Memory Store Schema

The Memory Store is the root document of every PAM export and the only required file. It contains all user memories, relations, conversations index, integrity verification, and optional cryptographic signatures.

Download

portable-ai-memory.schema.json

Schema: JSON Schema Draft 2020-12 · License: Apache 2.0

Root Fields

Required

Field	Type	Description
schema	string	MUST be "portable-ai-memory"
schema_version	string	Semantic version. Current: "1.0"
owner	Owner	The individual who owns these memories
memories	MemoryObject[]	Array of memory objects — the primary payload

Optional

Field	Type	Default	Description
spec_uri	string | null	null	URI of the specification version. Serves as identifier, not a fetchable resource
export_id	string | null	null	UUID v4 for this export. Enables tracking and duplicate detection
exported_by	string | null	null	System that generated the export. Format: system-name/major.minor.patch
export_date	string	—	ISO 8601 timestamp of export
relations	RelationObject[]	[]	Semantic relationships between memories
conversations_index	ConversationIndexEntry[]	[]	Lightweight conversation references
integrity	IntegrityBlock	—	Integrity verification block
export_type	"full" | "incremental"	"full"	Full or incremental (delta) export
base_export_id	string | null	null	For incremental: export_id of the base export
since	string | null	null	For incremental: only memories after this timestamp
type_registry	string | null	null	URI of the custom type registry
signature	SignatureBlock	null	Cryptographic signature for authenticity

Conditional

When signature is present (not null), export_id and export_date become required (enforced by the schema via if/then).

Definitions

Owner

The individual who owns these memories. For cross-platform identity resolution, the did field SHOULD be populated with a W3C Decentralized Identifier.

Field	Type	Required	Description
id	string	yes	Unique owner identifier (SHOULD be UUID v4)
did	string | null	no	W3C Decentralized Identifier for cross-platform identity
created_at	string	no	ISO 8601 timestamp when the owner record was created

MemoryObject

A single portable memory unit — the fundamental unit of PAM.

Required fields

Field	Type	Description
id	string	Unique identifier. SHOULD be UUID v4
type	MemoryType	Memory type from the closed taxonomy
content	string	Natural language content — the primary semantic payload
content_hash	string	SHA-256 of normalized content (spec §6). Pattern: ^sha256:[a-f0-9]{64}$
temporal	TemporalBlock	Temporal metadata. created_at is required
provenance	ProvenanceBlock	Origin metadata. platform is required

Conditional fields

Field	Type	Condition	Description
custom_type	string | null	Required when type == "custom"	Custom type identifier. MUST be null when type is not "custom"

Optional fields

Field	Type	Default	Description
status	MemoryStatus	"active"	Lifecycle state
summary	string | null	null	Short summary for display
tags	string[]	[]	Lowercase tags. Pattern: ^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9_-]*$
confidence	ConfidenceBlock	—	System-computed confidence scoring
access	AccessBlock	—	Access control for multi-agent scenarios
embedding_ref	string | null	null	Reference to entry in embeddings file
metadata	MetadataBlock	—	Additional metadata (extensible)

MemoryType

Closed taxonomy of memory types:

Type	Description
fact	Objective, verifiable information about the user
preference	User preference, taste, or stated desire
skill	Competency, expertise, or demonstrated ability
context	Situational or temporal context
relationship	Relation to another person, entity, or organization
goal	Active objective or aspiration
instruction	How the user wants to be treated or addressed
identity	Personal identity information
environment	Technical or physical environment details
project	Active project or initiative
custom	Extensible type. Requires custom_type field

MemoryStatus

Lifecycle states:

Status	Description
active	Current and valid. Default state
superseded	Replaced by a newer memory
deprecated	Still valid but no longer prioritized
retracted	Explicitly invalidated by the user
archived	Retained for historical purposes only

TemporalBlock

Field	Type	Required	Description
created_at	string	yes	ISO 8601 timestamp of creation
updated_at	string | null	no	Last update timestamp
valid_from	string | null	no	When this memory becomes valid
valid_until	string | null	no	When this memory expires
superseded_by	string | null	no	ID of the memory that replaced this one

ProvenanceBlock

Origin tracking for auditability and cross-platform conflict resolution.

Field	Type	Required	Description
platform	string	yes	Source platform identifier. Pattern: ^[a-z0-9_-]{2,32}$ (e.g., chatgpt, claude, gemini)
platform_user_id	string | null	no	User ID on source platform
conversation_ref	string | null	no	Reference to conversations_index entry
message_ref	string | null	no	Reference to specific message
extraction_method	string | null	no	How the memory was extracted: llm_inference, explicit_user_input, api_export, browser_extraction, manual
extracted_at	string | null	no	ISO 8601 timestamp of extraction
extractor	string | null	no	System that performed extraction

ConfidenceBlock

System-computed confidence scoring. NOT user-defined priority.

Field	Type	Required	Description
initial	number	no	Confidence at extraction time [0.0–1.0]
current	number	no	Current confidence after decay/reinforcement [0.0–1.0]
decay_model	string | null	no	"time_linear", "time_exponential", or "none"
last_reinforced	string | null	no	ISO 8601 timestamp of last reinforcement

AccessBlock

Access control for multi-agent and federated scenarios.

Field	Type	Default	Description
visibility	string	"private"	"private", "shared", or "public"
exportable	boolean	true	Whether this memory may be included in exports
shared_with	AccessGrant[]	[]	List of access grants

AccessGrant

Field	Type	Required	Description
entity	string	yes	Identifier of the entity granted access
permissions	string[]	yes	Array of: "read", "write", "delete"

MetadataBlock

Additional metadata. Allows additionalProperties for extensibility.

Field	Type	Description
language	string | null	BCP 47 language tag (e.g., "en", "pt-BR")
domain	string | null	Knowledge domain (e.g., "technical", "personal")
custom fields	any	Implementations MAY add additional fields

RelationObject

A semantic relationship between two memory objects, forming edges in a knowledge graph.

Field	Type	Required	Description
id	string	yes	Unique identifier
from	string	yes	Source memory ID
to	string	yes	Target memory ID
type	string	yes	supports, contradicts, extends, supersedes, related_to, derived_from
confidence	number | null	no	Confidence in this relationship [0.0–1.0]
created_at	string	yes	ISO 8601 timestamp

ConversationIndexEntry

Lightweight index entry for a conversation. Full message history is stored externally as companion files.

Field	Type	Required	Description
id	string	yes	Unique conversation identifier
platform	string	yes	Source platform identifier. Pattern: ^[a-z0-9_-]{2,32}$
temporal	object	yes	Temporal metadata (created_at required, updated_at optional)
title	string | null	no	Conversation title
message_count	integer | null	no	Number of messages
tags	string[]	no	Tags or topics. Pattern: ^[a-z0-9][a-z0-9_-]*$
derived_memories	string[]	no	IDs of memories derived from this conversation (advisory)
storage	StorageReference	no	Reference to full conversation data

StorageReference

Reference to external storage for large data objects.

Field	Type	Required	Description
type	string	yes	"file", "database", "object_storage", "vector_db", "uri"
ref	string	yes	Path, URI, or identifier to the stored data
format	string | null	no	Data format: "json", "jsonl", "csv", "parquet"

IntegrityBlock

Integrity verification. Checksum is SHA-256 of the canonicalized memories array using RFC 8785 (JCS). Memories are sorted by id ascending before canonicalization.

Field	Type	Required	Description
canonicalization	string	no	Default: "RFC8785". Currently the only supported method
checksum	string	yes	SHA-256 of canonicalized memories. Format: sha256:<hex>
total_memories	integer	yes	MUST equal the length of the memories array

SignatureBlock

Cryptographic signature over the export. The signature payload is {checksum, export_id, export_date, owner_id} canonicalized with RFC 8785 (spec §18.3).

Field	Type	Required	Description
algorithm	string	yes	Ed25519 (recommended), ES256, ES384, RS256, RS384, RS512
public_key	string	yes	Public key of the signer
value	string	yes	Base64url-encoded signature (RFC 4648 §5)
signed_at	string	yes	ISO 8601 timestamp
key_id	string | null	no	Key identifier. If owner.did is present, SHOULD be a DID URL

Related

• Complete Memory Store Example
• Minimal Example
• Spec §3–11 — Normative field definitions