I changed the name to Pensieve because Memos was already taken.

Pensieve (previously named Memos)

Pensieve is a privacy-focused passive recording project. It can automatically record screen content, build intelligent indices, and provide a convenient web interface to retrieve historical records.

This project draws heavily from two other projects: one called Rewind and another called Windows Recall. However, unlike both of them, Pensieve allows you to have complete control over your data, avoiding the transfer of data to untrusted data centers.

Features

🚀 Simple installation: just install dependencies via pip to get started
🔒 Complete data control: all data is stored locally, allowing for full local operation and self-managed data processing
🔍 Full-text and vector search support
📊 Interactive entity detail view with chronological context navigation
🌐 Smart metadata capture including browser URL retrieval for web activities
🤖 Integrates with Ollama, using it as the machine learning engine for Pensieve
🌐 Compatible with any OpenAI API models (e.g., OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, vLLM, etc.)
💻 Supports Mac and Windows (Linux support is in development)
🔌 Extensible functionality through plugins

📰 Latest News

Application Blacklist Feature: Version v0.30.0 introduces an application blacklist feature that allows you to exclude specific applications from screenshot recording. This feature includes blacklist checking in both recording and file watching processes, with an enhanced UI for blacklist management in the configuration panel.
Enhanced Entity Detail View: Version v0.29.0 introduces a new entity detail page with interactive context navigation, allowing you to browse through screenshots chronologically with improved visual context and metadata display.
OCR Processing Upgrade: Updated RapidOCR version to use default models, reducing package size (~15MB reduction).
Configuration Management UI: Version v0.27.0 introduces an intuitive configuration management interface that allows you to easily configure all Pensieve settings through the web interface.
API Structure Optimization: All API endpoints now use a standard /api prefix for improved consistency and maintainability.
Intelligent Idle Processing Strategy: Starting from version v0.26.0, Pensieve introduces an intelligent idle processing strategy that automatically processes pending files during system idle time. This feature maximizes screenshot processing while minimizing performance impact during active system use. For more details, please refer to the Idle Processing Strategy section.
PostgreSQL Support: Starting from version v0.25.4, Pensieve now fully supports using PostgreSQL as the backend database. This enhancement allows for improved retrieval performance, especially with large data volumes. If you have extensive screenshot data or require high-speed retrieval, we strongly recommend using PostgreSQL.

For more details on setting up PostgreSQL, please refer to the Using PostgreSQL Database section.

Quick Start

memos-installation

[!IMPORTANT]
It seems that not all versions of Python's sqlite3 library support enable_load_extension. However, I'm not sure which environments or Python versions might encounter this issue. I use conda to manage Python, and Python installed via conda works fine on macOS, Windows x86, and Ubuntu 22.04.

Please ensure the following command works in your Python environment:
import sqlite3

# Check sqlite version
print(f"SQLite version: {sqlite3.sqlite_version}")

# Test if enable_load_extension is supported
try:
    conn = sqlite3.connect(':memory:')
    conn.enable_load_extension(True)
    print("enable_load_extension is supported")
except AttributeError:
    print("enable_load_extension is not supported")
finally:
    conn.close()
If you find that this does not work properly, you can install miniconda to manage your Python environment. Alternatively, check the current issue list to see if others have encountered the same problem.

1. Install Pensieve

pip install memos

2. Initialize

Initialize the pensieve configuration file and sqlite database:

memos init

Data will be stored in the ~/.memos directory.

3. Start the Service

memos enable
memos start

This command will:

Begin recording all screens
Start the Web service
Set the service to start on boot

4. Access the Web Interface

Open your browser and visit http://localhost:8839

init page

Mac Permission Issues

On Mac, Pensieve needs screen recording permission. When the program starts, Mac will prompt for screen recording permission - please allow it to proceed.

🚀 Using PostgreSQL Database

To use PostgreSQL with Pensieve, you need to install the package with PostgreSQL support:

pip install memos[postgresql]

Starting from version v0.25.4, Pensieve fully supports using PostgreSQL as the backend database. Compared to SQLite, PostgreSQL can maintain excellent retrieval performance even with large data volumes.

If your screenshot data is large or you require high retrieval response speed, it is strongly recommended to use PostgreSQL as the backend database.

1. Start PostgreSQL with Docker

Since Pensieve uses vector search functionality, it requires PostgreSQL with the pgvector extension. We recommend using the official pgvector image:

On Linux/macOS:

docker run -d \
    --name pensieve-pgvector \
    --restart always \
    -p 5432:5432 \
    -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=mysecretpassword \
    -v pensieve-pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data \
    pgvector/pgvector:pg17

On Windows PowerShell:

docker run -d `
    --name pensieve-pgvector `
    --restart always `
    -p 5432:5432 `
    -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=mysecretpassword `
    -v pensieve-pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data `
    pgvector/pgvector:pg17

On Windows Command Prompt:

docker run -d ^
    --name pensieve-pgvector ^
    --restart always ^
    -p 5432:5432 ^
    -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=mysecretpassword ^
    -v pensieve-pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data ^
    pgvector/pgvector:pg17

This command will:

Create a container named pensieve-pgvector
Set the PostgreSQL password to mysecretpassword
Map the container's port 5432 to the host's port 5432
Use PostgreSQL version 17 with vector search support
Create a data volume named pensieve-pgdata for persistent data storage
Set the container to start automatically after Docker restarts

Note: If you are using Windows, make sure Docker Desktop is installed and running. You can download and install Docker Desktop from the Docker website.

2. Configure Pensieve to Use PostgreSQL

Modify the database configuration in the ~/.memos/config.yaml file:

# Change the original SQLite configuration:
database_path: database.db

# To PostgreSQL configuration:
database_path: postgresql://postgres:mysecretpassword@localhost:5432/postgres

Configuration explanation:

postgres:mysecretpassword: Database username and password
localhost:5432: PostgreSQL server address and port
postgres: Database name

3. Migrate from SQLite to PostgreSQL

If you previously used SQLite and want to migrate to PostgreSQL, Pensieve provides a dedicated migration command:

# Stop the Pensieve service
memos stop

# Execute the migration
memos migrate \
  --sqlite-url "sqlite:///absolute/path/to/your/database.db" \
  --pg-url "postgresql://postgres:mysecretpassword@localhost:5432/postgres"

# Modify the configuration file to point to PostgreSQL
# Edit ~/.memos/config.yaml to update database_path

# Restart the service
memos start

Notes:

Ensure the PostgreSQL service is running before migration
The migration process will completely clear the target PostgreSQL database, ensure there is no important data
The migration will not affect the original SQLite database
The migration process may take some time depending on the data size
After migration, you can choose to backup and delete the original SQLite database file

Below are the migration commands for Mac and Windows:

# Mac
memos migrate \
  --sqlite-url "sqlite:///~/memos/database.db" \
  --pg-url "postgresql://postgres:mysecretpassword@localhost:5432/postgres"

# Windows PowerShell
memos migrate `
  --sqlite-url "sqlite:///$env:USERPROFILE/.memos/database.db" `
  --pg-url "postgresql://postgres:mysecretpassword@localhost:5432/postgres"

# Windows Command Line
memos migrate ^
  --sqlite-url "sqlite:///%USERPROFILE%/.memos/database.db" ^
  --pg-url "postgresql://postgres:mysecretpassword@localhost:5432/postgres"

User Guide

Enhanced Entity Detail View

Pensieve v0.29.0 introduces a comprehensive entity detail view that provides deeper insights into your screenshots:

Interactive Context Navigation: Click on any search result to open the detailed entity view with chronological context navigation
Context Bar: Navigate through screenshots using the horizontal context bar at

Pensieve

Install / Use

README