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Engineer made built in memory, loop detection and audits mandatory for agents

Octopoda has launched an open-source memory and observability layer for AI agents that provides persistent memory, loop detection, audit trails, and a live dashboard. The tool installs via pip and works with frameworks like LangChain, CrewAI, AutoGen, and OpenAI Agents SDK, aiming to solve common agent failures such as memory loss, infinite loops, and lack of debugging visibility.

read12 min views1 publishedJul 16, 2026
Engineer made built in memory, loop detection and audits mandatory for agents
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The open-source memory and observability layer for AI agents.

Persistent memory, loop detection, audit trails, and a live dashboard β€” automatic on pip install

.

Website Β·

Β·

DocsΒ·

DashboardΒ·

Quick start

MCP server* Live fleet overview: agent health, operations volume, per-agent scores, the anomaly stream, and the loops caught before they burned tokens. The same dashboard runs locally and in the cloud.*

What is OctopodaThe problems it solvesQuick startLocal vs cloudWhat you get out of the boxAgentsΒ·MemoryΒ·Shared memoryΒ·Audit trailAdvanced featuresFramework integrationsMCP serverHow it comparesCloud & pricingInstallationΒ·Configuration

Octopoda is the layer between your AI agents and a production system that behaves. You write your agent however you like β€” plain Python, LangChain, CrewAI, AutoGen, the OpenAI Agents SDK, or MCP β€” and Octopoda sits underneath and handles four things agents consistently get wrong:

Memory that survives every restart, crash, and deploy.Loop detection that flags a stuck agent in seconds, with the exact calls that caused it.An audit trail of every decision, write, and recovery β€” optionally hash-chained and verifiable.A live dashboard so you can actually see what your agents are doing.

It runs locally with one pip install

and zero infrastructure. When you outgrow local, the same code syncs to the cloud with a single environment variable β€” no re-architecture, no migration. The whole thing is MIT-licensed.

If you have ever shipped an agent and watched it forget the user between sessions, loop on a failing API call, or vanish into a black box you couldn't debug, this is the missing layer.

Agents forget on every restart. The moment your process restarts, the agent loses everything it knew about the user, the task, and the conversation. Octopoda gives every agent persistent memory that survives restarts, crashes, deployments, and kills β€” versioned by default.

Agents loop, and quietly burn money. A stuck agent retrying a failing tool call can spend real money before anyone notices. Octopoda's detector catches retry, oscillation, ping-pong, reflection, and recall-write patterns in seconds and surfaces exactly which calls caused them. Detection is automatic on every write; intervention (auto-, spend cap) is opt-in through the v2 circuit-breaker config, so the policy stays yours.

Agents are black boxes. When an agent does something surprising in production, you usually can't reconstruct why. Octopoda logs every decision, write, and recovery into a replayable timeline you can diff over time. Events written through the audit-v2 endpoint are hash-chained per agent (prev_hash

β†’ _this_hash

), so you can verify integrity with a single call.

Already have an agent on OpenAI, Anthropic, LangChain, CrewAI, AutoGen, or MCP? Add memory in two lines β€” no change to your agent's logic:

pip install octopoda
python
import octopoda
octopoda.init(api_key="sk-octopoda-...")   # the entire integration

Octopoda auto-detects your framework, captures what matters from each turn, distills it into memories, and injects relevant recall into future calls β€” automatically. Or run any agent script unchanged from the terminal:

export OCTOPODA_API_KEY=sk-octopoda-...
octopoda-run python your_agent.py     # auto-instruments on launch
octopoda-run doctor                   # checks your key + detected frameworks

Get a free key at octopodas.com. Your agents and their memories appear on the live dashboard within about ten seconds of the first turn.

Running multiple scripts that should share one brain? Set

OCTOPODA_AGENT_ID=my-agent

so they write to the same memory. On slow networks, raiseOCTOPODA_RECALL_TIMEOUT=5

(seconds).

from octopoda import AgentRuntime

agent = AgentRuntime("my_chatbot")
agent.remember("user_name", "Alice")

print(agent.recall("user_name").value)

That is the whole setup. Your agent now has persistent memory, loop detection, crash recovery, and an audit trail. No config, no Docker, no Redis, no extra services.

pip install octopoda[server]
octopoda

Open ** http://localhost:7842** β€” the same dashboard as the cloud version, running against your local data. No account, no API key.

octopoda-init

It walks you through pasting (or signing up free for) an API key, validates it, and saves it to ~/.octopoda/config.json

. No environment variables to edit. The SDK auto-loads the key on the next import, and the same Python code above writes to the cloud and shows up live at octopodas.com/dashboard.

Prefer environment variables? #

export OCTOPODA_API_KEY=sk-octopoda-...

Both methods work. The SDK checks the env var first, then the config file.

Same Python API both ways. Start local; move to cloud when you need sync, team access, or the managed dashboard.

Local Cloud
Setup pip install octopoda
Sign up free at octopodas.com
Storage SQLite on your machine PostgreSQL + pgvector
Dashboard

octopoda[ai]

extra (~33 MB)OCTOPODA_API_KEY

When you create an AgentRuntime

, all of this runs in the background automatically β€” no configuration:

Feature What it does
Persistent memory Survives restarts, crashes, and deploys. Versioned by default.
Loop detection Five-signal engine: retry, oscillation, ping-pong, reflection, recall.
Audit trail Every write logged; audit-v2 events hashed and chained, replayable.
Crash recovery Automatic snapshots and heartbeat-based restore.
Health scoring Continuous per-agent performance and memory-quality monitoring.
Goal tracking Set goals and milestones per agent (agent.set_goal() ).

Every agent gets a live profile: score, operation count, read/write latency, spend, and loop-suppression stats. Drill into any agent for its latency trend, operation breakdown, timeline, memory, and checkpoints.

Browse every memory an agent has written, filter by type (fact, preference, summary, embedding), inspect version history, and see exactly how each value changed over time and which agent wrote it.

agent.remember("user_name", "Alice")
agent.recall("user_name").value          # 'Alice'
agent.recall_history("user_name")        # every prior version, newest first

Memory is versioned automatically β€” each write appends a new version, and nothing is silently overwritten.

Multiple agents working on the same problem can share knowledge through named memory spaces. Writes are atomic, reads are immediate, and every change is logged with its author β€” so you always know which agent contributed what.

research_agent.share("market_size", "$2.1B AI memory market by 2027", space="team-knowledge")
result = coding_assistant.read_shared("market_size", space="team-knowledge")
print(result.value)  # "$2.1B AI memory market by 2027"

Spaces track authorship and timestamps for every write. Concurrent writes to the same key surface as a conflict (last-write-wins by default via /safe

); use agent.shared_conflicts(space="team-knowledge")

to review them.

Every decision, crash, recovery, and anomaly is logged with full context β€” including a memory snapshot captured at the moment of the decision. Replay any time window and see exactly what each agent knew, decided, and why.

agent.log_decision(
    decision="Keep single VPS instead of Kubernetes",
    reasoning="Current traffic doesn't justify K8s complexity.",
    context={"current_rps": 14000, "threshold_rps": 1000000},
)

Every log_decision

captures a memory snapshot at that instant, and a built-in similarity check warns you when a decision repeats a recent one. The timeline shows decisions alongside crashes and recoveries, filterable per agent.

For tamper-evident provenance, write through the audit-v2 endpoints (POST /v1/auditv2/event

, GET /v1/auditv2/events

). Those events are hashed and chained per agent (prev_hash

β†’ _this_hash

); GET /v1/auditv2/verify-chain

returns ok=true

plus a per-agent breakdown. The legacy log_decision()

call writes a simpler row without the chain β€” route through audit-v2 when you need verifiable integrity.

Everything below is optional. Reach for it when you need it.

Semantic search β€” find memories by meaning, not exact keys

agent.remember("bio", "Alice is a vegetarian living in London")
results = agent.recall_similar("what does the user eat?")

In cloud mode, embeddings are computed server-side and this works out of the box. In local mode, install the AI extra (pip install octopoda[ai]

) so the local embedding model (~33 MB, CPU) can run. Without it, recall_similar

returns 0 results locally and logs a warning.

Agent messaging β€” agents talk through shared inboxes

agent_a.send_message("agent_b", "Found a bug in auth", message_type="alert")
messages = agent_b.read_messages(unread_only=True)

Goal tracking β€” goals and milestones per agent

agent.set_goal("Migrate to PostgreSQL", milestones=["Backup", "Schema", "Migrate", "Validate"])
agent.update_progress(milestone_index=0, note="Backup done")

Memory management β€” forget, consolidate, health

agent.forget("outdated_config")                   # delete a specific memory
agent.forget_stale(max_age_seconds=30*86400)      # clean up memories older than 30 days
agent.consolidate(dry_run=False)                  # merge near-duplicates
agent.memory_health()                             # health report

Snapshots & recovery

agent.snapshot("before_migration")
agent.restore("before_migration")

Export / import

bundle = agent.export_memories()
new_agent.import_memories(bundle)

Drop into the framework you already use. One line, and your agents get persistent memory. All integrations work locally (no API key) or with cloud sync (OCTOPODA_API_KEY

).

LangChain β€” drop-in conversation memory

from octopoda import LangChainMemory
memory = LangChainMemory("my-chain")
memory.save_context({"input": "I prefer dark mode"}, {"output": "Got it!"})
variables = memory.load_memory_variables({})

CrewAI β€” persistent crew findings and task results

from octopoda import CrewAIMemory
crew = CrewAIMemory("research-crew")
crew.store_finding("researcher", "market_size", {"value": "$4.2B"})
finding = crew.get_finding("market_size")

AutoGen β€” multi-agent conversation memory

from octopoda import AutoGenMemory
memory = AutoGenMemory("dev-team")
memory.store_message("user_proxy", "assistant", "Research quantum computing")
history = memory.get_conversation_history()

OpenAI Agents SDK β€” thread and run persistence

from octopoda import OpenAIAgentsMemory
memory = OpenAIAgentsMemory()
memory.store_thread_state("thread_001", {"messages": [...]})
restored = memory.restore_thread("thread_001")

Give Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible client persistent memory with zero code.

pip install octopoda[mcp]

Claude Code:

claude mcp add octopoda -s user -e OCTOPODA_API_KEY=sk-octopoda-YOUR_KEY -- python -m synrix_runtime.api.mcp_server

Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json

):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "octopoda": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "synrix_runtime.api.mcp_server"],
      "env": { "OCTOPODA_API_KEY": "sk-octopoda-YOUR_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

28 tools for memory, search, loop detection, goals, messaging, decisions, and snapshots.

A note on tool names (the double prefix)

When you register the server as octopoda

, the MCP client prefixes each tool with the server name. So the server-side octopoda_remember

is exposed to your agent as octopoda_octopoda_remember

. That is correct client behaviour β€” just use the exposed name when you write skill files. If you register the server under a different name (claude mcp add memory ...

), the prefix changes to match. The full set of server-side tool names:

octopoda_remember

Β· octopoda_recall

Β· octopoda_search

Β· octopoda_recall_similar

Β· octopoda_recall_history

Β· octopoda_related

Β· octopoda_snapshot

Β· octopoda_restore

Β· octopoda_share

Β· octopoda_read_shared

Β· octopoda_list_agents

Β· octopoda_agent_stats

Β· octopoda_process_conversation

Β· octopoda_get_context

Β· octopoda_log_decision

Β· octopoda_forget

Β· octopoda_forget_stale

Β· octopoda_memory_health

Β· octopoda_consolidate

Β· octopoda_loop_status

Β· octopoda_loop_history

Β· octopoda_send_message

Β· octopoda_read_messages

Β· octopoda_broadcast

Β· octopoda_set_goal

Β· octopoda_get_goal

Β· octopoda_update_progress

Β· octopoda_search_filtered

Octopoda Mem0 Zep LangChain Memory
License MIT Apache 2.0 Partial (CE) MIT
Local-first Yes (SQLite) Cloud-first Cloud-first In process
Loop detection Five-signal engine β€” β€” β€”
Agent messaging Built in β€” β€” β€”
Audit trail Hash-chained (audit-v2) β€” β€” β€”
Crash recovery Snapshots + restore β€” β€” β€”
Shared memory Built in β€” β€” β€”
MCP server 28 tools β€” β€” β€”
Semantic search Local or cloud embeddings Cloud embeddings Cloud embeddings Needs vector DB
Framework integrations LangChain, CrewAI, AutoGen, OpenAI Agents SDK LangChain LangChain Own only

Sign up free at octopodas.com for the hosted dashboard, managed storage, and cloud API.

from octopoda import Octopoda

client = Octopoda()              # uses OCTOPODA_API_KEY
agent = client.agent("my_agent")
agent.write("preference", "dark mode")
results = agent.search("user preferences")
Free Pro ($19/mo) Business ($49/mo) Scale ($99/mo)
Agents 5 25 75 Unlimited
Memories 5,000 250,000 1,000,000 5,000,000
AI extractions 100 10,000 50,000 Unlimited
Rate limit 60 rpm 300 rpm 1,000 rpm 5,000 rpm
Loop detection Basic Full v2 Full v2 Full v2
Shared spaces 1 5 Unlimited Unlimited
Dashboard Yes Yes Yes Yes
Support Community Email (48h) Priority Dedicated
pip install octopoda              # Core β€” everything to get started (Python 3.9+)
pip install octopoda[ai]          # + local embeddings for semantic search
pip install octopoda[server]      # + local dashboard server (Flask)
pip install octopoda[nlp]         # + spaCy for knowledge-graph extraction
pip install octopoda[mcp]         # + MCP server for Claude/Cursor (Python 3.10+)
pip install octopoda[all]         # everything (Python 3.10+)

Python versions.The core package supports Python 3.9+. The[mcp]

extra needs 3.10+ (the upstreammcp

library does). On 3.9 and want everything except MCP? Usepip install octopoda[ai,server,nlp]

.

Local mode.Running without an API key gives you a fully working local install backed by SQLite at~/.synrix/data/synrix.db

.OCTOPODA_API_KEY

accepts the sentinelslocal

,offline

,dev

,none

, orYOUR_KEY_HERE

to force local mode explicitly. Real cloud keys start withsk-octopoda-

; anything else is treated as a local sentinel.

Updating an MCP registration.If you change theclaude mcp add octopoda ...

env vars (e.g. swapping local for cloud), restart the Claude Code window. A/mcp

reconnect alone won't pick up new env, because the child process inherits Claude Code's cached env at startup.

Variable Default Description
OCTOPODA_API_KEY
β€” Cloud API key (free at octopodas.com)
OCTOPODA_LICENSE_KEY
β€” License key for higher tiers (optional)
OCTOPODA_LLM_PROVIDER
none
openai , anthropic , or ollama
OCTOPODA_OPENAI_API_KEY
β€” Your OpenAI key for local fact extraction
OCTOPODA_EMBEDDING_MODEL
BAAI/bge-small-en-v1.5
Local embedding model (~33 MB, CPU)
SYNRIX_DATA_DIR
~/.synrix/data
Local data directory (SQLite + embeddings)
OCTOPODA_LOCAL_MODE
unset Set to 1 to force local mode regardless of the API key
SYNRIX_HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL_SEC
3
Daemon heartbeat interval (raise for low-resource boxes)
SYNRIX_MAX_VERSIONS_PER_RUNTIME_KEY
10
Cap on runtime:* / metrics:* key versions

The repo ships scripts under scripts/integration/

that exercise the product end to end against both a fresh PyPI install and live api.octopodas.com

. Clone and rerun them:

audit_verify_3_1_13.py

β€” live HTTP probes against production.mcp_stdio_harness.py

β€” drivesoctopoda-mcp

over JSON-RPC the way Claude Code does.user_simulation.py

β€” fresh venv,pip install octopoda

from PyPI, exercises every SDK path.local_dashboard_smoke.py

β€” proves the bundled dashboard serves byte-identical assets to the cloud one.

See CONTRIBUTING.md for setup and guidelines, and ROADMAP.md for what's planned.

See SECURITY.md for reporting vulnerabilities.

MIT β€” use it however you want. See LICENSE.

Built by RYJOX Technologies Β· PyPI Β· Cloud API Β· Dashboard

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