| FMRS | 34 / 100 · D | 74 / 100 · B | 72 / 100 · B |
| Reliability | 4 / 20 | 11 / 20 | 10 / 20 |
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| Security and permissions | 6 / 20 | 15 / 20 | 15 / 20 |
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| Maintenance | 6 / 20 | 17 / 20 | 16 / 20 |
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| Documentation | 12 / 20 | 17 / 20 | 17 / 20 |
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| Setup experience | 6 / 20 | 14 / 20 | 14 / 20 |
| Best for | - Developers using Claude Code or other AI coding agents to incorporate real-time information.
- Developers needing to resolve rare errors or lacking documentation.
- Developers needing design review or complex problem-solving support.
| - Developers needing quick, API-key-free web search capabilities
- Privacy-conscious users who prefer local search execution
- AI application development with Claude Desktop or Claude Code
| - Privacy-conscious developers who want local data storage.
- Researchers who need AI-assisted management of large note collections.
- Users of Markdown editors like Obsidian.
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| Not for | - Users who don't want to depend on OpenAI API or lack an API key.
- Users needing search capabilities via non-OpenAI models.
- Users needing offline search or local search abilities.
| - Enterprise applications requiring high-scale, reliable search APIs
- Users needing advanced search features like custom ranking or filters
- Accessing sites blocked by TLS fingerprinting without installing the optional browser backend
| - Users needing cloud sync and mobile access (unless using the paid cloud service).
- Minimalists who want zero configuration.
- Scenarios requiring large-scale vector databases and complex retrieval (local SQLite may be insufficient).
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| Required permissions | - Requires a valid OpenAI API key, and possibly API tier 4 or organization verification for o3 model access.
- Network access to OpenAI API.
- Write permissions for configuration directory during installation.
| - Outbound network access to DuckDuckGo and other websites
- Reads environment variables for SafeSearch, region, and CA certificates
- Optionally reads a CA certificate file (for TLS-intercepting proxies)
| - Read and write to the local filesystem (default: ~/basic-memory).
- Perform file and directory operations (create, edit, delete).
- Access local SQLite database (or Postgres/Milvus if configured).
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| Risks and side effects | - API key leakage: ensure key is kept secure and not committed to public repositories.
- API usage may incur costs; monitor usage.
- AI agent may provide inaccurate info; verify critical results.
- Dependency on OpenAI service availability and potential rate limits.
| - Search endpoints may occasionally return empty results or errors, especially when blocked
- Content fetching may be subject to SSRF protection, blocking private or loopback addresses by default
- Misuse could lead to rate limiting or IP blocking
| - Tools have write operations that may unintentionally modify or delete notes.
- Edit operations may overwrite existing content, though there are protections.
- Semantic search and reranking features may require model downloads, adding latency.
- Local data backups are the user's responsibility.
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| Supported clients | Claude Desktop | Claude Desktop, Claude Code | Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cursor, VS Code, ChatGPT, Obsidian |
| Tools | 0 | 2 | 21 |