# Mnemex

> Your second brain, curated by an LLM. Books in, structured wiki out — an MCP toolkit for Claude.

- **Type:** MCP server
- **Install:** `agentstack add mcp-daniil-sokolskiy-mnemex`
- **Verified:** Pending review
- **Seller:** [Daniil-Sokolskiy](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/daniil-sokolskiy)
- **Installs:** 0
- **Category:** [AI & ML](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/ai-and-ml)
- **Latest version:** 0.1.0
- **License:** MIT
- **Upstream author:** [Daniil-Sokolskiy](https://github.com/Daniil-Sokolskiy)
- **Source:** https://github.com/Daniil-Sokolskiy/mnemex

## Install

```sh
agentstack add mcp-daniil-sokolskiy-mnemex
```

Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent.

## About

# 🧠 mnemex

**Your second brain, curated by an LLM. Books in, structured wiki out.**

[](LICENSE)
[](https://nodejs.org)
[](https://modelcontextprotocol.io)

---

`mnemex` is a personal knowledge system. You tell an LLM *"ingest this book"*,
and it reads the whole thing and files it into a structured, cross-linked wiki of:

- **Sources** — books, articles, papers (metadata + chapter summaries + extracted claims)
- **Entities** — the people, companies, and tools mentioned
- **Concepts** — ideas and frameworks, each with `When to use` / `When NOT to use`, cross-links, and a source count
- **Syntheses** — multi-source theories *you* derive ("how do these five books on negotiation actually fit together?")

Everything is plain Markdown, version-controlled, locally hosted, and LLM-readable.
It's the opposite of RAG: instead of re-discovering knowledge on every query,
the wiki **compiles knowledge once and keeps it current**. Every ingest makes it
richer.

> Inspired by [Karpathy's LLM Wiki idea](https://gist.github.com/karpathy/442a6bf555914893e9891c11519de94f) — made real and turnkey.

---

## Quick start (≈5 minutes)

**macOS / Linux:**

```bash
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Daniil-Sokolskiy/mnemex/main/install.sh | bash
```

**Windows (PowerShell):**

```powershell
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Daniil-Sokolskiy/mnemex/main/install.ps1 | iex
```

This installs the MCP servers + CLI, scaffolds a wiki at `~/mnemex`
(`%USERPROFILE%\mnemex` on Windows), and prints setup instructions for your
client — **Claude Desktop** (paste a config block) or **Claude Code** (run two
`claude mcp add` commands). These are local servers, so the web app (claude.ai)
can't use them directly. Wire up your client, then say:

> **"help me ingest my first book — Meditations by Marcus Aurelius"**

Watch `index.md` grow as the agent reads the book and files it.

Manual install

```bash
npm install -g @mnemex/library-mcp @mnemex/cli
npx playwright install chromium          # for Anna's Archive search
mnemex init ~/mnemex                  # scaffold the wiki
mnemex doctor                           # verify deps
mnemex mcp install --wiki ~/mnemex    # print setup for Desktop + Claude Code
```

`mnemex mcp install` prints copy-paste setup for both Claude Desktop and Claude
Code and never edits any config file silently.

On **Windows** the npm / `mnemex` commands are identical; install pandoc with
`winget install JohnMacFarlane.Pandoc`, and set up search natively per
[docs/mcp/search.md](docs/mcp/search.md) (`mnemex setup-search` is bash-only).

---

## What's in the box

| Package | What it is |
|---|---|
| [`@mnemex/library-mcp`](packages/library-mcp) | MCP server to search + download books from Project Gutenberg and Anna's Archive into your wiki. Includes a **Playwright-based Anna's search** that works against their current client-side-rendered pages (plain HTTP scraping no longer returns results). |
| [`@mnemex/cli`](packages/cli) | `mnemex init` / `doctor` / `mcp install` — scaffold a wiki and wire up the servers. |
| [`apps/wiki-template`](apps/wiki-template) | The starter wiki: `CLAUDE.md` operating manual, page templates, ingest scripts, empty structure. |
| **search** via [`qmd`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@tobilu/qmd) | mnemex wires up `qmd` (local BM25 + vector engine) as the `mnemex-search` MCP server over your wiki. `mnemex setup-search` installs + indexes it; the agent then has `brain.query` for hybrid retrieval. |

### Downloading from Anna's: free vs paid

Search always works and needs no account. **Downloading** has two paths:

| | How | Needs |
|---|---|---|
| **Free** | The search result includes a `download_page_url`. Open it in your browser and use Anna's free "slow download" (a short wait timer, sometimes a check). | nothing |
| **Automated** | `library_annas_download` fetches the file directly into your wiki, no browser. | a paid Anna's membership — set `ANNAS_ARCHIVE_KEY` (your account's *secret key*) |

The automated path uses Anna's `fast_download` API, which **requires a membership key** — that's Anna's restriction, not mnemex's. Free downloads exist but go through the browser slow-download page (mnemex can't fully automate that: there's a wait timer and occasionally a check, and bypassing checks is out of scope). So without a key you still get every search result plus a one-click link to grab the file for free.

Project Gutenberg downloads are always free and fully automated — no key, no browser.

---

## How it works

```
  you: "ingest Atomic Habits"
        │
        ▼
  library-mcp ──► search Gutenberg + Anna's ──► download ──► raw/books//book.md
        │
        ▼
  the LLM agent reads CLAUDE.md, then the book, then:
        ├─ writes wiki/sources/Atomic-Habits-Clear-2018.md
        ├─ creates/updates wiki/entities/  (James-Clear, etc.)
        ├─ creates/updates wiki/concepts/  (Habit-Loop, Identity-Based-Habits, …)
        ├─ updates index.md  (counts + catalog)
        └─ appends log.md
```

The `CLAUDE.md` in your wiki root is the agent's operating manual — naming
conventions, frontmatter schema, the ingest/query/lint workflows, and the
relationship vocabulary (`Builds on` / `Subsumes` / `Contrasted with` …).

## Methodology

The wiki structure is opinionated. The patterns that make it scale:

- **[Two-phase ingest](docs/methodology/two-phase-ingest.md)** — split content writing (sub-agent) from bookkeeping (parent) to avoid timeouts on big books.
- **[Cluster ingest](docs/methodology/cluster-pattern.md)** — ingest 5 themed books together with cross-link "sibling hooks" so concepts mature fast.
- **[Status lifecycle](docs/methodology/status-lifecycle.md)** — `stub` → `draft` → `mature` (3+ sources, reviewed).

## Requirements

- Node.js ≥ 20
- `pandoc` (epub/pdf → markdown)
- Chromium via Playwright (for Anna's search)
- An MCP-capable LLM client (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cowork, …)

## ⚠️ Legal

`library-mcp` includes a client for Anna's Archive, which is subject to ongoing
legal action. This project hosts and distributes nothing; you are responsible
for compliance with copyright law in your jurisdiction. See
[docs/annas-disclaimer.md](docs/annas-disclaimer.md). For a fully
copyright-clean workflow, use only the Project Gutenberg tools (~70,000
public-domain texts).

## Contributing

PRs welcome — see [docs/contributing.md](docs/contributing.md). The Anna's DOM
parser in `packages/library-mcp/src/annas.ts` needs occasional updates when
Anna's changes its markup; that's the most common maintenance task.

## License

[MIT](LICENSE)

## Source & license

This open-source MCP server is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [Daniil-Sokolskiy](https://github.com/Daniil-Sokolskiy)
- **Source:** [Daniil-Sokolskiy/mnemex](https://github.com/Daniil-Sokolskiy/mnemex)
- **License:** MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.

## Pricing

- **Free** — Free

## Security capabilities

Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access:

- **Network access:** yes
- **Filesystem access:** no
- **Shell / process execution:** no
- **Environment & secrets:** no
- **Dynamic code execution:** no

*"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.*


## Versions

- **0.1.0** — security scan: flagged — Imported from the upstream source.

## Links

- Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/mcp-daniil-sokolskiy-mnemex
- Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/daniil-sokolskiy
- Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse

---
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