Cairnkeep

Durable, local-first memory and context for coding agents.

Cairnkeep helps coding agents carry project context across sessions and harnesses. It stores decisions, constraints, patterns, and lessons in project-scoped memory, then gives agents a bounded protocol for finding and verifying that context without turning memory into an authority or an autonomous agent runtime.

Why Cairnkeep?

• Continuity across sessions. Recall project decisions and recurring failures instead of rediscovering them from scratch.
• Harness independence. Use the same memory through Claude Code, OpenCode, Codex CLI, Kimi Code, Qwen Code, Pi, or another MCP client.
• Local by default. The default stdio server stores data on your computer; remote access, embeddings, capture, and external context are explicit opt-ins.
• Bounded agent guidance. Managed AGENTS.md instructions and project playbooks tell compatible agents when to retrieve context and which checks apply, but never execute work or grant approval.
• Least authority. Complete MCP annotations, read-only/custom tool profiles, capability gates, and immutable context packs keep observation separate from action.

Quick start

Cairnkeep requires Node.js 22 or newer. In an interactive terminal, guided setup presents selectable Git and memory choices plus checkboxes for every supported coding harness:

npm install --global @cairnkeep/cli
cairn setup /path/to/project
cd /path/to/project
cairn doctor
./.ai/start-codex.sh                 # Windows: .\.ai\start-codex.cmd

Select Codex CLI in the harness checklist for this route. Review .codex/config.toml and accept Codex's project-trust prompt on first use. Automation can supply every choice explicitly; the quickstart documents that deterministic form.

See the quickstart for Claude Code, the first remember/recall cycle, recovery, and setup ownership. See harness compatibility for the exact surface supported by each client.

The core loop is intentionally small: store a concise, verified project fact, close the session, and retrieve it when a later task needs it. Claude Code and OpenCode expose /remember and /recall; any compatible MCP client can use memory_write and memory_search directly.

For coding agents

Setup installs a managed project instruction block with a deliberately small protocol:

1. For a nontrivial task that may depend on prior project knowledge, make one task-derived, project-scoped memory_search the first tool or command.
2. Treat results as locators, not truth; verify the maintained repository sources they reference.
3. Continue with normal repository inspection if memory is unavailable or has no relevant result.
4. Never write, supersede, or approve durable memory unless the user or a reviewed workflow explicitly requests it.

Cairnkeep playbooks can recommend or require existing review, verification, security, documentation, and learning steps. They do not run those steps, activate skills, enable capabilities, or authorize destructive work.

Read Cairnkeep for coding agents for the full contract, authority model, harness behavior, and graceful fallback.

Trust boundary

Cairnkeep is not a hosted agent, telemetry service, or automatic remote knowledge collector. Memory is durable context, not source-of-truth documentation. Configured Claude Code and OpenCode hooks can derive local memory candidates; durable promotion and every networked or sensitive capture path remain separately controlled. Ordinary uninstall retains durable data unless an explicit purge is requested.

Start with Privacy and data flow, Memory storage and deployment, and Security assurance and threat model before enabling remote HTTP, embeddings, trajectories, artifacts, work evidence, or context packs.

Documentation

The documentation hub is the index for setup, agents, operations, optional features, deployment, learning paths, and contributor guides. In particular:

• Quickstart
• For coding agents
• Context intelligence
• Operating guide
• Harness compatibility
• Privacy and data flow
• Security assurance and threat model
• Guided learning paths and video scripts

The repository supports Linux, macOS, native Windows x64, WSL, Node.js 22/24/26, and real Bash 3.2 within the boundaries documented in the compatibility guides.

Contributing and support

See CONTRIBUTING.md for development and pull-request guidelines, SUPPORT.md for help, and SECURITY.md for private vulnerability reporting.

License

Apache-2.0 © 2026 Stefano Tondo