Setup

Mem9 Setup

Resolve ./scripts/setup.mjs relative to this skill directory.

If you need the current CLI surface, flags, or examples, run node ./scripts/setup.mjs --help first. Use command-specific help when needed, for example node ./scripts/setup.mjs profile save-key --help.

Know the two home directories before setup:

• CODEX_HOME falls back to ~/.codex on macOS/Linux.
• MEM9_HOME falls back to ~/.mem9 on macOS/Linux.
• Codex integration files live under $CODEX_HOME, including $CODEX_HOME/hooks.json, $CODEX_HOME/config.toml, and $CODEX_HOME/mem9/.
• mem9 credential profiles live in $MEM9_HOME/.credentials.json.

When you mention local paths to the user, use symbolic or home-relative paths such as $CODEX_HOME/mem9/config.json, $MEM9_HOME/.credentials.json, or ~/.mem9/.credentials.json. Most users can leave both variables unset. On macOS/Linux, the defaults are equivalent to starting Codex from a shell with:

export CODEX_HOME="$HOME/.codex"
export MEM9_HOME="$HOME/.mem9"
codex

On Windows PowerShell, use:

$env:CODEX_HOME = "$env:USERPROFILE\.codex"
$env:MEM9_HOME = "$env:USERPROFILE\.mem9"
codex

For isolated state, set different values before starting Codex and use the same values in trusted-shell profile save-key commands.

Run this workflow:

1. Inspect the current mem9 state first:

set -euo pipefail
node ./scripts/setup.mjs inspect

2. Use the JSON summary to decide the next action with the user. Pay attention to runtime, plugin, globalConfig, projectConfig, and profiles. When you present saved profiles to the user, copy profiles.items[*].displaySummary verbatim. Keep the API key preview beside the profile label. Do not rewrite it into generic text like key saved. profiles.items[*].apiKeyPreview helps match a saved profile to the dashboard key without exposing the full secret. profiles.items[*].manualSaveKeyCommand is the exact trusted-shell command for saving a key onto an existing profile. profiles.manualSaveKeyTemplate is the placeholder version for a brand-new profile. Global updateCheck settings live under globalConfig.summary.updateCheck.
3. After inspect, stop and present the available setup choices before you run anything else. Show:
   • saved profiles from profiles.items[*].displaySummary Example: default (019d...4356) · https://api.mem9.ai
   • profile create for creating a new mem9 API key
   • profile save-key for attaching a key from a trusted shell Do not jump straight to scope apply. scope apply only runs after the user has chosen a profile and that profile already has an API key.
4. Keep the default flow global-first. Apply project scope only when the user explicitly asks for a repo-local profile, timeout, or recall prompt-length override. Remote release-check settings live in user scope.
5. When the user wants mem9 to create a new API key, run:

set -euo pipefail
node ./scripts/setup.mjs profile create \
  --profile <profile-id> \
  --label <profile-label> \
  --base-url <mem9-api-base-url> \
  --provision-api-key

6. When the user wants to provide the key manually, do not ask them to paste the secret into Codex. Prefer a trusted shell plus MEM9_API_KEY. The trusted shell must use the same CODEX_HOME and MEM9_HOME that Codex will use. If inspect already returned a matching profiles.items[*].manualSaveKeyCommand, show that exact command. Otherwise use profiles.manualSaveKeyTemplate. Only run profile save-key inside Codex when MEM9_API_KEY is already present in the process environment.

Example trusted-shell flow:

MEM9_API_KEY='<your-mem9-api-key>' node "${CODEX_HOME}/plugins/cache/<marketplace>/<plugin>/<version>/skills/setup/scripts/setup.mjs" profile save-key \
  --profile <profile-id> \
  --label <profile-label> \
  --base-url <mem9-api-base-url> \
  --api-key-env MEM9_API_KEY

7. After the profile exists with an API key, apply the global config:

set -euo pipefail
node ./scripts/setup.mjs scope apply \
  --scope user \
  --profile <profile-id> \
  --default-timeout-ms <ms> \
  --search-timeout-ms <ms> \
  --recall-min-prompt-length <chars> \
  --update-check enabled \
  --update-check-interval-hours <hours>

8. When the user explicitly wants a project override, run one of:

set -euo pipefail
node ./scripts/setup.mjs scope apply \
  --scope project \
  --profile <profile-id> \
  --default-timeout-ms <ms> \
  --search-timeout-ms <ms> \
  --recall-min-prompt-length <chars>

set -euo pipefail
node ./scripts/setup.mjs scope clear --scope project

Project scope keeps profileId, defaultTimeoutMs, searchTimeoutMs, and recallMinPromptLength. User scope also owns updateCheck.enabled and updateCheck.intervalHours.

Common flags:

• inspect
• profile create
• profile save-key
• scope apply
• scope clear
• --profile <profile-id>
• --label <profile-label>
• --base-url <mem9-api-base-url>
• --provision-api-key
• --api-key-env MEM9_API_KEY
• --scope user|project
• --default-timeout-ms <ms>
• --search-timeout-ms <ms>
• --recall-min-prompt-length <chars>
• --update-check enabled|disabled
• --update-check-interval-hours <hours>
• --cwd <repo-root>

--update-check flags apply to scope apply --scope user. --recall-min-prompt-length defaults to 5; use 0 to recall on every non-empty stripped user prompt. Most mem9 plugin releases take effect after a Codex restart. Migration releases may ask for $mem9:setup once after restart.

scope apply and scope clear install or repair the managed mem9 runtime in $CODEX_HOME. They enable the Codex hooks feature, repair $CODEX_HOME/hooks.json, install stable shims in $CODEX_HOME/mem9/hooks/, and write install metadata to $CODEX_HOME/mem9/install.json. Codex 0.129.0+ uses hooks = true; Codex 0.122.0 through 0.128.x uses codex_hooks = true.

Do not ask the user to paste API keys into the Codex TUI. Prefer MEM9_API_KEY plus a trusted-shell profile save-key command. Direct edits to $MEM9_HOME/.credentials.json remain a fallback. Do not print API keys.