* feat: include created_at timestamp in search results (closes#465)
Surface the existing filed_at metadata as created_at in search result
objects returned by search_memories(). Enables temporal reasoning over
search hits without additional queries.
* Feat: add fallback for missing filed_at metadata
* refactor: add stage-1 backend abstraction seam
Introduce the first upstreamable storage seam for MemPalace without
bringing in the PostgreSQL spike or any benchmark artifacts.
This change adds a small backend package with:
- BaseCollection as the minimal collection contract
- ChromaBackend/ChromaCollection as the default implementation
It then routes the main runtime collection consumers through that seam:
- palace.py
- searcher.py
- layers.py
- palace_graph.py
- mcp_server.py
- miner.status()
Behavioral constraints kept for stage 1:
- ChromaDB remains the only backend and the default path
- no config/env backend selection yet
- no PostgreSQL code
- no benchmark or research files
- existing tests stay unchanged
Important compatibility details:
- read paths now call the seam with create=False so they still surface
the existing 'no palace found' behavior instead of silently creating
empty collections
- write paths keep create=True semantics through palace.get_collection()
- layers/searcher retain a chromadb module attribute so the existing
mock-based tests can keep patching PersistentClient unchanged
- ChromaBackend only creates palace directories on create=True, which
preserves mocked read-path tests that use fake read-only paths
Verification:
- python3 -m py_compile mempalace/backends/__init__.py mempalace/backends/base.py mempalace/backends/chroma.py mempalace/palace.py mempalace/searcher.py mempalace/layers.py mempalace/palace_graph.py mempalace/mcp_server.py mempalace/miner.py
- pytest -q # 529 passed, 106 deselected
* refactor: clean up stage-1 seam compatibility shims
Tighten the stage-1 backend abstraction branch after review.
This follow-up does three small things:
- keep the chromadb compatibility hook in searcher.py and layers.py,
but express it through the backends.chroma module so it no longer
reads like an accidental unused import
- fix the palace_graph.py helper alias to avoid the local name collision
flagged by ruff (imported helper vs local _get_collection wrapper)
- preserve the existing mock-based test patch points unchanged while
keeping the new backend seam intact
Why this matters:
- the direct form looked like a
dead import in review, even though it was intentionally preserving the
existing test seam ( and
)
- palace_graph.py had a real lint issue ( redefinition) that was
small but worth fixing before a public PR
Verification:
- /opt/homebrew/bin/ruff check mempalace/backends/__init__.py mempalace/backends/base.py mempalace/backends/chroma.py mempalace/palace.py mempalace/searcher.py mempalace/layers.py mempalace/palace_graph.py mempalace/mcp_server.py mempalace/miner.py
- pytest -q tests/test_layers.py tests/test_searcher.py
- pytest -q # 529 passed, 106 deselected
* docs: explain backend shim imports in search paths
Add short code comments in searcher.py and layers.py explaining why the
module-level `chromadb` alias remains after the stage-1 backend seam
refactor.
The alias is intentional: it preserves the existing mock patch points used
by the current test suite (`mempalace.searcher.chromadb.PersistentClient`
and `mempalace.layers.chromadb.PersistentClient`) while the runtime logic
now flows through the backend abstraction.
This keeps the public PR easier to review because the apparent "unused
import" now has an explicit reason next to it.
Verification:
- /opt/homebrew/bin/ruff check mempalace/searcher.py mempalace/layers.py
- pytest -q tests/test_layers.py tests/test_searcher.py
* refactor: reuse a default backend instance in palace helper
Tighten the stage-1 backend seam by promoting the default Chroma backend
adapter to a module-level singleton in `mempalace/palace.py`.
This keeps the stage-1 scope unchanged — Chroma is still the only backend
wired in this branch — but avoids constructing a fresh `ChromaBackend()`
object on every `get_collection()` call. The backend is stateless today,
so this is a readability/cleanup change rather than a behavioral one.
Why this helps:
- makes `palace.get_collection()` read like a real default factory instead
of an inline constructor call
- keeps the stage-1 branch a little cleaner before opening the public PR
- does not widen the backend surface or change any config/runtime behavior
Verification:
- python3 -m py_compile mempalace/palace.py
- pytest -q tests/test_miner.py tests/test_layers.py tests/test_searcher.py
- pytest -q # 529 passed, 106 deselected
* fix: harden read-only seam behavior and update seam tests
Preserve the stage-1 backend abstraction while closing the real read-path
regression surfaced in PR review.
What changed:
- make ChromaBackend.get_collection(create=False) fail fast when the palace
directory does not exist instead of letting PersistentClient create it as a
side effect
- update miner.status() to call get_collection(..., create=False) so status
keeps the historical 'No palace found' behavior
- remove the temporary chromadb shim aliases from layers.py and searcher.py
now that the tests patch the seam directly
- add focused tests for the new backends package, including ChromaCollection
delegation and ChromaBackend create=True/create=False behavior
- retarget layer/searcher tests to patch the backend seam instead of patching
chromadb.PersistentClient inside production modules
- add a regression test that status() does not create an empty palace when the
target path is missing
Verification:
- ruff check .
- uv run pytest -q
- uv run pytest -q tests/test_backends.py tests/test_cli.py tests/test_mcp_server.py tests/test_layers.py tests/test_searcher.py tests/test_miner.py
Notes:
- the separate benchmark/slow/stress layer was started as a soak but not used
as the merge gate for this PR branch
* refactor: drop duplicate mcp collection cache declaration
Remove a redundant `_collection_cache = None` assignment in
`mempalace/mcp_server.py` left over after the stage-1 backend seam refactor.
This does not change behavior; it only trims review noise in the MCP server
module after the read-path hardening pass.
Verification:
- ruff check mempalace/mcp_server.py
- uv run pytest -q tests/test_mcp_server.py
---------
Co-authored-by: Sergey Kuznetsov <sergey@iterudit.com>
Add/expand tests for normalize (39%→97%), searcher (39%→100%),
layers (28%→97%), split_mega_files (34%→72%).
Fix mcp_server.py parse_args→parse_known_args to prevent SystemExit
when imported during pytest (CI was crashing on all test jobs).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
- Switch CI install step from `pip install -r requirements.txt` to
`pip install -e ".[dev]"` since requirements.txt was removed
- Add noqa: E402 to intentionally-late imports in conftest.py
(HOME must be isolated before mempalace imports)
- Remove unused KnowledgeGraph import in test_knowledge_graph.py
- Apply ruff formatting to test files
sha2fiddy