Project Title

memvid — Video-based AI memory library for lightning-fast semantic search without a database

Overview

Memvid is a Python-based AI memory library that enables developers to store millions of text chunks in MP4 files, offering millisecond-level semantic search without the need for a traditional database. By encoding text as QR codes in video frames, Memvid achieves 50-100x smaller storage compared to vector databases and eliminates the need for complex infrastructure.

Key Features

Living-Memory Engine: Add new data and let LLMs remember it across sessions.
Capsule Context: Shareable .mv2 capsules with their own rules and expiry.
Time-Travel Debugging: Rewind or branch any chat to review or test.
Smart Recall: Local cache predicts what you’ll need and loads it in under 5 ms.
Codec Intelligence: Auto-tunes AV1 and future codecs for file size reduction.
CLI & Dashboard: Tools for branching, analytics, and one-command cloud publish.

Use Cases

Documentation Assistant: Index all markdown files and create a searchable video memory.
Knowledge Base: Compress an entire knowledge base into a single, searchable MP4 file.
Chatbots: Use Memvid to chat with your knowledge base for quick information retrieval.

Advantages

50-100x smaller storage compared to vector databases.
Sub-100ms retrieval time for fast access to information.
Zero infrastructure required, just Python and MP4 files.
True portability and offline-first design for flexibility and accessibility.

Limitations / Considerations

Memvid v1 is still experimental, and the file format and API may change.
Requires understanding of Python and video file handling.
May have limitations in handling very large datasets or complex query structures.

SQLite: A C-language library that implements a small, fast, self-contained, high-reliability, full-featured, SQL database engine. Unlike Memvid, it requires a database.
Elasticsearch: A search engine based on the Lucene library, providing a distributed, multitenant-capable full-text search engine with an HTTP web interface and schema-free JSON documents. Memvid offers a more lightweight and portable solution.
Dgraph: A fast, reliable graph database for production. Memvid provides a video-based approach to memory storage, differing from Dgraph's graph database model.