---
title: How it works
type: workflow
steps: [write, connect, query]
---
How Basic Memory works.
A workspace your AI can actually think in.
Your AI writes, reads, and reuses what matters. Your notes, prompts, and instructions. All in plain text.
Plain text files
It starts as Markdown you own
Every note is a plain Markdown file with simple YAML frontmatter. The source of truth, on your disk or in your private cloud.
Read it in any editor, version it in Git, back it up, move it anywhere. No database you can't open, no proprietary format.
This is the half the whole industry is converging on. It's also where most tools stop.
A knowledge graph
Your notes connect into a graph
Categorized observations and typed relations turn a folder of notes into a semantic graph. And it grows as you and your AI write, not by configuration.
Your AI can follow threads, recall patterns, and summarize related work without you re-prompting.
Ask “summarize what we decided in our last three planning notes” and it follows the links to answer.
A real index
Read it like a doc. Query it like a database.
On top of the files, Basic Memory builds a full-text, semantic, and structured index. So your AI can search by keyword, by meaning, or by frontmatter field.
That's the hard half: making a pile of Markdown queryable without giving up the plain files underneath.
Define schemas to validate note types, and the graph stays consistent as it grows.
## Features
A real app for your knowledge.
Everything you'd expect from a tool you live in. And it all stays plain Markdown underneath.
Your whole knowledge base, in one app
Projects, notes, observations, and relations. Browse and edit it all in the web app.
Jump to anything
A command palette to search notes and move around your whole graph in a keystroke.
Every version, recoverable
File history keeps a version on every save. Compare changes and restore any earlier one.
Share a note with a link
Publish any note as a public, read-only page. No account required to view it.
Bring your history with you
Import from Claude, ChatGPT, a project ZIP, or JSON. And keep building from there.
Separate projects for separate work
Keep clients, teams, and topics in their own projects. Or keep everything in one.
## Works everywhere
Works with your favorite tools.
Basic Memory integrates with any AI platform or tool that supports the Model Context Protocol. Your knowledge follows you everywhere.
Claude Code
DevelopmentPersistent context across development sessions with Anthropic's CLI.
Learn more →OpenAI Codex
DevelopmentPersistent context for OpenAI's coding agent, across every session.
Learn more →Cursor
DevelopmentAI-powered coding with persistent project memory and context.
Learn more →VS Code
DevelopmentAccess your knowledge base directly in VS Code with MCP support.
Learn more →Obsidian
Knowledge ManagementNative markdown file compatibility. Edit in Obsidian, use with AI.
Learn more →Claude Desktop
AI AssistantsDirect MCP integration for seamless knowledge access in Claude conversations.
ChatGPT
AI AssistantsUse Basic Memory Cloud to give ChatGPT persistent, structured memory.
Gemini
AI AssistantsGoogle's AI with access to your Basic Memory knowledge base.
Local LLMs
AI AssistantsWorks with any MCP-compatible local language model.
Built on the Model Context Protocol, an open standard for AI-tool integration
Any tool that supports MCP can use Basic Memory. Future integrations work automatically.
## Get started
Start building with your AI.
Try it for 7 days. Your notes stay yours either way. Start building a knowledge base that grows with you.
