

nvc daemon start [--watch ./src/]
nvc daemon stop
nvc daemon status

Maintenance

nvc doctor
nvc repair
nvc backup [output.bak]
nvc restore-backup <file.bak>
nvc setup-model
nvc dashboard                  # Web UI → http://localhost:9999

Server

nvc serve --transport stdio
nvc serve --transport sse --port 9998
nvc print-config --client claude-code
nvc print-config --client cursor
nvc print-config --client vscode
nvc print-config --client opencode

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🏗️ Architecture

NeuralVaultCore/
├── core/
│   ├── storage.py       # SQLite storage engine
│   ├── service.py       # Business logic
│   ├── auth.py          # API key authentication
│   ├── config.py        # Environment config
│   ├── doctor.py        # Diagnostic checks
│   ├── repair.py        # DB optimization
│   ├── importers.py     # Notion / Obsidian / Markdown importers
│   ├── shell_capture.py # Shell hook capture
│   ├── watcher.py       # File watcher
│   ├── summarizer.py    # Activity summarizer
│   ├── daemon.py        # Background daemon
│   └── migration.py     # Schema migrations
├── hooks/
│   ├── bash_hook.sh         # Bash auto-capture
│   ├── zsh_hook.sh          # Zsh auto-capture
│   ├── powershell_hook.ps1  # PowerShell auto-capture
│   └── nvc-daemon.service   # systemd service unit
├── NVC-BaseUI/          # React 19 + TypeScript + Tailwind 4 + shadcn
├── server.py            # MCP server entry point (stdio / sse)
├── webui.py             # Web dashboard server → port 9999
├── nvc.py               # CLI entry point
└── install.py           # Installer wizard

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🔒 Security

Area	Details
API Keys	nvc_ prefix, 52 chars, constant-time comparison
Auth	Bearer token required for remote/homelab setups
Privacy	Zero telemetry, zero cloud, fully local
Transport	SSE over HTTP — add Nginx/Caddy reverse proxy for HTTPS in production

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📦 Storage Limits

These limits apply per record — total database size is only limited by your local disk space.

Field	Per-record limit
Key	256 chars
Title	512 chars
Content	1 MB
Versions	5

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