maind

README

Maind

Your second brain — persistent developer memory.

Maind is a local CLI tool that acts as a global, persistent memory for developers. It stores decisions, bugs, solutions, context, and learnings across all your projects and sessions. Your data stays local, encrypted, and private.

Features

• Persistent memory — store and recall knowledge across projects and sessions
• Encryption at rest — AES-256-GCM with Argon2id key derivation; passphrase verified on every unlock
• Full-text search — FTS5-powered search across titles, bodies, and tags
• Live dashboard — TUI with real-time activity monitoring and session management
• AI integration — connect to Cursor, Claude Code, or any AI assistant so they remember too
• Single binary — no runtime dependencies, no cloud, no external database
• Linked knowledge — connect related memories with typed relationships

Install

From source (requires Go 1.21+)

go install github.com/rufus-SD/maind@latest

Build from repo

git clone https://github.com/rufus-SD/maind.git
cd maind
make install

Quick start

# Initialize your brain (guided setup)
maind init

# Store a memory
maind remember "Use context.WithTimeout for all DB calls" --kind decision --tags go,database --importance 7

# Search your memories
maind recall "database timeout"

# List recent memories
maind list

# Start the live dashboard (manages encryption session)
maind

Encryption

Maind encrypts all memory content at rest using AES-256-GCM. The encryption key is derived from your passphrase using Argon2id (3 iterations, 64 MB memory, 4 threads).

Session model

When you start the dashboard (maind), you enter your passphrase once. A session key is cached locally (readable only by your user, expires in 12 hours). While the session is active, all commands work without re-prompting:

maind              # start dashboard, enter passphrase → session unlocked
maind remember ... # uses session key, no prompt
maind recall ...   # uses session key, no prompt
exit               # dashboard exits → session key deleted, locked

You can also manage sessions manually:

maind unlock       # enter passphrase, cache session key
maind lock         # delete session key

Passphrase verification

Maind stores an encrypted verification token during setup. On every unlock, it checks the token — a wrong passphrase is rejected immediately instead of silently encrypting data with the wrong key.

AI integration

Maind can integrate with AI coding assistants so they use your memory automatically.

# In your project directory:
maind connect cursor    # generates .cursor/rules/maind.mdc
maind connect claude    # appends to CLAUDE.md

With the dashboard running, your AI assistant will:

• Read recent memories at session start
• Store decisions, solutions, and learnings silently
• Search your memory when relevant context is needed

Allowlist maind once when prompted, then it's seamless.

Commands

Command	Description
maind	Start the live dashboard (TUI)
maind init	Guided setup for your developer memory
maind remember [text]	Store a new memory
maind recall [query]	Search your memories
maind list	List stored memories
maind show [id]	Show full details of a memory
maind forget [id]	Archive a memory (soft delete)
maind link [from] [to]	Create a link between memories
maind tags	List all tags with entry counts
maind export	Export all memories as JSON
maind connect [tool]	Wire Maind into AI tools (cursor, claude)
maind unlock	Unlock encryption for this session
maind lock	Lock encryption, clear session key
maind shell	Start an interactive REPL session
maind ingest	Batch import from stdin (JSON lines)
maind version	Print version

Memory kinds

note, decision, bug, solution, context, snippet, learning

Link relations

relates_to, caused_by, supersedes, solved_by, depends_on, part_of, derived_from

Data storage

All data is stored locally in a single SQLite database. Default locations:

OS	Path
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/maind/
Linux	~/.local/share/maind/ (or $XDG_DATA_HOME/maind/)
Windows	%APPDATA%/maind/

Override with --data-dir or choose during maind init.

License

MIT