Installation

This guide walks you through installing the Aegis Memory SDK and starting the memory server locally.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:

Python 3.9+ — Check with python --version
Docker & Docker Compose — The memory server runs in containers
OpenAI API key — Used for generating embeddings (get one here)

Step 1: Install the SDK

pip install aegis-memory

With framework integrations:

# For CrewAI
pip install "aegis-memory[crewai]"

# For LangChain
pip install "aegis-memory[langchain]"

# All integrations
pip install "aegis-memory[all]"

Step 2: Start the Memory Server

Quick Start (Recommended)
Manual Setup

aegis quickstart

This command:

Downloads the Docker Compose configuration
Starts PostgreSQL with pgvector
Starts the Aegis API server
Runs health checks

Clone and start manually:

git clone https://github.com/quantifylabs/aegis-memory.git
cd aegis-memory
docker-compose up -d

Verify it’s running:

curl http://localhost:8000/health

Step 3: Configure Environment

Create a .env file in your project directory:

.env

# Required for embeddings
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-your-openai-key-here

# For local development, any string works as the API key
AEGIS_API_KEY=dev-key

# Optional: defaults to localhost
AEGIS_BASE_URL=http://localhost:8000

Or export them directly in your terminal:

export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-..."
export AEGIS_API_KEY="dev-key"

Step 4: Verify Installation

from aegis_memory import AegisClient

client = AegisClient(
    api_key="dev-key",
    base_url="http://localhost:8000"
)

# Add a test memory
result = client.add("Test memory - Aegis is working!")
print(f"Memory stored: {result.id}")

# Query it back
memories = client.query("test memory")
print(f"Retrieved: {memories[0].content}")

You should see your test memory returned! If so, Aegis is ready to use.

Next Steps

First Memory

Store and retrieve your first real memory

CrewAI Integration

Add memory to CrewAI agents

Troubleshooting

Docker containers won't start

Check if ports 8000 or 5432 are already in use:

lsof -i :8000
lsof -i :5432

Kill conflicting processes or change ports in docker-compose.yml.

Connection refused errors

Wait for PostgreSQL to be ready:

docker-compose logs postgres

Look for “database system is ready to accept connections”.

OpenAI API errors

Ensure your API key is set and has credits:

echo $OPENAI_API_KEY

Test directly:

curl https://api.openai.com/v1/models \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OPENAI_API_KEY"

Reference: What’s Running

After starting the server, these services are available:

Service	Port	Purpose
Aegis API	8000	REST API for memory operations
PostgreSQL	5432	Vector storage with pgvector
Redis (optional)	6379	Caching and rate limiting

Getting Started

Quickstart

Integrations

Deployment

Installation

Installation

Prerequisites

Step 1: Install the SDK

Step 2: Start the Memory Server

Step 3: Configure Environment

Step 4: Verify Installation

Next Steps

First Memory

CrewAI Integration

Troubleshooting

Reference: What’s Running

​Installation

​Prerequisites

​Step 1: Install the SDK

​Step 2: Start the Memory Server

​Step 3: Configure Environment

​Step 4: Verify Installation

​Next Steps

First Memory

CrewAI Integration

​Troubleshooting

​Reference: What’s Running

Installation

Prerequisites

Step 1: Install the SDK

Step 2: Start the Memory Server

Step 3: Configure Environment

Step 4: Verify Installation

Next Steps

Troubleshooting

Reference: What’s Running