Your first local memory.

1. Create a brain

A brain is a Git repository containing your memory. Keep it separate from the Serenity source checkout and the folder you will ingest.

mkdir -p ~/my-brain
cd ~/my-brain
serenity init
serenity doctor

init creates the directory layout and serenity.yml, initializes Git, and saves an authentication token in your OS keychain. An unavailable keychain makes initialization fail; check the troubleshooting guide if you run headless.

2. Connect one folder

Edit the generated serenity.yml. Use an absolute path to a directory of notes outside the brain repository:

connectors:
  file:
    path: /absolute/path/to/notes

Start with a small folder whose contents you know. That makes it easier to verify your first results.

3. Sync and search

serenity sync
serenity search "project priorities"
serenity status

sync imports sources and rebuilds the search index. It runs once. Files must have been unchanged for at least two seconds to be ingested. Full-text search does not require an API key or a model.

4. Work from anywhere

serenity -C ~/my-brain search "project priorities"

Next: answers with citations

Search finds source text. To extract claims and compose answers, configure models and run extraction as a separate step.