AgentDB

May 6, 2026 · View on GitHub

AgentDB

Vector memory that gets smarter every time your agent uses it.

A single-file cognitive container — vectors, indexes, learning state, and a cryptographic audit trail in one .rvf. Self-learning search improves up to 36% from feedback alone, with no manual tuning. Runs in Node, the browser, edge runtimes, and offline.

Why AgentDB?

Most vector databases store embeddings and call it done. AgentDB watches which results your agent actually used, learns from that signal, and ranks the next query better. The bandit underneath also picks the right RL algorithm, the right compression tier, and the right pattern weighting on its own — so the database itself gets sharper while you focus on the agent.

The name: a database that thinks like an agent — episodic memory, skill library, causal reasoning, and a learning loop, all in one file. Built by rUv on the ruvector Rust engine.

What AgentDB Does

Self-Learning Vector Memory

Agent ──► AgentDB (.rvf) ──► HNSW search ──► top-k results
   │                                              │
   ▼                                              ▼
recordFeedback(id, reward)  ◄──  agent uses some, ignores rest
   │
   ▼
Bandit re-tunes ranking / RL choice / compression  ──► next query is smarter

3 lines to self-learning search:

const backend = await SelfLearningRvfBackend.create({ learning: true, storagePath: "./my.rvf" });
const results = await backend.searchAsync(query, 10);   // search
backend.recordFeedback(results[0].id, 0.9);             // learn — next search is smarter

Quick Start

There are three ways to use AgentDB depending on what you're building. Pick whichever matches your stack:

	npm library	CLI	MCP server
What you get	TypeScript / JS API for any Node app	`agentdb` binary, scriptable from any shell	41 tools callable from Claude Code, Cursor, Cline, etc.
Install	`npm i agentdb`	`npx agentdb …` (no install)	`claude mcp add agentdb -- npx agentdb mcp start`
Best for	Embedding the engine in your own code	Quick experiments, CI scripts, ad-hoc memory	Plugging memory + learning into an LLM agent

Path A — npm library

npm install agentdb

import { SelfLearningRvfBackend } from 'agentdb';

const db = await SelfLearningRvfBackend.create({
  learning: true,
  storagePath: './memory.rvf',
});

await db.insertAsync('doc1', new Float32Array(384), { text: 'Hello world' });
const hits = await db.searchAsync(queryEmbedding, 5);
db.recordFeedback(hits[0].id, 1.0);  // it was useful — db gets smarter

Path B — CLI in 10 seconds

# Try it without installing
npx agentdb init my-memory.rvf
npx agentdb add my-memory.rvf "vector memory that learns"
npx agentdb search my-memory.rvf "self-improving search" --top-k 5

Path C — MCP server (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.)

claude mcp add agentdb -- npx agentdb@latest mcp start

That registers 41 MCP tools — agentdb_pattern_store, agentdb_pattern_search, agentdb_hierarchical_store, agentdb_causal_edge, agentdb_skill_library, agentdb_reflexion, etc. They call the same engine the npm library does, just over Claude's tool-calling surface.

What You Get

Capability	Description
🧠 Self-Learning Search	Up to +36% search quality from feedback alone — Thompson Sampling bandit re-tunes ranking, RL choice, and compression tier with zero manual config
🐝 Cognitive Memory	6 human-inspired patterns — episodic replay (Reflexion), skill library, causal reasoning, hierarchical context, semantic clustering, working memory
🤖 9 RL Algorithms	Q-Learning, SARSA, DQN, PPO, Actor-Critic, Policy Gradient, Decision Transformer, MCTS, Model-Based RL — bandit picks the right one per task
⚡ 150× faster than SQLite	RuVector Rust engine via NAPI bindings; HNSW vector search; sub-millisecond reads on 100k+ vectors
🔍 Hybrid Search	BM25 keyword + dense vector fused with Reciprocal Rank Fusion — exact terms and semantic intent in one query
🕸️ Graph Intelligence	Cypher queries, causal edges, GNN 8-head attention (+12.4% recall), hyperedges for n-ary relationships
💾 Single-file Storage	Everything (vectors, indexes, learning state, audit log) in one `.rvf` "Cognitive Container" — no servers, no API keys, no monthly bills
🎯 Quantization	4-32× memory reduction with PQ8 / PQ4 / binary quantization; minimal recall loss; runs on commodity hardware
🔌 41 MCP Tools	First-class Claude Code / Cursor / Cline integration — pattern store, search, skill library, reflexion, causal edges, hierarchical recall, delete
🌐 Runs Anywhere	Node, browser (WASM), edge runtimes, fully offline — same API, same `.rvf` file
🛡️ Enterprise Security	JWT auth, API key rotation, Argon2id hashing, SOC2 / GDPR audit trails, cryptographic witness chain
🔗 agentic-flow Integration	Drop-in for `agentic-flow` — backs ReasoningBank, MemoryController, NightlyLearner, and 30+ agents

🧠 Self-Learning Loop

Most retrieval systems are read-only. AgentDB closes the loop:

search ──► top-k ──► agent picks the useful ones ──► recordFeedback()
                                                            │
                                                            ▼
                                              Thompson Sampling bandit
                                                            │
                                                            ▼
                       re-weights ranking · re-picks RL algorithm · re-tunes compression
                                                            │
                                                            ▼
                                                   next search is sharper

The bandit isn't a gimmick — it's used at four decision points:

Pattern ranking — which historical pattern matches this new query best?
RL algorithm selection — Q-Learning for tabular tasks, PPO for continuous control, MCTS for planning, etc.
Compression tier — full precision when accuracy matters, PQ4 when memory does.
Skill composition — chain skill A→B→C or skill A→D→E?

Each decision logs reward over time. Bad arms decay fast. Good arms stick.

⚡ Performance

Metric	AgentDB	Baseline	Source
Vector search (100k vectors)	<1 ms	~150 ms (SQLite + cosine loop)	`benchmarks/hnsw/`
HNSW query (1M vectors)	2–5 ms	~100 ms (brute force)	`benchmarks/vector-search/`
Bulk insert (10k vectors)	<100 ms	~12 s (sql.js)	`benchmarks/database/`
Memory footprint (1M × 384d)	~96 MB (PQ8)	~1.5 GB (raw f32)	`benchmarks/quantization/`
Self-learning quality lift	+36%	n/a	`benchmarks/ruvector-performance.test.ts`
GNN attention recall	+12.4%	baseline HNSW	`benchmarks/attention-performance.ts`

Run them yourself: npm run bench from this repo.

🔌 MCP Integration

41 tools across six families, all callable from Claude Code, Cursor, Cline, or any MCP-compatible client:

Pattern Store / Search (8 tools)

Tool	Purpose
`agentdb_pattern_store`	Store a successful pattern with embedding + metadata
`agentdb_pattern_search`	Semantic search for similar past patterns
`agentdb_pattern_stats`	Retrieval stats, cache hits, hit-rate trends
`agentdb_pattern_delete`	Remove a pattern by id
`agentdb_batch_insert`	Bulk insert many patterns at once
`agentdb_batch_search`	Parallel multi-query search
`agentdb_export`	Dump patterns to JSON / CSV
`agentdb_import`	Load patterns from JSON / CSV

Hierarchical / Causal Memory (10 tools)

Tool	Purpose
`agentdb_hierarchical_store`	Tier-aware memory store (working / short / long)
`agentdb_hierarchical_recall`	Tier-filtered retrieval
`agentdb_hierarchical_delete`	Remove hierarchical entry by key
`agentdb_causal_edge`	Add a causal relationship between memories
`agentdb_causal_edge_delete`	Remove a causal edge by id
`agentdb_causal_node_delete`	Cascade-delete a node + incident edges
`agentdb_edges_by_endpoints`	Bulk-delete edges by `(from, to, label)`
`agentdb_causal_query`	Cypher-like graph queries
`agentdb_causal_explain`	Explain why two memories are connected
`agentdb_attestation_log`	Cryptographic audit trail

Reflexion + Skill Library (12 tools)

Tool	Purpose
`agentdb_reflexion_store`	Store an episode (task + outcome + critique)
`agentdb_reflexion_recall`	Retrieve relevant past episodes
`agentdb_reflexion_delete`	Remove an episode
`agentdb_reflexion_rebuild`	Re-hydrate vector index from durable SQL
`agentdb_skill_create`	Create a reusable skill from a pattern
`agentdb_skill_compose`	Chain skills A→B→C with bandit-picked composition
`agentdb_skill_search`	Find skills by intent embedding
`agentdb_critique_summary`	Summarize lessons from past failures
`agentdb_success_strategies`	Surface what worked across past episodes
`agentdb_task_stats`	Per-task win-rate, latency, reward trends
`agentdb_prune`	TTL + quality-based episode pruning
`agentdb_warm_cache`	Pre-populate query cache for a session

Learning + Routing (11 tools)

Tool	Purpose
`agentdb_learning_route`	Route a task to the right RL algorithm
`agentdb_learning_train`	Train a specific RL agent on episodes
`agentdb_learning_predict`	Get an action prediction for a state
`agentdb_bandit_update`	Update bandit reward for an arm
`agentdb_bandit_pick`	Sample the best arm under Thompson Sampling
`agentdb_consolidate`	Run NightlyLearner consolidation pipeline
`agentdb_compose`	Combine memory patterns into a strategy
`agentdb_synthesize`	Build a context window from related memories
`agentdb_explain_recall`	Feature-attributed retrieval results
`agentdb_diversity_rank`	MMR-rerank for diverse top-k
`agentdb_metadata_filter`	Filtered semantic search

🔗 Used By

AgentDB powers the memory + learning layer in:

Project	What it uses AgentDB for
`agentic-flow`	ReasoningBank backend, ReflexionMemory, NightlyLearner consolidation, 30+ agent memory namespaces
`ruflo`	Plugin marketplace memory, agent federation audit log, hierarchical recall for /adr-index, swarm coordination patterns
`@ruvector`	Reference downstream for the Rust engine — every release is verified against AgentDB's test suite

If you ship something on top of AgentDB, open an issue and we'll add you.

🐳 Docker / Edge / Browser

AgentDB compiles to four targets from one source:

Target	What	When
Node native	NAPI bindings (Linux, macOS, Windows; x64 + arm64)	Backend services, CLI, MCP server
Node WASM fallback	sql.js + WASM engine	Restricted hosts that can't run NAPI
Browser	Pure WASM bundle	Offline-first apps, edge functions, IDE extensions
Docker	`docker-compose.yml` in `docker/`	Local dev, CI, prod deploy

# Browser
import { createBrowserDb } from 'agentdb/browser';

# Docker
docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml up

Documentation

Doc	When to read it
Full README (deep)	Every feature, every API, every option — the complete reference (2,900+ lines)
PUBLISHING.md	npm publish flow, dist-tag policy, release verification
ADR-071	WASM integration design
ADR-072	RuVector advanced-feature integration
Examples	End-to-end runnable scripts — RAG chatbot, code-review agent, RL training, edge deploy
Benchmarks	Reproducible perf harness — HNSW, attention, quantization, RL, end-to-end

Repository


📦 npm	`agentdb`
🌐 Source	https://github.com/ruvnet/agentdb
🐛 Issues	https://github.com/ruvnet/agentdb/issues
🎨 Marketing site	`ui/` (Vite + React + shadcn/ui)
🧬 Engine	`@ruvector` (Rust + NAPI)
🔗 Reference consumer	`agentic-flow` (uses this as a git submodule at `packages/agentdb/`)

Support

Resource	Link
Documentation	docs/README-full.md
Issues & Bugs	GitHub Issues
Enterprise	ruv.io
Community	Agentics Foundation Discord
Engine	`ruvector`
Powered by	Cognitum.one

License

MIT OR Apache-2.0 — RuvNet