topoteretes Cognee Memory Search
Search both session memory and the permanent knowledge graph, optionally filtered by data category.
Automatic session search
Session memory is searched automatically on every user prompt via the user-prompt-submit hook. You do not need to run this skill to access current-session context.
Data categories
Knowledge is organized into three categories via node_set:
| Category | Node set | Contains |
|---|---|---|
| user | user_context |
User preferences, corrections, personal facts |
| project | project_docs |
Repository docs, code context, architecture decisions |
| agent | agent_actions |
Tool call logs, reasoning traces, generated artifacts |
Instructions
Use the cognee_recall tool to search Cognee memory. It calls the running Cognee server (POST /api/v1/recall) directly in-process — no shell, no subprocess.
One broad search is usually enough — the user-prompt-submit hook already injects session/trace/graph context every turn, so avoid running many targeted searches.
Search via the cognee_recall tool
cognee_recall(query="your search query", top_k=10, scope="auto")
scope="auto"— session cache + permanent graph (default)scope="graph"— permanent graph onlyscope="session"— current session only
Filter by category (optional)
Categories (user_context / project_docs / agent_actions) filter by node set. Use a direct curl to pass node_name:
curl -s -X POST "${COGNEE_BASE_URL:-http://localhost:8011}/api/v1/recall" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "X-Api-Key: ${COGNEE_API_KEY:-}" \
-d '{"query": "...", "top_k": 5, "only_context": true, "scope": ["graph"], "node_name": ["project_docs"]}'
Ground-truth a suspicious result (debugging)
The server is authoritative. If a search returns empty but you expect content, confirm directly — do not conclude "not found" from an empty result without checking:
curl -s -X POST "${COGNEE_BASE_URL:-http://localhost:8011}/api/v1/recall" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "X-Api-Key: ${COGNEE_API_KEY:-}" \
-d '{"query": "...", "top_k": 5, "only_context": true, "scope": ["graph"]}'
If the response is an {"error": ...} object rather than a list, the server was reachable but rejected/failed the request — that's an error, not "no results".
Understanding results
Results include a _source field:
"session"— from the session cache (current conversation)"graph"— from the permanent knowledge graph
Session entries tagged with [category:agent] are automatic tool call logs.
Decision table
| Signal | Action |
|---|---|
| Need current session context | Already automatic, no action needed |
| User explicitly says "search cognee" | cognee_recall(query="...") |
| "what does the codebase do" / "what did we do last time" | cognee_recall(query="...", scope="graph") |
| Need a specific category | use the node_name curl form above |
| Auto context insufficient | cognee_recall(query="...", scope="session") |
| Result empty but you expect content | Ground-truth via the curl above before concluding "not found" |