Mora

Give every AI agent one local, searchable memory of your mail, messages, calendars, files, and GitHub issues.

Warning

Mora is alpha software. We use it every day, and its main paths have tests. It has not been tested on many other people's real data. Read the cited source before you act on a result. A failed or old sync can make the local copy stale.

Mora copies six kinds of data into readable Markdown on your computer:

• Gmail
• Google Calendar
• iMessage on macOS
• Apple Calendar on macOS
• folders and files that you choose
• GitHub Issues from repositories that you choose

The source connectors are read-only. Mora builds a local SQLite search index from the Markdown. Claude Code, Codex, and other agents can use the same memory through MCP, a standard way for an agent to call local tools.

By default, Mora does not run a language model. It finds evidence, keeps stable IDs, and builds cited briefs. Your agent reads that evidence and writes the answer. You can optionally use a local Ollama embedding model to improve semantic search.

Set up Mora in about five minutes

1. Install the signed macOS app

New macOS users should install Mora.app. It is signed, notarized, and used as the stable target for Full Disk Access.

(
  set -e
  mora_installer="$(mktemp -t mora-install)"
  trap '/bin/rm -f "$mora_installer"' EXIT
  curl -fsSLo "$mora_installer" https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pyranthus-hq/mora/main/install-app.sh
  sh "$mora_installer"
)

The installer checks the release before it installs ~/Applications/Mora.app. It links the mora command to the app. It does not clear quarantine or sign the app again.

Homebrew installation is not public yet. The repository can deterministically generate a signed-app Cask, but publishing remains blocked on the scheduled update policy in #291 and the release canary in #294. Do not use the private legacy Cask; it installs the obsolete raw-binary shape.

Linux and older standalone installs can use:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pyranthus-hq/mora/main/install.sh | sh

Windows users should see the Windows guide. To build from source with Go 1.25 or later:

go install github.com/pyranthus-hq/mora/cmd/mora@latest

Source builds report version dev. They do not update themselves. Google also needs your own OAuth client when you build from source.

2. Start with one source

Mora is the local evidence store; your agent is the conversational interface. After connecting a source, try: “what did Sam and I decide about the launch?” or “what's on my calendar next week?” Reading and search retrieve local evidence; saving a durable memory requires explicit write consent. You can disable a connector or delete a saved memory at any time.

A folder is the quickest start. It needs no account login.

mora init
mora connect filesystem ~/Documents/notes
mora search "a project or person"

Then add only the sources you want:

mora connect google                         # Gmail and Google Calendar
mora connect github --repo owner/repository # GitHub Issues
mora connect imessage                       # macOS; needs Full Disk Access

For Apple Calendar:

mora connectors enable applecalendar
mora ingest run --source applecalendar

These words have different meanings:

Command	What it does
connect	Sets up a source, enables it, and gets its first data.
connectors enable	Gives Mora permission to use a connector. It does not promise a data pull.
ingest run	Reads enabled sources and writes their current data into the vault. Use it for a first load or a backfill.
sync	Refreshes a source that is already set up.

3. Give Mora to your agent

claude mcp add mora -s user -- mora mcp serve
codex mcp add mora -- mora mcp serve

Other MCP clients can start the same command:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mora": { "command": "mora", "args": ["mcp", "serve"] }
  }
}

Mora has 12 MCP tools for search, reading, writing, briefs, meetings, and the person graph. The command line covers the same core jobs and also manages setup and maintenance.

Mora also publishes an experimental Agent Plugins 1.0 package that bundles the stdio MCP declaration with portable Agent Skills. It does not install Mora, grant source permissions, or sandbox the client. Enabling it may auto-start the local MCP server, so review the client's data policy and choose mora config mcp-write-policy propose or readonly before first use.

4. Check health and add a schedule

mora doctor
mora schedule install ingest-hourly
mora schedule install pulse-daily
mora schedule list

On macOS, jobs from a signed app launch through Mora.app. This lets macOS use the app's Full Disk Access identity. Mora records its own sync result because the macOS app launcher does not return the inner command's exit code.

Full Disk Access on macOS

iMessage and Apple Calendar are local, but macOS still protects their files. Mora cannot grant this permission for you.

1. Install the signed Mora.app first.
2. Open System Settings.
3. Open Privacy & Security, then Full Disk Access.
4. Press + and choose ~/Applications/Mora.app. You may need to press Command-Shift-G and type that path.
5. Turn Mora on. If macOS asks, quit and reopen the app or terminal.
6. Run mora doctor.
7. Run mora sync imessage or mora sync applecalendar.

If an old Mora entry is present, keep it until both checks pass through the new app. Then remove the old entry yourself. Mora can report whether a protected read worked. It cannot claim that you clicked a setting.

Mora.app v0.12.1 and later replace the whole signed app bundle during mora upgrade and check the result. If you still use v0.12.0, rerun the app installer once instead of using that version's upgrade command. Do not replace only Mora.app/Contents/MacOS/mora; that breaks the app signature.

One real signed v0.12.3 to v0.12.4 update preserved iMessage and Apple Calendar access without another grant on one tested Mac. This is useful evidence, not a guarantee for every Mac. After an update, run mora doctor and a protected sync. Re-grant access if macOS asks.

Ask an agent to set it up

Copy this prompt into an agent that can run local shell commands:

Install Mora from the official pyranthus-hq/mora repository and set up a small,
safe first run. On macOS, use the signed Mora.app installer, not the standalone
installer. Verify `mora version` and run `mora doctor`. Ask me before any Google
OAuth approval, GitHub token use, Full Disk Access change, backup, sharing, or
schedule install. Do not say you clicked or approved a system screen. I will do
those steps myself. Start with one folder that I choose, connect it, run a test
search, then offer to wire `mora mcp serve` into my agent. Report every command,
what it changed, and any check that did not pass.

Use Mora every day

mora brief                                      # what changed and what matters
mora search "What is open with Sam?"           # direct recall
mora think "What did we decide about pricing?" # evidence plus gaps for an agent
mora write --scope project:acme --type decision \
  --title "OAuth" --text "Use PKCE."            # save a decision
mora brief --event-id calendar_event/abc        # cited meeting prep
mora tasks list                                 # open local tasks
mora doctor                                     # source and index health

Useful flows:

• Start a work session with mora brief.
• Search for a person, project, issue, or decision with mora search.
• Use mora think when the answer needs several pieces of evidence.
• Save a note, fact, decision, or insight that you want agents to remember with mora write.
• Use mora brief --event-id <id> before a meeting.
• Capture and close small local tasks with mora tasks add, list, and done.
• Run mora doctor when results look old or incomplete.

Mora can install Claude Code hooks too:

mora hook install
mora hook status

The SessionStart hook adds the brief. The UserPromptSubmit hook adds a small set of related memories for each prompt. Mora keeps existing valid Claude hooks. It refuses to rewrite a settings file that it cannot parse.

Correct or remove memory

Mora can propose that two addresses belong to the same person. It never accepts the match on its own.

mora teach identity list
mora teach identity confirm --handle <phone> --email <address> --yes
mora teach identity reject --handle <phone> --email <address>

You can correct a cited commitment or a note that you wrote:

mora teach commitment wrong-direction --memory-id <id> --direction owed_by_self --yes
mora teach commitment already-closed --memory-id <id> --yes
mora teach memory correct --id <id> --title "Correct title" --text "Correct text" --yes
mora teach history --memory-id <id>
mora teach undo <ledger-id>

mora delete removes one memory now. A later source sync can restore connector data. Use mora forget when the removal must remain after sync:

mora forget --chat <stable-id> --dry-run
mora forget --chat <stable-id> --yes
mora forget list
mora unforget <entry-id> --yes

Forget changes only Mora's local copy. It never deletes the source message, event, or issue.

Backup and sharing are separate choices

Mora offers three different paths:

Path	Leaves this computer?	Encryption added by Mora?	Use
mora backup	No	No	Make a local .tar.gz copy in Mora's state directory.
mora sync git	Yes, if the remote is off-device	No	Push the plaintext vault to a private git remote you control.
mora share	Yes	Yes, with age	Send only authored memories from one scope through private git or your S3/R2 bucket.

The vault contains plaintext. A private git remote is private by access rules, not by Mora encryption. mora share encrypts before upload, but the remote can still reveal file sizes and update timing. A person who already downloaded a share keeps that copy.

See the guide before you enable a network path.

Browser access on this computer

An agent that cannot start a local process can use Mora's loopback HTTP server:

mora serve http
# or keep it running as a user service
mora serve http install
mora serve http status

It binds only to 127.0.0.1, uses a bearer token, and does not enable CORS. Loopback means this computer only. It is still a local security boundary: any process that gets the token can call the allowed routes. The generic HTTP call route does not expose delete_memory.

Control writes from MCP

mora config mcp-write-policy open
mora config mcp-write-policy propose
mora config mcp-write-policy readonly

• open lets the connected agent write and delete. This is the default.
• propose stores write proposals for local approval. It refuses deletes.
• readonly refuses writes and deletes.

Review proposals with mora mcp proposals list, approve, and reject.

Durable loops

Long-running automation can record a lease and a result. This prevents two workers from doing the same scheduled work at once.

mora loop register daily-report --cadence daily --command "my-report-command"
mora loop begin daily-report
mora loop heartbeat daily-report --run <run-id>
mora loop done daily-report --run <run-id> --ok
mora loop status daily-report
mora loop list

The built-in daily brief uses this system. A crash can leave a run marked uncertain. Inspect it before you repeat an outside action.

Update or uninstall

mora upgrade --policy auto|notify|off
mora upgrade --status --json
mora upgrade --check
mora upgrade
mora schedule list
mora schedule uninstall <each-job-name-shown>
mora hook uninstall
mora serve http uninstall

The internal scheduled-check path now honors the selected policy: notify checks and posts restrained reminders, off performs no network, notification, or state write, and auto may replace only a writable, verified Mora.app after strict health and a second identity check. It records rollback/rebuild outcomes locally. No update schedule is installed yet, so bare mora upgrade remains the normal explicit update command until the scheduling PR lands.

For the signed macOS app, use the checked uninstall-app.sh command in the guide. The uninstaller keeps the vault, settings, state, and standalone migration backup. It does not remove scheduled jobs, so remove every job shown by mora schedule list first.

Data layout

Path	Holds	Can Mora rebuild it?
~/vault/mora	Markdown memories	No. Back it up.
~/.local/share/mora	SQLite index and received shares	Yes, except received share data must be pulled again.
~/.local/state/mora	Sync state, local usage log, local backups	Usually.
~/.config/mora	Settings, OAuth tokens, share keys	No. Reconnect or restore it.

Run mora config to see the active paths. MORA_VAULT can select another absolute vault path for one process. It does not change config.toml.

Privacy boundary

• Source access is read-only. Google uses gmail.readonly and calendar.readonly. iMessage uses mode=ro. Apple Calendar uses mode=ro plus SQLite query_only(1) so it can read the live write-ahead log safely.
• The vault, index, tokens, sync state, and usage log stay local by default.
• Mora uses the network for source APIs, GitHub release checks, and any backup or share target that you choose.
• Optional Ollama embeddings are allowed only on a loopback address.
• Mora's local usage log leaves out query text by default. Turn it off with mora usage off or DO_NOT_TRACK=1.
• A cloud agent is a separate boundary. After it reads a Mora result, its model provider and data rules apply.
• Files are plaintext on disk. Use FileVault, BitLocker, or other disk encryption. Do not put the vault in an unencrypted remote.

Search and proof

With the default static embedder, Mora searches parent memories and bounded Gmail/iMessage message segments with full-text search. With an active semantic Ollama embedder, it combines full-text, vector, person-graph, and message-segment results with Reciprocal Rank Fusion. That name means it joins ranked lists by position instead of comparing unrelated raw scores.

Mora's frozen test corpora start from a written answer key. Tests render mail, messages, and events from that key, pin every byte, run the real brief and meeting code, and check citations and commitment fields. Mutation tests also break each important gate on purpose and require a test to fail. This is strong proof against known regressions. It is not proof that every real inbox or calendar will work.

The fixtures and scores are in internal/mora/eval/. The method is in evaluation and testing.

More

• Guide — commands, connectors, and upkeep.
• Architecture — current design and code map.
• Contributing — build and review rules.
• Security — report a problem privately. Never paste vault data or credentials into a public issue.

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_{Named for Hermaeus Mora, keeper of knowledge and memory.}