installation_for_dev.md

Installation for Contributors

Prerequisites

• Python 3.11+ - Required for all functionality
• uv - Modern Python package and project manager

Quick Setup

1. Clone and install dependencies:

   git clone git@github.com:memovai/memov.git
   cd memov
   
   # Basic version (core features only)
   uv sync
   
   # With VectorDB/RAG support (semantic search, validation, debugging)
   uv sync --extra rag

2. Set up development tools:

   uv pip install pre-commit
   uv run pre-commit install

3. Optional: Link core memory package (for advanced development):

   # Clone the core mem package
   cd ..
   git clone git@github.com:memovai/mem.git
   
   # Install as editable dependency
   cd memov
   uv pip install -e ../mem

Testing Local Development Version

After uv sync, you can test your local MCP server with different clients:

Claude Code

# Navigate to your test project directory
cd /path/to/your/test/project

# Add local dev MCP server
claude mcp add mem-mcp --scope project -- /path/to/memov/.venv/bin/mem-mcp-launcher stdio $(pwd)

VS Code

Create .vscode/mcp.json in your test project:

{
  "servers": {
    "mem-mcp": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "/path/to/memov/.venv/bin/mem-mcp-launcher",
      "args": ["stdio", "${workspaceFolder}"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Go to Files > Preferences > Cursor Settings > MCP, then add:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mem-mcp": {
      "command": "/path/to/memov/.venv/bin/mem-mcp-launcher",
      "args": ["stdio", "${workspaceFolder}"]
    }
  }
}

Using uv run (Alternative)

You can also use uv run from the memov directory:

# From the memov project directory
uv run mem-mcp-launcher stdio /path/to/your/test/project

Available Commands

The project provides two main entry points:

Command	Purpose	Module
mem-mcp-server	Server management CLI	mem_mcp_server.cli.server_cli:main
mem-mcp-launcher	Direct MCP runtime launcher	mem_mcp_server.server.mcp_launcher:main

Run commands without global installation:

uv run mem-mcp-server --help
uv run mem-mcp-launcher --help

Configuration and Logs

Default config directory: ~/.mem_mcp_server

~/.mem_mcp_server/
└── logs/           # Server log files