mem0 CLI (Node.js)

The official command-line interface for mem0 — the memory layer for AI agents. TypeScript implementation.

Built for AI agents. Pass --agent (or --json) as a global flag on any command to get structured JSON output optimized for programmatic consumption — sanitized fields, no colors or spinners, and errors as JSON too.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• pnpm (npm install -g pnpm) — for development only

Installation

npm install -g @mem0/cli

Quick start

# Interactive setup wizard
mem0 init

# Or login via email
mem0 init --email [email protected]

# Or authenticate with an existing API key
mem0 init --api-key m0-xxx

# Add a memory
mem0 add "I prefer dark mode and use vim keybindings" --user-id alice

# Search memories
mem0 search "What are Alice's preferences?" --user-id alice

# List all memories for a user
mem0 list --user-id alice

# Get a specific memory
mem0 get <memory-id>

# Update a memory
mem0 update <memory-id> "I switched to light mode"

# Delete a memory
mem0 delete <memory-id>

Commands

mem0 init

Interactive setup wizard. Prompts for your API key and default user ID.

mem0 init
mem0 init --api-key m0-xxx --user-id alice
mem0 init --email [email protected]

If an existing configuration is detected, the CLI asks for confirmation before overwriting. Use --force to skip the prompt (useful in CI/CD).

mem0 init --api-key m0-xxx --user-id alice --force

| Flag | Description | |------|-------------| | --api-key | API key (skip prompt) | | -u, --user-id | Default user ID (skip prompt) | | --email | Login via email verification code | | --code | Verification code (use with --email for non-interactive login) | | --force | Overwrite existing config without confirmation |

mem0 add

Add a memory from text, a JSON messages array, a file, or stdin.

mem0 add "I prefer dark mode" --user-id alice
mem0 add --file conversation.json --user-id alice
echo "Loves hiking on weekends" | mem0 add --user-id alice

| Flag | Description | |------|-------------| | -u, --user-id | Scope to a user | | --agent-id | Scope to an agent | | --messages | Conversation messages as JSON | | -f, --file | Read messages from a JSON file | | -m, --metadata | Custom metadata as JSON | | --categories | Categories (JSON array or comma-separated) | | --graph / --no-graph | Enable or disable graph memory extraction | | -o, --output | Output format: text, json, quiet |

mem0 search

Search memories using natural language.

mem0 search "dietary restrictions" --user-id alice
mem0 search "preferred tools" --user-id alice --output json --top-k 5

| Flag | Description | |------|-------------| | -u, --user-id | Filter by user | | -k, --top-k | Number of results (default: 10) | | --threshold | Minimum similarity score (default: 0.3) | | --rerank | Enable reranking | | --keyword | Use keyword search instead of semantic | | --filter | Advanced filter expression (JSON) | | --graph / --no-graph | Enable or disable graph in search | | -o, --output | Output format: text, json, table |

mem0 list

List memories with optional filters and pagination.

mem0 list --user-id alice
mem0 list --user-id alice --category preferences --output json
mem0 list --user-id alice --after 2024-01-01 --page-size 50

| Flag | Description | |------|-------------| | -u, --user-id | Filter by user | | --page | Page number (default: 1) | | --page-size | Results per page (default: 100) | | --category | Filter by category | | --after | Created after date (YYYY-MM-DD) | | --before | Created before date (YYYY-MM-DD) | | -o, --output | Output format: text, json, table |

mem0 get

Retrieve a specific memory by ID.

mem0 get 7b3c1a2e-4d5f-6789-abcd-ef0123456789
mem0 get 7b3c1a2e-4d5f-6789-abcd-ef0123456789 --output json

mem0 update

Update the text or metadata of an existing memory.

mem0 update <memory-id> "Updated preference text"
mem0 update <memory-id> --metadata '{"priority": "high"}'
echo "new text" | mem0 update <memory-id>

mem0 delete

Delete a single memory, all memories for a scope, or an entire entity.

# Delete a single memory
mem0 delete <memory-id>

# Delete all memories for a user
mem0 delete --all --user-id alice --force

# Delete all memories project-wide
mem0 delete --all --project --force

# Preview what would be deleted
mem0 delete --all --user-id alice --dry-run

| Flag | Description | |------|-------------| | --all | Delete all memories matching scope filters | | --entity | Delete the entity and all its memories | | --project | With --all: delete all memories project-wide | | --dry-run | Preview without deleting | | --force | Skip confirmation prompt |

mem0 import

Bulk import memories from a JSON file.

mem0 import data.json --user-id alice

The file should be a JSON array where each item has a memory (or text or content) field and optional user_id, agent_id, and metadata fields.

mem0 config

View or modify the local CLI configuration.

mem0 config show              # Display current config (secrets redacted)
mem0 config get api_key       # Get a specific value
mem0 config set user_id bob   # Set a value

mem0 entity

List or delete entities (users, agents, apps, runs).

mem0 entity list users
mem0 entity list agents --output json
mem0 entity delete --user-id alice --force

mem0 event

Inspect background processing events created by async operations (e.g. bulk deletes, large add jobs).

# List recent events
mem0 event list

# Check the status of a specific event
mem0 event status <event-id>

| Flag | Description | |------|-------------| | -o, --output | Output format: text, json |

mem0 status

Verify your API connection and display the current project.

mem0 status

mem0 version

Print the CLI version.

mem0 version

Agent mode

Pass --agent (or its alias --json) as a global flag on any command to get output designed for AI agent tool loops:

mem0 --agent search "user preferences" --user-id alice
mem0 --agent add "User prefers dark mode" --user-id alice
mem0 --agent list --user-id alice
mem0 --agent delete --all --user-id alice --force

Every command returns the same envelope shape:

{
  "status": "success",
  "command": "search",
  "duration_ms": 134,
  "scope": { "user_id": "alice" },
  "count": 2,
  "data": [
    { "id": "abc-123", "memory": "User prefers dark mode", "score": 0.97, "created_at": "2026-01-15", "categories": ["preferences"] }
  ]
}

What agent mode does differently from --output json:

• Sanitized data: only the fields an agent needs (id, memory, score, etc.) — no internal API noise
• No human output: spinners, colors, and banners are suppressed entirely
• Errors as JSON: errors go to stdout as {"status": "error", "command": "...", "error": "..."} with a non-zero exit code

Use mem0 help --json to get the full command tree as JSON — useful for agents that need to self-discover available commands.

Output formats

Control how results are displayed with --output:

| Format | Description | |--------|-------------| | text | Human-readable with colors and formatting (default) | | json | Structured JSON for piping to jq (raw API response) | | table | Tabular format (default for list) | | quiet | Minimal — just IDs or status codes | | agent | Structured JSON envelope with sanitized fields (set by --agent/--json) |

Global flags

These flags are available on all commands:

| Flag | Description | |------|-------------| | --json | Enable agent mode: structured JSON envelope output, no colors or spinners | | --agent | Alias for --json | | --api-key | Override the configured API key for this request | | --base-url | Override the configured API base URL for this request | | -o, --output | Set the output format |

Environment variables

| Variable | Description | |----------|-------------| | MEM0_API_KEY | API key (overrides config file) | | MEM0_BASE_URL | API base URL | | MEM0_USER_ID | Default user ID | | MEM0_AGENT_ID | Default agent ID | | MEM0_APP_ID | Default app ID | | MEM0_RUN_ID | Default run ID | | MEM0_ENABLE_GRAPH | Enable graph memory (true / false) |

Environment variables take precedence over values in the config file, which take precedence over defaults.

Development

cd cli/node
pnpm install

# Development mode (runs TypeScript directly, no build needed)
pnpm dev --help
pnpm dev add "test memory" --user-id alice
pnpm dev search "test" --user-id alice

# Or build first, then run the compiled JS
pnpm build
node dist/index.js --help

Documentation

Full documentation is available at docs.mem0.ai/platform/cli.

License

Apache-2.0