Storage Backends

Sci stores your data where you control it. Choose your backend at startup.

Backends

Backend	Set with	Where data lives
local	default	Postgres on your machine (Docker)
dropbox	SCI_STORAGE_BACKEND=dropbox	/CognitiveOS/ in your Dropbox
s3	SCI_STORAGE_BACKEND=s3	s3://your-bucket/CognitiveOS/
icloud	SCI_STORAGE_BACKEND=icloud	~/Library/Mobile Documents/ (macOS)

Local (default)

Postgres + pgvector. The most capable backend — full SQL queries, native full-text search, HNSW vector index. Requires Docker.

docker compose up -d

Cloud backends

The cloud backends use two files:

• sci.db — SQLite database containing all memories, profiles, and identity facts
• sci.idx — hnswlib HNSW index for vector search

These files sync to your chosen cloud on disconnect() and are downloaded on connect() if the remote is newer.

The sovereignty claim is literal: your memory store is two files in a location you control. Download them and you have everything. We never have credentials to your storage.

Dropbox

SCI_STORAGE_BACKEND=dropbox \
SCI_DROPBOX_TOKEN=your-access-token \
node packages/mcp/dist/index.js

Get a Dropbox access token from dropbox.com/developers/apps. Data appears in /CognitiveOS/ in your Dropbox.

S3 (AWS, Cloudflare R2, MinIO, Backblaze B2)

SCI_STORAGE_BACKEND=s3 \
SCI_S3_BUCKET=your-bucket \
SCI_S3_REGION=us-east-1 \
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=... \
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=... \
node packages/mcp/dist/index.js

For Cloudflare R2 or other S3-compatible endpoints, add SCI_S3_ENDPOINT=https://your-endpoint.

iCloud (macOS only)

SCI_STORAGE_BACKEND=icloud \
node packages/mcp/dist/index.js

Files are written to ~/Library/Mobile Documents/iCloud~sci~identity/Documents/ and synced by the OS automatically. No credentials required. Works with Syncthing if you prefer P2P sync instead.

Backup and restore

Regardless of backend, you can always take a portable JSON backup:

sci backup --out ./sci-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).json
sci restore ./sci-backup-20260505.json

The backup includes all tables in dependency order. Restore uses ON CONFLICT DO NOTHING — it's safe to run on a non-empty database.