---
title: Start with PersonaKit
description: Install PersonaKit, run a first sweep, review memories, and connect an assistant over MCP.
status: pre-release
audience: people who run PersonaKit locally, contributors, and AI assistants
last_verified: 2026-11-12
---

# Start with PersonaKit

Sweep your sessions. Look at what it proposed. Connect an assistant.

## Requirements

- Python 3.10 or newer.
- A signed-in `claude` or `codex` command-line tool, used for extraction.
- You choose the model name. PersonaKit never defaults one.

## 1. Install

```sh
git clone https://github.com/Yanir-R/personaKit.git
cd personaKit
pip install -e ".[mcp]"
```

The `mcp` extra is only needed for `personakit serve`.

## 2. Sweep

```sh
personakit sweep --cli claude --model <model-name> --max-calls 20
```

`--max-calls` caps model calls for the run (default 50). Session files that have not changed since
the last sweep are skipped. Sessions with fewer than three of your own turns are too thin and produce nothing.
Only turns you wrote are sent to the model. See [Trust and data boundaries](trust.md).

## 3. Look at what was stored

```sh
personakit list
personakit stats
```

`stats` prints counts only and never memory text. `list --state <state>` filters by state, and
`sweep`, `list` and `stats` take `--json` for machine-readable output.

## 4. Review (optional)

```sh
personakit review
```

See [Memory controls](controls.md). Skipping review is fine: memories are served labelled *unconfirmed*.

## 5. Connect an assistant

```sh
personakit serve
```

This runs an MCP server over stdio. Point your assistant's MCP configuration at that command:

```sh
claude mcp add personakit -- personakit serve
```

For Codex and other clients see [Connections](connections.md).

## 6. Check the loop

Restrict or hide one memory, ask the assistant a related question, and confirm it no longer appears.
Restricted memories are counted as withheld and never shown.

## Remove everything

`personakit forget <memory-id>` deletes a memory and its quotes. Deleting the store file removes all data.