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OpenCortex User Manual

Introduction

Welcome to OpenCortex v0.1.0 (The Autonomous Foundation). OpenCortex is a neurosymbolic AI agent and a Lisp Machine operating system designed to autonomously maintain your Memex (knowledge base) and interact with you via multiple, equal-citizen interfaces.

Quick Start Installation

OpenCortex can be installed and booted with a single command:

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gharbeia/opencortex/main/opencortex.sh | bash -s -- setup

This command will:

  1. Bootstrap the OpenCortex repository into \`~/.opencortex\`.
  2. Install system dependencies (SBCL, Quicklisp, etc.).
  3. Interactively guide you through the initial configuration.
  4. Tangle the literate source code.
  5. Awaken the background daemon.

Configuration

The system is configured via a \`.env\` file in the project root. Key variables include:

  • \`LLM_API_KEY\`: Your provider key (e.g., \`OPENROUTER_API_KEY\`, \`OPENAI_API_KEY\`).
  • \`PROVIDER_CASCADE\`: The fallback order for LLM providers (e.g., \`openrouter,ollama,anthropic\`).
  • \`MEMEX_DIR\`: The absolute path to your knowledge base (defaults to \`~/memex\`).

Interacting with OpenCortex

Once the daemon is running, you can connect via any supported client.

Terminal User Interface (TUI)

For a rich terminal experience with history and background worker status:

opencortex tui

Command Line Interface (CLI)

For raw, pipe-friendly interaction:

opencortex cli

The Memex Structure

OpenCortex manages a local folder structure representing your "Memex".

  • Nodes: Every Org-mode headline is a "node" in the agent's memory graph.
  • Source of Truth: Plaintext files are the definitive state.
  • Autonomous Workers:

    • The \`Scribe\` distills chronological logs into structured Zettelkasten notes.
    • The \`Gardener\` repairs links and flags orphaned nodes.