TT-Wang/cortex-plugin

The rename release. The project formerly known as Cortex is now memem.

The "cortex" namespace in AI tooling is overcrowded — cortex.dev, Cortex Labs, Cortex XSOAR, darktw/usecortex-mcp in the same Knowledge & Memory section of awesome-mcp-servers, and many others. memem is shorter, distinctive, and unambiguous.

Same code, same architecture, same behaviour. New name everywhere.

What changed for users

For users running the bootstrap shim (the normal install path), this release is transparent:

• The first time you run after upgrading, bootstrap.sh detects your existing ~/.cortex/ and ~/obsidian-brain/cortex/ directories and copies (not moves) the data to ~/.memem/ and ~/obsidian-brain/memem/. The legacy paths stay intact as a safety net.
• Any CORTEX_* env vars in your shell profile (CORTEX_DIR, CORTEX_OBSIDIAN_VAULT, etc.) keep working as fallbacks for the new MEMEM_* names.
• Slash commands change: /cortex → /memem, /cortex-status → /memem-status, etc.
• Status banner changes: [Cortex] → [memem].
• MCP tool namespace changes: mcp__cortex__* → mcp__memem__*. If you have explicit permissions.allow entries in .claude/settings.json referencing the old names, you'll need to update them.

It is breaking for anyone who hardcoded import cortex_server or the cortex-server console script in their own scripts. Pin to v0.6.0 or update your imports to import memem.

Code-level changes

• Package directory: cortex_server/ → memem/
• 124 intra-package imports rewritten across 19 files
• 11 log channels renamed (cortex-storage → memem-storage, etc.)
• FastMCP("cortex") → FastMCP("memem")
• Console-script entry: cortex-server → memem
• PyPI name: cortex-plugin → memem
• Plugin name in plugin.json: cortex → memem
• 5 skill directories renamed
• State directory: ~/.cortex/ → ~/.memem/ (auto-migrated)
• Vault subdirectory: ~/obsidian-brain/cortex/ → ~/obsidian-brain/memem/ (auto-migrated)
• Capabilities key: writable_cortex_dir → writable_state_dir

Backward compatibility (the load-bearing piece)

| Surface | Compatibility |
|---|---|
| ~/.cortex/ data | Auto-copied to ~/.memem/ on first run, original kept |
| ~/obsidian-brain/cortex/ data | Auto-copied to ~/obsidian-brain/memem/, original kept |
| CORTEX_DIR, CORTEX_OBSIDIAN_VAULT, etc. | Still read as fallback for MEMEM_* |
| GitHub repo URLs | Auto-redirected by GitHub for ~12 months after the upcoming repo rename |
| Glama badge URL | Still works — coordinated re-listing in flight |
| awesome-mcp-servers entry | Follow-up rename PR will be filed after the GitHub repo rename |

Testing

• 55/55 tests passing (54 → 55 with a new test_bootstrap_legacy_cortex_env_fallback regression guard)
• Ruff clean
• Mypy strict-clean
• bash bootstrap.sh --help smoke-tested
• python -m memem.server --rebuild-index smoke-tested against the real vault

Touch count

• 27 file renames (20 .py + 2 .sh + 5 SKILL.md)
• ~50 files content-modified (configs, docs, tests, hooks)
• ~80 total touches
• ~1284 cortex mentions rewritten

Out of scope for this release

These items require manual external coordination and will be handled in follow-up commits / coordination tickets:

• GitHub repo rename (TT-Wang/cortex-plugin → TT-Wang/memem) — manual via the GitHub API
• Glama re-listing — coordinated via Glama Discord (the slug is fixed once created)
• awesome-mcp-servers follow-up PR to update the merged entry
• Anthropic plugin marketplace — needs portal update
• cortex-outreach private repo — separate rename pass

See CHANGELOG.md for the full breakdown.