If you’re tired of repeating yourself to AI, losing context between conversations, or wondering where all your brilliant ideas disappeared to, you’re in the right place. Basic Memory transforms how you work with AI assistants by creating a persistent, connected knowledge base from your conversations. Here are ten things you should know.
1. Never Lose Context Again
The core problem with AI conversations today: they disappear. All that context, those insights, the nuanced understanding you built up over hours of discussion, gone the moment the chat ends. You start fresh every time, copy-pasting context, re-explaining your project for the hundredth time or begging AI to just read the frigging contents of your projects folder or claude.md file.
With Basic Memory your AI conversations persist. Pick up exactly where you left off, days or weeks later, with full context intact. No more wondering if AI deemed something important enough to remember.
2. Knowledge That Compounds Over Time
Unlike chat histories that just pile up into an unsearchable mess, Basic Memory builds a semantic knowledge graph. Each conversation strengthens connections between ideas. Your Ethiopian coffee notes automatically link to your pour-over brewing techniques, which connect to your water temperature experiments.
Which means your knowledge doesn’t just accumulate, it grows. The AI can traverse these connections to provide insights you never would have found by mere keyword searching.
3. Import All Your Existing AI Conversations
Don’t start from scratch. Basic Memory can import your entire conversation history from Claude and ChatGPT with a single command. All that context you’ve built over months? It becomes part of your searchable knowledge graph right away.
Everything you’ve already learned becomes instantly accessible and connected.
4. Works Across All Your AI Tools
Basic Memory isn’t locked to a single AI platform. Through the Model Context Protocol (MCP), it works with:
- Claude Desktop, web, and mobile
- ChatGPT Desktop, web, and mobile
- Gemini in Terminal
- VS Code
- Cursor
- Claude Code
- Any MCP-compatible AI assistant
One knowledge base, accessible everywhere. Have a conversation in Claude Desktop, continue it in VS Code, reference it from your phone. Your knowledge isn’t held hostage by platform lock-in.
5. You Own Your Data, Forever
Everything lives as plain Markdown files on your machine (or in your private webapp if you prefer). No proprietary formats. No vendor lock-in. No data harvesting. No “oops, we got acquired and everything changes” surprises.
Want to back it up? Copy the folder. Want to move it? Point to a new directory. Want to read it without Basic Memory? Open the files in any text editor. It’s yours, permanently.
6. AI Can Read AND Write to Your Knowledge
Unlike RAG systems where AI can only query your documents, Basic Memory is bidirectional. The AI can:
- Write new notes during conversations
- Edit existing notes
- Create connections between topics
- Search and traverse your knowledge graph
Meanwhile, you can edit the same files in your webapp, or Obsidian, VS Code, or any other text editor. Real collaboration, not just question-and-answer.
7. Multi-Project Organization
Keep different knowledge contexts separate. Switch between:
- Work projects (architecture decisions, API documentation)
- Personal learning (test prep, language learning)
- Research projects (academic papers, literature reviews)
- Creative work (novel writing, world building, character development)
The AI understands which project you’re in and provides relevant context automatically. No more mixing your database architecture notes with your sourdough recipes.
8. Cloud or Local - Your Choice
Start local with complete control and privacy. Everything on your machine, nothing sent to servers you don’t control.
Ready to scale? Basic Memory Cloud syncs across devices and platforms. Your notes available anywhere anytime.
9. Works Seamlessly with Obsidian
We’re Obsidian superfans, so we made sure your Basic Memory notes play nice with it. It’s pretty straightforward because Basic Memory’s notes are just Markdown files in folders. Point Obsidian at your Basic Memory directory and you get:
- Graph view of your knowledge connections
- All Obsidian plugins
- Canvas for visual organization
- The familiar Obsidian interface
- Two-way sync (edit in either, see changes everywhere)
10. Its Core is Open Source and Built on Standards
Basic Memory uses:
- Model Context Protocol (MCP) - the emerging standard for AI tool integration
- Standard Markdown - human-readable, future-proof format
- Open source license (AGPL-3.0) - see exactly how it works
If Basic Memory disappeared tomorrow, you’d still have perfectly readable, usable notes. No black boxes. No proprietary formats. No lock-in.
The Bottom Line
Basic Memory transforms ephemeral AI conversations into lasting, interconnected knowledge. You own it. It works everywhere. It gets smarter over time.
Whether you’re a developer building complex systems, a researcher synthesizing literature, a writer organizing creative work, or anyone who thinks deeply with AI assistance, Basic Memory ensures your insights persist and compound.
- Check out our website
- Join our Discord community
- Read the documentation
- View on GitHub