Set up Basic Memory for Pi

Use this skill when the user wants Basic Memory continuity in a Pi workspace or when recall reports that the workspace is not configured.

Goal

Create one explicit, project-local Pi configuration file:

.pi/basic-memory.json

This keeps routing predictable and avoids mutating the user's global Basic Memory default project.

Steps

1. Check status with /bm-status when available.
2. Ask which Basic Memory project should own this workspace's Pi checkpoints, unless the user already named one.
3. Prefer a project name for readability. Use projectId only when disambiguation is needed.
4. Create .pi/basic-memory.json in the workspace with opinionated defaults:

{
  "transport": "cli",
  "project": "PROJECT_NAME",
  "captureFolder": "pi/sessions",
  "useHookFlow": true,
  "autoRecall": true,
  "autoCapture": true
}

5. If the user wants MCP mode, install the adapter and switch transport:

pi install npm:pi-mcp-adapter

{
  "transport": "mcp",
  "project": "PROJECT_NAME",
  "captureFolder": "pi/sessions",
  "useHookFlow": true,
  "autoRecall": true,
  "autoCapture": true
}

6. If the user wants automatic recall/capture or MCP tools, confirm they trust this workspace's project mapping, then set BASIC_MEMORY_PI_TRUST_WORKSPACE=1 in the environment used to launch Pi. A project mapping alone does not enable automation. Manual /bm-recall and /bm-capture remain available with an explicit mapping without this trust setting.
7. Run /bm-status and check the effective auto recall/capture state, then /bm-recall setup or /bm-capture Pi setup checkpoint to verify the path.

Defaults and escape hatches