Docs
Start using Wenlan.
Install the local memory layer, learn the daily handoff loop, and keep AI work context readable, searchable, and under your control.
Start here
New users should install first, run setup for their client, then read the daily workflow and core concepts. The project docs cover architecture, reference paths, evals, releases, scope, source builds, roadmap, development conventions, and contribution paths.
Start here
Install Wenlan and verify the first memory round trip.
After setup
Turn the install into a working habit: start warm, capture useful context, review what should be trusted, and hand off before context goes cold.
Workflow
Daily Workflow
Start with context, capture what matters, recall when needed, and hand off before context goes cold.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 5 min read
Capture
Capture Quality
Decide what belongs in Wenlan: durable facts, decisions, lessons, gotchas, corrections, and project context.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 5 min read
Trust
Review and Trust
Understand how Wenlan keeps uncertain memory visible: pending captures, revisions, contradictions, rejections, confirm, and forget.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 5 min read
Concepts
Core Concepts
Understand the pieces behind Wenlan: memories, sessions, handoffs, pages, the daemon, MCP, Markdown, and the local index.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 6 min read
Reference
Memory types, glossary, architecture, commands, Claude Code plugin, CLI/service management, updates, upgrade notes, package names, platform support, HTTP API, API examples, typed clients, spaces, graph context, pages, import paths, git history, retrieval status, experimental flags, local data, backup paths, configuration, environment variables, MCP clients, agent profiles, diagnostics, FAQ, and repair paths.
Memory
Memory Types
Understand Wenlan's six canonical memory types, how agents choose them, and which legacy aliases still appear at API boundaries.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 5 min read
Glossary
Glossary
A quick map of Wenlan terms: memory, handoff, page, space, daemon, MCP, local index, provenance, and eval language.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 5 min read
Architecture
Architecture
How Wenlan is put together: one local daemon, thin clients, shared wire types, local artifacts, and retrieval owned by wenlan-core.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 7 min read
Reference
Commands and Tools
The essential Claude Code commands and MCP tools for running Wenlan day to day.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 5 min read
Plugin
Claude Code Plugin
Use Wenlan's richest workflow inside Claude Code: setup, session brief, capture, recall, review, distill, read, and handoff.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 6 min read
CLI
CLI and Service Management
Use the Wenlan CLI to install the runtime, manage the daemon, inspect status, search memory, and wire MCP clients.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 5 min read
Lifecycle
Updates and Uninstall
Refresh Wenlan's local runtime, verify version health, restart MCP clients, and remove the service without losing data by accident.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 4 min read
Upgrade
Upgrade Notes
Read the practical upgrade path for Wenlan releases: what to rerun, what to verify, and what changed in the current public runtime shape.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 5 min read
Packages
Packages and Registries
Know which Wenlan package name maps to the plugin, runtime setup, MCP connector, Rust crates, and release binaries.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 4 min read
Platforms
Platform Support
Understand how Wenlan runs on macOS, Linux, and Windows: service managers, local data paths, model backends, and Docker/VM caveats.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 5 min read
API
HTTP API
Know the local daemon surfaces that the CLI, MCP connector, plugin, and local tools call under the hood.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 5 min read
API
API Examples
Use the local daemon HTTP API from scripts when the CLI or MCP tools are not the right fit.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 6 min read
Types
Typed Clients
Use wenlan-types when a Rust tool needs to call the local daemon without relying on untyped JSON shapes.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 4 min read
Spaces
Spaces
Separate work, personal, client, and project memory, and understand how Wenlan resolves the active space.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 6 min read
Graph
Knowledge Graph
Understand how Wenlan links people, projects, tools, observations, and relations so recall can recover context through more than text similarity.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 5 min read
Pages
Source-Backed Pages
Understand how Wenlan turns atomic captures into readable pages with source memory IDs, revision state, and refresh paths.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 5 min read
Portability
Import and Portability
Move selected durable context into Wenlan and keep Wenlan's readable artifacts portable outside the daemon.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 5 min read
Versioning
Local Git History
Inspect the real git history Wenlan keeps for readable page, session, handoff, and status artifacts.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 5 min read
Models
Models and Keys
Choose between local memory mode, optional on-device models, and optional Anthropic API keys for richer extraction, page synthesis, recaps, and graph work.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 5 min read
Retrieval
Advanced Retrieval Status
Understand Wenlan's shipped retrieval path and the opt-in main-branch experiments behind newer retrieval work.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 6 min read
Experiments
Experimental Flags
How to read Wenlan's opt-in main-branch flags without mistaking them for released defaults.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 6 min read
Local control
Data and Privacy
Where Wenlan keeps data, what stays local, and how readable artifacts work with the daemon-owned retrieval store.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 5 min read
Backup
Backup and Migration
Back up Wenlan's readable artifacts and daemon data together, then verify the restored runtime before trusting recall.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 5 min read
Configuration
Wenlan Configuration
Configure Wenlan spaces, MCP clients, daemon bind address, local paths, models, and keys without editing the database by hand.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 5 min read
Config
Environment Variables
Know which Wenlan environment variables are normal configuration, which are development-only, and which belong to eval or Windows repair paths.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 5 min read
MCP
Connect MCP Clients
Use one local Wenlan memory layer from Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Claude Desktop, Gemini CLI, and other MCP clients.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 4 min read
Agents
Agent Profiles
Inspect the AI clients and local tools that write to Wenlan, then manage source attribution, enabled state, and trust from the CLI.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 4 min read
Repair
Troubleshooting
Fix the common setup issues: daemon not running, MCP not connected, missing Claude commands, stale context, and support escalation.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 5 min read
Diagnostics
Diagnostics and Issue Reports
Run the right checks before asking for help, separate daemon problems from client problems, and share only redacted output.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 5 min read
FAQ
FAQ
Short answers to the adoption questions people ask before and after installing Wenlan.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 4 min read
Project
Security reporting, evaluation, desktop status, changelog, release/versioning, roadmap, project scope, source builds, testing, CI, development conventions, and contribution paths for people deciding whether Wenlan is credible enough to adopt or contribute to.
Security
Security and Reporting
Report vulnerabilities privately, keep diagnostic reports redacted, and understand Wenlan's local security boundary.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 4 min read
Evaluation
Evaluation
What Wenlan's published retrieval numbers mean, how they are generated, and what they do not claim.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 6 min read
Desktop
Desktop App Status
Understand how the optional Wenlan desktop app relates to the daemon, CLI, MCP server, and Claude Code plugin.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 4 min read
Releases
Changelog
The public release history for Wenlan, plus how to read unreleased work on main.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 5 min read
Releases
Releases and Versioning
Understand how Wenlan turns merged work into tagged releases, package versions, binaries, npm packages, and crates.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 5 min read
Roadmap
Roadmap and Status
How to read Wenlan's current direction without confusing released features, main-branch work, and future bets.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 6 min read
Scope
Project Scope
What Wenlan is for, what it deliberately avoids, and how to decide whether it fits your AI work.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 5 min read
Development
Build from Source
Build the Wenlan daemon, CLI, MCP server, shared types, core crate, and plugin from the public repository.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 5 min read
Quality
Testing and CI
Understand which Wenlan checks run locally, which run in GitHub Actions, and which evals stay manual.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 5 min read
Development
Development Conventions
Codebase rules that keep Wenlan's daemon, CLI, MCP connector, shared types, and core logic maintainable.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 5 min read
Open source
Contributing
How to contribute useful bug reports, docs, eval cases, and code changes to Wenlan.
Qi-Xuan Lu · Updated Jun 24, 2026 · 5 min read
Already installed?
Make the memory loop habitual.
Start with the daily workflow, then use the reference docs when you need commands, MCP setup, or repair steps.