94 lines
3.9 KiB
Markdown
94 lines
3.9 KiB
Markdown
---
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sidebar_position: 99
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title: "Honcho Memory"
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description: "AI-native persistent memory via Honcho — dialectic reasoning, multi-agent user modeling, and deep personalization"
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---
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# Honcho Memory
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[Honcho](https://github.com/plastic-labs/honcho) is an AI-native memory backend that adds dialectic reasoning and deep user modeling on top of Hermes's built-in memory system. Instead of simple key-value storage, Honcho maintains a running model of who the user is — their preferences, communication style, goals, and patterns — by reasoning about conversations after they happen.
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:::info Honcho is a Memory Provider Plugin
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Honcho is integrated into the [Memory Providers](./memory-providers.md) system. All features below are available through the unified memory provider interface.
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:::
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## What Honcho Adds
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| Capability | Built-in Memory | Honcho |
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|-----------|----------------|--------|
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| Cross-session persistence | ✔ File-based MEMORY.md/USER.md | ✔ Server-side with API |
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| User profile | ✔ Manual agent curation | ✔ Automatic dialectic reasoning |
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| Multi-agent isolation | — | ✔ Per-peer profile separation |
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| Observation modes | — | ✔ Unified or directional observation |
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| Conclusions (derived insights) | — | ✔ Server-side reasoning about patterns |
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| Search across history | ✔ FTS5 session search | ✔ Semantic search over conclusions |
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**Dialectic reasoning**: After each conversation, Honcho analyzes the exchange and derives "conclusions" — insights about the user's preferences, habits, and goals. These conclusions accumulate over time, giving the agent a deepening understanding that goes beyond what the user explicitly stated.
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**Multi-agent profiles**: When multiple Hermes instances talk to the same user (e.g., a coding assistant and a personal assistant), Honcho maintains separate "peer" profiles. Each peer sees only its own observations and conclusions, preventing cross-contamination of context.
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## Setup
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```bash
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hermes memory setup # select "honcho" from the provider list
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```
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Or configure manually:
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```yaml
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# ~/.hermes/config.yaml
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memory:
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provider: honcho
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```
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```bash
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echo "HONCHO_API_KEY=your-key" >> ~/.hermes/.env
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```
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Get an API key at [honcho.dev](https://honcho.dev).
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## Configuration Options
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```yaml
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# ~/.hermes/config.yaml
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honcho:
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observation: directional # "unified" (default for new installs) or "directional"
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peer_name: "" # auto-detected from platform, or set manually
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```
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**Observation modes:**
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- `unified` — All observations go into a single pool. Simpler, good for single-agent setups.
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- `directional` — Observations are tagged with direction (user→agent, agent→user). Enables richer analysis of conversation dynamics.
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## Tools
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When Honcho is active as the memory provider, four additional tools become available:
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| Tool | Purpose |
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|------|---------|
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| `honcho_conclude` | Trigger server-side dialectic reasoning on recent conversations |
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| `honcho_context` | Retrieve relevant context from Honcho's memory for the current conversation |
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| `honcho_profile` | View or update the user's Honcho profile |
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| `honcho_search` | Semantic search across all stored conclusions and observations |
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## CLI Commands
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```bash
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hermes honcho status # Show connection status and config
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hermes honcho peer # Update peer names for multi-agent setups
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```
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## Migrating from `hermes honcho`
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If you previously used the standalone `hermes honcho setup`:
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1. Your existing configuration (`honcho.json` or `~/.honcho/config.json`) is preserved
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2. Your server-side data (memories, conclusions, user profiles) is intact
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3. Set `memory.provider: honcho` in config.yaml to reactivate
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No re-login or re-setup needed. Run `hermes memory setup` and select "honcho" — the wizard detects your existing config.
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## Full Documentation
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See [Memory Providers — Honcho](./memory-providers.md#honcho) for the complete reference.
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