# Mem0 Local - Sovereign Memory Provider

Local-only memory provider using ChromaDB. No API key required - all data stays on your machine.

## How It Differs from Cloud Mem0

| Feature | Cloud Mem0 | Local Mem0 |
|---------|-----------|------------|
| API key | Required | Not needed |
| Data location | Mem0 servers | Your machine |
| Fact extraction | Server-side LLM | Pattern-based heuristics |
| Reranking | Yes | No |
| Cost | Freemium | Free forever |

## Setup

```bash
pip install chromadb
hermes config set memory.provider mem0-local
```

Or manually in ~/.hermes/config.yaml:
```yaml
memory:
  provider: mem0-local
```

## Config

Config file: $HERMES_HOME/mem0-local.json

| Key | Default | Description |
|-----|---------|-------------|
| storage_path | ~/.hermes/mem0-local/ | ChromaDB storage directory |
| collection_prefix | mem0 | Collection name prefix |
| max_memories | 10000 | Maximum stored memories |

## Tools

Same interface as cloud Mem0:

| Tool | Description |
|------|-------------|
| mem0_profile | All stored memories about the user |
| mem0_search | Semantic search by meaning |
| mem0_conclude | Store a fact verbatim |

## Data Sovereignty

All data is stored in $HERMES_HOME/mem0-local/ as a ChromaDB persistent database. No network calls are made.

To back up: copy the mem0-local/ directory.
To reset: delete the mem0-local/ directory.

## Limitations

- Fact extraction is pattern-based (not LLM-powered)
- No reranking - results ranked by embedding similarity only
- No cross-device sync (by design)
- Requires chromadb pip dependency (~50MB)