cognee

What it does

Ingests documents and conversations in most formats, builds a self-hosted knowledge graph from them, and lets agents recall and connect that context on later runs instead of starting cold each time. It is a component for people building agents rather than an end-user tool, and the graph lives in infrastructure you control. Decide the retention and deletion policy before feeding it anything personal or confidential — stored memory is the whole point, which cuts both ways. Apache-2.0.

Summary based on the project's own description. The Japanese page has a fuller beginner guide: setup difficulty, what to prepare, and a step-by-step start.

Screenshots & visuals

Before you start

• Setup difficultySome setup needed
• Command lineRequired
• API keyRequired
• Sends data onlineYes

Judged automatically from the project's own metadata. Always confirm on the official page.

cognee FAQ

Is cognee free?

cognee itself is free, but it needs an API key for an external AI service. That service charges separately, though some have a free tier.

Do I need to install anything or write code to use cognee?

It needs the command line. If you are not comfortable typing commands, expect to get stuck during setup.

Does cognee work on a phone?

No. It needs a computer.

Can I use cognee commercially?

The licence is Apache-2.0, which permits commercial use. Conditions such as keeping the copyright notice still apply, so read the licence text before shipping it inside something.

How it compares

The conditions that decide whether you can actually use it, side by side.

"Sends data out" means your input is uploaded to someone's server. Pick "No" when the material cannot leave your organisation.

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