README
¶
Creel
Self-hosted memory-as-a-service for AI agents.
Creel provides topic-scoped memory with principal-based RBAC, Zettelkasten-style chunk-to-chunk linking across topic boundaries, and dual-mode retrieval (semantic search + temporal context). It runs in your infrastructure via Helm chart.
Quick start
# Start PostgreSQL/pgvector
docker compose up -d postgres
# Build
make build
# Generate a bootstrap API key and create creel.yaml (see docs/QUICKSTART.md)
bin/creel bootstrap-key --name quickstart
# Start the server with migrations
bin/creel --config creel.yaml --migrate
See Quickstart for the full walkthrough.
Key features
- Topic > Document > Chunk hierarchy with RBAC
- Cross-topic linking with permission-gated traversal
- Dual-mode retrieval: RAG (semantic search) and context (temporal ordering)
- Client-driven compaction with link preservation
- Pluggable vector backends: pgvector (reference), OpenAI, Qdrant, Weaviate
- 28 gRPC RPCs across 7 services
Documentation
| Guide | Description |
|---|---|
| Quickstart | End-to-end setup in under 5 minutes |
| Concepts | Data model, auth, search modes, linking, compaction |
| API Reference | All 28 RPCs with request/response details |
| Development | Dev environment, testing, adding new RPCs |
| Deployment | Helm chart, configuration, OIDC setup |
| creel-chat | Interactive demo agent with conversation memory |
| Architecture | Full design document and roadmap |
Status
Early development (v0.1.0). Phase 1 is complete; see ARCHITECTURE.md for the roadmap and CHANGELOG.md for release history.
License
Apache 2.0. See LICENSE.
Directories
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| Path | Synopsis |
|---|---|
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cmd
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creel
command
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creel-chat
command
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creel-cli
command
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internal
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auth
Package auth provides authentication and authorization for Creel.
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Package auth provides authentication and authorization for Creel. |
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config
Package config handles loading and validating Creel server configuration.
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Package config handles loading and validating Creel server configuration. |
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retrieval
Package retrieval implements RAG search logic for Creel.
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Package retrieval implements RAG search logic for Creel. |
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server
Package server implements the Creel gRPC server.
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Package server implements the Creel gRPC server. |
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store
Package store provides PostgreSQL-backed data access for Creel.
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Package store provides PostgreSQL-backed data access for Creel. |
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store/dbtest
Package dbtest provides test helpers for database stores.
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Package dbtest provides test helpers for database stores. |
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vector
Package vector defines the interface for pluggable vector storage backends.
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Package vector defines the interface for pluggable vector storage backends. |
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vector/pgvector
Package pgvector implements the vector.Backend interface using PostgreSQL with pgvector.
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Package pgvector implements the vector.Backend interface using PostgreSQL with pgvector. |
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vector/vectortest
Package vectortest provides a reusable conformance test suite for vector backends.
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Package vectortest provides a reusable conformance test suite for vector backends. |
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Package mcp implements the Creel MCP server adapter.
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Package mcp implements the Creel MCP server adapter. |
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