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Memory file

The memory file is a single user-edited Markdown file that Ekorbia injects as a system message at the start of every chat. It’s the cleanest way to give the model habitual context you’d otherwise re-type into every prompt.

By default it lives at:

~/Documents/Ekorbia/memory.md

You can change the path in Settings → Memory.

What it’s good for

Anything you find yourself repeating to the model:

  • Facts about you — name, location, time zone, role, areas of expertise
  • Preferences — writing style, formality level, code conventions, “answer in metric”
  • Project conventions — naming patterns, tech stack, “we use Python 3.12 and FastAPI”
  • Standing instructions — “always include a TL;DR at the top”, “explain assumptions before answering”

Think of it like the model’s prior context about you, separate from any individual conversation.

How to edit it

In Settings → Memory, click Edit memory. Ekorbia opens the file in your OS default Markdown/text editor. If the file doesn’t exist yet, Ekorbia creates it from a small template so you have something to edit.

Save the file in your editor and the changes take effect on the next message you send — no Ekorbia restart needed.

Read-only from the model’s perspective

This is deliberate and important: the write_file tool (used by tool-capable models — see Saving files from chat) cannot touch the memory file. The model can read what’s in it; only you can edit it externally.

The memory file is your shared context with the model. It is not something the model gets to rewrite on its own.

Soft size cap

Ekorbia inlines the memory file into every chat send, so its content scales token cost linearly with size. There’s a soft cap of about 10 KB beyond which an inline warning appears.

For reference, 10 KB is roughly:

  • 2,000 words
  • 6 pages of prose
  • A long-form bullet list of personal facts and preferences

If you find yourself wanting to put more than that in the memory file, consider using attachments for project-specific or per-topic context — those only contribute the chunks relevant to your current question, not the whole document on every send.

Memory vs prompts vs attachments

Ekorbia gives you three places to put context. Use each for what it’s best at:

ScopeToken costEdit flow
Memory fileGlobal, every chatInlined every sendEdit externally; loaded automatically
Prompts libraryPer-attach, opt-in per chatInlined every sendEdit .md files; attach via button
AttachmentsPer-chat, file/folder-scopedOnly relevant chunks per sendDrop in via paperclip/folder buttons

Memory file is for “facts about me that should be in every chat.” Prompts are for “this conversation should have a specific persona or task.” Attachments are for “ask questions over this specific document or folder.”

Resetting

In Settings → Memory, Reset to default points the memory file path back to ~/Documents/Ekorbia/memory.md. The existing file at the current path is not deleted — only the configured path is reset.