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By default, EchoVault stores all data in ~/.memory/. You can change this location to organize memories by project, team, or storage volume.

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Default Location

EchoVault creates the following structure: 
~/.memory/
├── vault/                    # Markdown memory files
│   └── project-name/
│       └── 2026-02-01-session.md
├── index.db                  # SQLite database (FTS5 + vectors)
├── config.yaml               # Configuration file
└── .memoryignore             # Custom redaction rules (optional)

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Resolution Order

EchoVault resolves the memory home directory in this order:
  1. MEMORY_HOME environment variable (highest priority, per-shell/per-process)
  2. Persisted location (set via memory config set-home)
  3. ~/.memory/ (default)

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Method 1: Environment Variable

Set MEMORY_HOME to override the location temporarily: 
export MEMORY_HOME=/path/to/memory
memory init
memory config
This takes precedence over all other methods. 
# Temporary (current shell only)
export MEMORY_HOME=/path/to/memory

# Persistent (add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc)
echo 'export MEMORY_HOME=/path/to/memory' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

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Method 2: Persistent Configuration

Use memory config set-home to persist a default location. This is used when MEMORY_HOME is not set. 
memory config set-home /path/to/memory

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Set Persistent Home

memory config set-home /data/echovault
Output: 
Persisted memory home: /data/echovault
Override anytime with MEMORY_HOME.
This:
  1. Creates the directory if it doesn’t exist
  2. Creates vault/ subdirectory
  3. Writes the path to ~/.config/echovault/config.yaml

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Clear Persistent Home

Remove the persisted location and revert to default: 
memory config clear-home

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View Current Location

See the effective memory home and how it was resolved: 
memory config
Output: 
embedding:
  provider: ollama
  model: nomic-embed-text
  base_url: null
  api_key: null
context:
  semantic: auto
  topup_recent: true
memory_home: /data/echovault
memory_home_source: config
memory_home_source values:
  • env — Set via MEMORY_HOME environment variable
  • config — Set via memory config set-home
  • default — Using default ~/.memory/

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Use Cases

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Per-Project Memories

Isolate memories for different projects: 
cd ~/projects/project-a
export MEMORY_HOME=$PWD/.memory
memory init

cd ~/projects/project-b
export MEMORY_HOME=$PWD/.memory
memory init
Each project has its own vault and index.

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Shared Team Memories

Store memories on a shared network drive: 
memory config set-home /mnt/team-drive/echovault
All team members using this path will share the same memory vault.
Multiple agents writing to the same memory home simultaneously may cause database locking issues. Use per-user or per-session memory homes for concurrent access.

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External Storage

Use external storage for large memory vaults: 
# Mount external drive
sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/external

# Set memory home
memory config set-home /mnt/external/echovault
memory init

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Global Configuration File

The persisted memory home is stored in: 
~/.config/echovault/config.yaml
This file only contains the memory_home field: 
memory_home: /path/to/memory
Do not confuse this with <memory_home>/config.yaml, which contains embedding and context configuration.

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Migration

Move an existing memory vault to a new location: 
# Copy vault to new location
cp -r ~/.memory /new/location/

# Update memory home
memory config set-home /new/location

# Verify
memory config
You can also symlink ~/.memory to another location:
mv ~/.memory /data/echovault
ln -s /data/echovault ~/.memory

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Troubleshooting

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Memory Home Not Found

Error: No such file or directory: /path/to/memory/vault Solution: 
memory init
This creates the required directory structure.

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Permission Denied

Error: Permission denied: /path/to/memory Solution:
  1. Check directory permissions: ls -ld /path/to/memory
  2. Ensure you have write access
  3. Use a directory you own, or adjust permissions:
sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /path/to/memory
chmod -R u+w /path/to/memory

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Wrong Memory Home Used

Problem: Memories not appearing, wrong location used Solution: Check resolution order: 
# Check environment variable
echo $MEMORY_HOME

# Check persisted config
memory config

# Unset environment variable if needed
unset MEMORY_HOME

# Clear persisted config if needed
memory config clear-home

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Next Steps

Initialize Vault

Create vault structure at memory home

Configure Embeddings

Set up semantic search providers

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