Forget and privacy | OpenMemory

OpenMemory is built so an agent can delete things for real. This page describes what is stored and how deletion works, based on the service code.

What is stored

Per space:

The space: id, a SHA-256 hash of the API key (never the key itself), timezone, dream mode, and created, last-seen, and last-dream times.
Content you write: memories, journal entries, records, actions (including payloads and receipts), KV values, and events.
Dream data: run reports, a waiting client-mode job (which holds copies of facts and journal text), and the undo history for the last 7 days (copies of content each run changed).
Tombstones: when something is deleted, a row with its kind (memory, record, or journal), id, and deletion time. No content.

The service code does not log request bodies. Its own logs are maintenance summaries and error messages.

Do not store secrets, passwords, or full message bodies. Store a source_ref (a message id or URL) instead of the message.

Forget

POST /v1/forget (MCP forget) hard-deletes. Nothing goes to a trash folder.

Input	Effect
`ids`	Delete these memories (up to 200).
`query`	Delete memories containing all of its words (full-text, prefix, accent-insensitive). In the `records` scope, delete records whose data or key contains the exact phrase. In the `journal` scope, handle journal entries whose summary, decisions, or open loops contain the phrase.
`scopes`	Any of `memories`, `records`, `journal`. Default: `["memories"]`.
`journal_mode`	`redact` (default) replaces the phrase with `[forgotten]`. `delete` deletes the whole entry.
`dry_run`	`true` returns what would be forgotten and changes nothing.

Always preview first:

curl -s -X POST https://api.openmemory.sh/v1/forget \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OPENMEMORY_KEY" -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -d '{"query":"Sam Lee","scopes":["memories","records","journal"],"dry_run":true}'

{ "dry_run": true, "memories": ["mem_..."], "records": ["rec_..."], "journal": ["day:2026-11-01"] }

When forget runs for real, it also:

deletes dream undo history for the forgotten items, and any undo history containing the phrase,
abandons a waiting client-mode dream job, since it may hold copies,
replaces the phrase with [forgotten] in the dream-written owner profile,
writes a content-free tombstone for each deleted memory, record, and journal entry.

Deleting a single memory or record (DELETE /v1/memories/{id}, DELETE /v1/collections/{c}/records/{id}) also leaves a tombstone.

Deleting a space

DELETE /v1/space deletes everything in the space, including tombstones, dream history, and the key hash. Export first with GET /v1/export if you want a copy.

Retention

What	How long
Inactive spaces	Deleted after 90 days without a request. `GET /v1/space` shows `delete_after`.
Dream undo history	Purged after 7 days.
Waiting dream jobs	Abandoned after 24 hours, when the next dream starts.
Events	Capped at 10,000 per space. The oldest are dropped first.
Scratch facts	Removed by dreaming after 14 days if never recalled (unless pinned or stated by the user).
Facts and KV values with `expires_at`	Hidden after that time and removed by the next dream.
Full-text index	Optimized daily, so deleted text also leaves the index segments.

Backups

The hosted service runs on Cloudflare D1. Cloudflare D1 keeps point-in-time recovery for a limited window. Deleted data can exist in that recovery data until the window passes. OpenMemory does not keep other backups of your space.

Prompt injection

Memory text is data. MCP tools that return stored text say so in their descriptions, and the dreaming instructions tell the model to ignore instructions inside memory and journal text. Your agent should still treat everything it reads from OpenMemory as untrusted input.

Self-hosting

If you self-host, the data lives in your SQLite file or your own D1 database and these rules apply as code. The retention periods can be changed with OM_* environment variables.

#What is stored

#Forget

#Deleting a space

#Retention

#Backups

#Prompt injection