context-vault

Persistent structured memory for Claude Code.

The LLM is an active participant in its own memory — not a passive logger. A daemon TCP server is the sole writer to vault.db. Thin MCP clients connect via TCP and proxy tool calls. Multi-terminal: workers create checkpoints, the supervisor answers them. Push notifications route events in real time.

Architecture

Claude Code ←stdio→ [thin client MCP] ←TCP:9743→ [daemon] ←SQL→ vault.db
                     cmd/context-vault-mcp         cmd/context-vault-daemon
                          │                              │
                     fallback SQLite              watchCheckpoints (3s)
                     (if daemon down)             pushToRole / pushToSession
                          │                              │
                     -role worker|supervisor       table agents (persistent)
                     -channel (push forwarding)    supervisor singleton

Multi-terminal supervision

Terminal 1 (supervisor)          Terminal 2 (worker)          Terminal 3 (worker)
vault_assume_role(supervisor) →  vault_assume_role(worker) →  vault_assume_role(worker)
        ↑                               │                            │
        │ push checkpoint_created       │ vault_upsert_entity        │
        │←──────────────────────────────┘ (type: checkpoint)         │
        │                                                            │
        │ push checkpoint_answered                                   │
        │────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────→│

Installation

1. Build

CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -o bin/context-vault-daemon-linux-amd64 ./cmd/context-vault-daemon/
CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -o bin/context-vault-mcp-linux-amd64 ./cmd/context-vault-mcp/

2. Start the daemon

PROJECT_DIR=/path/to/project nohup ./bin/context-vault-daemon-linux-amd64 -db /path/to/project/.claude/vault.db &

3. Configure MCP

Create .mcp.json at your project root:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "context-vault": {
      "command": "/path/to/bin/context-vault-mcp-linux-amd64",
      "args": ["-role", "worker", "-channel"],
      "env": { "PROJECT_DIR": "/path/to/project" }
    }
  }
}

4. Launch Claude Code with channels

claude --dangerously-skip-permissions --dangerously-load-development-channels server:context-vault

Available MCP tools

Tool	Description
vault_get_context	Active todos, decisions, constraints, checkpoints
vault_search_entities	Search by type, namespace, or label substring
vault_upsert_entity	Create or update an entity
vault_list_todos	Todos with status, priority, blockers, steps
vault_todo_transition	Change todo status (open/in_progress/blocked/done)
vault_create_relation	Link entities (depends_on, blocks, subtask_of)
vault_delete_entity	Delete entity and cascade relations
vault_add_steps	Add steps to a todo (idempotent)
vault_step_done	Mark a step done (auto-transition if all required done)
vault_get_entity	Read full entity by ID (meta, relations, steps)
vault_list_workers	List connected clients (supervisor only)
vault_assume_role	Change session role (worker/supervisor singleton)

See USAGE.md for detailed examples.

Entity types

todo, mission, decision, constraint, checkpoint, pattern, function, type, package, file, api, dependency, credential

Schema

SQLite WAL. Core tables:

• entities — identity + meta JSONB (blob_plus, blob_minus, status, priority, ...)
• relations — typed edges (depends_on, blocks, subtask_of)
• todo_steps — ordered steps per todo with done flag
• agents — persistent client registry (session_id, role, connected, timestamps)
• sessions / buffer / compact_log — legacy hook tables (still used by cmd/context-vault)

Security

• vault.db is chmod 600 on creation
• .claude/vault.db is automatically gitignored
• sensitivity=2 entities are excluded from context injection
• type=credential never stores values — only existence and location
• Supervisor singleton enforced via agents table

License

MIT