Passport Bootstrap

Passport Bootstrap

Restore an encrypted memory passport from a configured backend so a fresh mnemo-mcp install picks up the user's full memory history.

When to Use

Trigger on explicit signals:

• "set up mnemo on this machine"
• "restore my passport" / "import my memory passport"
• "bootstrap mnemo on this laptop / VM"
• New-machine context: "I just installed mnemo on a new device"
• Recovery context: "I lost my memories, can you restore from S3?"

Do NOT trigger when the user is on an already-configured machine (check config(action="status") first - if total_memories > 0, ask before importing because import LWW-merges and may NOT overwrite local rows newer than the bundle).

Workflow

Step 1: Detect configured backend

Call config(action="status") and inspect the response. The default backend is the first entry of SYNC_BACKEND env (defaults to gdrive). If both s3 and gdrive are configured, ask the user which one to import from. If neither is configured, stop and tell the user they need to run the relay form first (config(action="setup_start") in HTTP mode, or set SYNC_S3_BUCKET + GOOGLE_DRIVE_CLIENT_ID env vars in stdio mode).

Step 2: Confirm passphrase

The bundle is AES-256-GCM-encrypted with an Argon2id-derived key from the user's passphrase. The MCP server needs the RAW passphrase to decrypt - the Argon2id hash stored in config.enc is verification- only.

In stdio mode: instruct the user to set SYNC_PASSPHRASE env var before running mnemo-mcp (or to relaunch with the env exported).

In HTTP mode: prompt the user to submit the relay form's passphrase field again (the raw value is held in process memory only and is cleared on restart - it is NEVER persisted).

Step 3: Import the bundle

Call config(action="import_passport", key="<backend>") where <backend> is s3 or gdrive. The server pulls the latest bundle from the chosen backend, decrypts with the supplied passphrase, and applies each row via last-write-wins per row (local rows newer than the bundle row are preserved + an audit row is written to sync_overrides).

Step 4: Verify

After the response lands, call config(action="status") again and confirm total_memories matches expectations. If the response from step 3 reports inserted > 0 but total_memories did not move, something else is wrong (caller should escalate, not silently proceed).

Failure Modes

• "SYNC_PASSPHRASE not set" -> Step 2 was skipped. Re-prompt for the passphrase, do NOT pick a default value.
• "Passphrase mismatch or tampered bundle" -> wrong passphrase, OR the bundle was modified at rest. Generic message by design (no passphrase oracle). Tell the user to double-check the passphrase; if confirmed correct, the bundle may need re-upload from a clean source.
• "no_passport" -> the backend bucket / folder is empty. Either the user has never run config(action="sync_now") from another machine, or the bucket name in the relay form was wrong. Ask them to verify on the source machine.
• KeyError on backend name -> backend isn't registered. Means SYNC_S3_BUCKET is empty (for s3) or the gdrive token is missing. Run the relay form to populate.

Anti-Patterns

• Do NOT call config(action="sync_now") before import - that would push the empty local DB on top of the remote, deleting other machines' state.
• Do NOT call memory(action="import", data=...) - that imports Phase 1 JSONL files, NOT Phase 2 encrypted passport bundles.
• Do NOT proceed silently when the user supplied no passphrase. Importing yields cryptic "Passphrase mismatch" errors instead of the cleaner "passphrase missing" pre-flight check.