- mempalace/instructions/init.md: only skip Step 4 when `mempalace --version` succeeds. `pip show` / `uv tool list` reporting an install is not enough -- if the package lives in an unactivated venv, Step 5 (`mempalace init ...`) fails with command-not-found. Treat that case as not-installed and re-install via Step 3 into a PATH-visible location. - .codex-plugin/README.md: switch the git-install recipe from `uv sync` to `uv tool install --editable .` so the bundled `plugin.json` (which invokes `mempalace-mcp` by bare name) can launch the MCP server. Plain `uv sync` only puts the script in `.venv/bin/`, which Codex won't find unless the venv is activated first.
3.1 KiB
MemPalace Init
Guide the user through a complete MemPalace setup. Follow each step in order, stopping to report errors and attempt remediation before proceeding.
Step 1: Check Python version
Run python3 --version (or python --version on Windows) and confirm the
version is 3.9 or higher. If Python is not found or the version is too old,
tell the user they need Python 3.9+ installed and stop.
Step 2: Check if mempalace is already installed
Run mempalace --version. If it succeeds, the CLI is on PATH — report
the installed version and skip to Step 4.
If mempalace --version fails, do not skip to Step 4 just because
pip show mempalace or uv tool list reports the package as installed:
the package may live inside a venv that isn't activated, in which case
Step 5 (mempalace init ...) will fail with command not found. Treat
that case as not-installed and continue to Step 3, which will (re)install
into a PATH-visible location via uv tool install or pip.
Step 3: Install mempalace
Prefer uv — it isolates the CLI from system
Python and avoids most environment-related failures:
- If
uvis on PATH (uv --version), runuv tool install mempalace. - Otherwise run
pip install mempalace.
Error handling -- install failures
If the install command fails, try these fallbacks in order:
- If
uv tool installfailed, trypip install mempalace(or vice versa). - Try
pip3 install mempalace. - Try
python -m pip install mempalace(orpython3 -m pip install mempalace). - If the error mentions missing build tools or compilation failures (commonly
from chromadb or its native dependencies):
- On Linux/macOS: suggest
sudo apt-get install build-essential python3-dev(Debian/Ubuntu) orxcode-select --install(macOS) - On Windows: suggest installing Microsoft C++ Build Tools from https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/visual-cpp-build-tools/
- Then retry the install command
- On Linux/macOS: suggest
- If all attempts fail, report the error clearly and stop.
Step 4: Ask for project directory
Ask the user which project directory they want to initialize with MemPalace. Offer the current working directory as the default. Wait for their response before continuing.
Step 5: Initialize the palace
Run mempalace init --yes <dir> where <dir> is the directory from Step 4.
If this fails, report the error and stop.
Step 6: Configure MCP server
Run the following command to register the MemPalace MCP server with Claude:
claude mcp add mempalace -- mempalace-mcp
If this fails, report the error but continue to the next step (MCP configuration can be done manually later).
Step 7: Verify installation
Run mempalace status and confirm the output shows a healthy palace.
If the command fails or reports errors, walk the user through troubleshooting based on the output.
Step 8: Show next steps
Tell the user setup is complete and suggest these next actions:
- Use /mempalace:mine to start adding data to their palace
- Use /mempalace:search to query their palace and retrieve stored knowledge