Access Mem Anywhere

Nowledge Mem runs on your machine, so your data never leaves your control. Access Anywhere lets you reach that same instance from any other device, agent, or browser through a secure tunnel.

One Mem, many ways to connect: your laptop at a coffee shop, a browser tab on your phone, a coding agent on a CI runner, AI Now on a second desktop. The Mem on your always-on machine is the hub. Everything else connects to it.

This is also how sync works in Mem today: one always-on Mem instance, many connected clients. If you want the short product explanation first, read Sync Across Devices.

Choose Your Connection Type

Before You Start

• Nowledge Link requires an active Plus or Max subscription and sign-in inside Nowledge Mem.
• Cloudflare account mode requires a domain already managed in your Cloudflare account.
• Without Plus and without a domain, you can still try Access Anywhere with a temporary link. Its address changes every time Access Anywhere restarts, so do not use it for anything you want to keep connected.
• In Cloudflare account mode, the final public URL appears only after you create a hostname route.

Cloudflare Account (Stable URL)

sudo cloudflared service install ... <TOKEN>

export NMEM_API_URL="https://mem.example.com"
export NMEM_API_KEY="nmem_..."
nmem status

Try It Out: Temporary Link

export NMEM_API_URL="https://<your-temporary-link>"
export NMEM_API_KEY="nmem_..."
nmem status

export TUNNEL_TRANSPORT_PROTOCOL=http2

Use It on Other Clients

Pick the connection path that matches your situation:

• Mobile app: native iOS or Android access from your phone or tablet
• Desktop app: full experience including AI Now from a second computer
• Web browser: quick visual access from any device
• ~/.nowledge-mem/config.json: the shared local client config written by nmem config client ..., reused automatically by nmem, OpenClaw, Bub, Claude Code, and other integrations
• Browser extension: paste your URL + key in SidePanel settings
• ChatGPT / OAuth MCP clients: paste the public /mcp endpoint and approve Mem through OAuth
• Direct MCP: for MCP clients without a better dedicated path, or as the companion MCP layer for hybrid hosts like Codex

Mobile App (iOS & Android)

The mobile app is a native wrapper that connects to your Mem server: no local database, no local Python backend. It gives you the full mobile experience: search, memories, threads, library, graph, and feed.

1. Install the app (TestFlight for iOS, APK for Android)
2. Enter your Mem URL and API key
3. Tap Connect

The app stores your credentials locally and reconnects automatically on subsequent launches.

Desktop App (Client Mode)

Install Nowledge Mem on a second computer and connect to your main instance:

1. Open Settings → Access Anywhere
2. Enter the URL and API key from your main Mem
3. Click Connect

You get the full desktop experience: search, memories, threads, library, graph, and AI Now. AI Now runs on the Mem server you connect to and uses that server's LLM configuration. No extra LLM setup is needed on the client.

The title bar shows Remote to indicate you're connected to another Mem. AI Now sessions, message history, and pasted images stay with that server so you can move between clients.

Web Browser

Open your Mem URL with /app appended (for example https://mem.example.com/app) in any modern browser.

Enter your API key to log in. You get search, memories, threads, graph views, and AI Now from the same server-backed session list.

This is the fastest way to check your knowledge base from a machine where you haven't installed the desktop or mobile app.

On mobile, the native app (above) is recommended. If you prefer the browser, tap Share → Add to Home Screen (iOS) or the install banner (Android) to save it as a shortcut. It opens full-screen without browser chrome.

nmem CLI

Configure this machine once so every nmem command, and every plugin that uses nmem, connects automatically:

nmem config client set url https://<your-url>
nmem config client set api-key nmem_...

nmem status          # reads from config.json
nmem m search "project notes"

The command writes the same local client config file that OpenClaw, Bub, Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and other integrations read. It is separate from nmem config access ..., which controls how a Mem server is exposed to other devices.

For CI or scripted setups, you can also use NMEM_API_URL and NMEM_API_KEY environment variables. Priority: CLI flags > env vars > config file > defaults.

Browser Extension (Side Panel Or Sidebar)

Open any supported AI chat page, then open Nowledge Mem Exchange in the browser side panel or sidebar:

1. Click Settings
2. In Access Mem Anywhere, paste the terminal setup copied from Mem Desktop:

export NMEM_API_URL="https://<your-url>"
export NMEM_API_KEY="nmem_..."

3. Click Fill URL + key
4. Click Save
5. Click Test connection (should show success)

You can also type URL + key manually in the same section.

ChatGPT / OAuth MCP Clients

For Mem running on your computer, follow the Access Anywhere / Nowledge Link pairing steps below and keep Mem running while ChatGPT uses it. If your personal or Team workspace is on Nowledge Cloud, install the official plugin instead; follow the ChatGPT guide.

Some cloud MCP clients, including ChatGPT Connectors, cannot use a private nmem_ API-key header. For those clients, use Remote MCP over OAuth:

1. In Mem, open Connectors → AI Tools → Remote MCP over OAuth.
2. Click Start setup.
3. Let Mem open the pairing page in the browser profile you will use for the AI client's OAuth approval.
4. Copy the Access Anywhere MCP endpoint. It must end with /mcp.
5. Paste that URL into the AI client's MCP connector setup.
6. Approve Mem on the OAuth page in that same browser profile.

For ChatGPT, create the connector from ChatGPT Web settings. After it is connected, the same connector is available in ChatGPT Web and the ChatGPT desktop app; mention @Nowledge Mem in a chat when you want ChatGPT to search Mem.

For ChatGPT screenshots, see ChatGPT Web and Desktop.

OpenClaw Plugin

If you already ran nmem config client ... on this machine, you're done. The OpenClaw plugin reads the same shared client config automatically.

You can also set credentials in the OpenClaw dashboard under Automation → Plugins → Nowledge Mem.

The API key is passed to the nmem subprocess via environment variable only. It never appears in logs or process arguments. Behavioral skills bundled with the plugin (like the memory guide) work the same in remote mode; they're part of the plugin, not the server.

Bub Plugin

Same shared client config. If you already ran nmem config client ... on this machine, the Bub plugin picks those credentials up automatically.

{
  "apiUrl": "https://<your-url>",
  "apiKey": "nmem_..."
}

Or set NMEM_API_URL and NMEM_API_KEY environment variables before running Bub.

Alma Plugin

Two options. Pick whichever fits your setup:

Option A: Plugin settings (recommended)

In Alma, open Settings and configure the Nowledge Mem plugin:

• nowledgeMem.apiUrl: your remote URL (e.g. https://mem.example.com). Leave empty for local.
• nowledgeMem.apiKey: your Mem API key (nmem_...). Passed via environment variable only, never logged or shown in process arguments.

The plugin shows mode=remote or mode=local in its activation log so you can confirm which mode is active.

Option B: Environment variables

Set these in your shell before starting Alma:

export NMEM_API_URL="https://<your-url>"
export NMEM_API_KEY="nmem_..."

Both options are equivalent. Use Option A for a self-contained setup. Use Option B to keep credentials out of config files.

MCP / Agent Nodes

MCP clients connect via HTTP. The MCP host owns that connection, so it does not automatically read ~/.nowledge-mem/config.json.

If you already configured this machine with nmem config client ..., generate the exact host config from the same URL and API key:

nmem config mcp show --host codex
nmem config mcp show --host gemini-cli
nmem config mcp show --host cursor
nmem config mcp show --host claude-desktop

Paste the generated block into that host's MCP settings. It includes your API key when one is configured, so keep it in the host's private user config.

If you are writing the block by hand, pass your API key in the Authorization header, or use the X-NMEM-API-Key header.

Use the exact MCP endpoint with a trailing slash: https://<your-url>/mcp/.

Cursor (~/.cursor/mcp.json or workspace .cursor/mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nowledge-mem": {
      "url": "https://<your-url>/mcp/",
      "type": "streamableHttp",
      "headers": {
        "APP": "Cursor",
        "Authorization": "Bearer nmem_..."
      }
    }
  }
}

or

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nowledge-mem": {
      "url": "https://<your-url>/mcp/",
      "type": "streamableHttp",
      "headers": {
        "APP": "Cursor",
        "X-NMEM-API-Key": "nmem_..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop. If you use the Nowledge Mem extension, it reads the same shared client config as nmem:

• macOS / Linux: ~/.nowledge-mem/config.json
• Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.nowledge-mem\config.json

{
  "apiUrl": "https://<your-url>",
  "apiKey": "nmem_..."
}

If you're running Nowledge Mem Desktop on the same machine, this file is usually written for you automatically when you start Access Anywhere.

Alternatively, add an MCP server entry to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nowledge-mem": {
      "url": "https://<your-url>/mcp/",
      "type": "streamableHttp",
      "headers": {
        "APP": "Claude",
        "Authorization": "Bearer nmem_..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Codex (~/.codex/config.toml, shared by the desktop app and CLI):

If you are following the dedicated Codex guide, keep that plugin package in place. The package includes a local MCP endpoint by default. For remote Mem, run nmem config mcp show --host codex and paste the generated TOML into ~/.codex/config.toml.

Gemini CLI (settings.json, override for the Gemini extension):

If you installed the Gemini CLI extension, the extension includes a local MCP endpoint by default. For remote Mem, run nmem config mcp show --host gemini-cli and paste the generated JSON into Gemini's user settings.

Claude Code. Install the Nowledge Mem plugin for automatic Working Memory, search, and session capture. For remote mode, run nmem config client set url ... and nmem config client set api-key ... once on the client machine. The plugin's nmem commands read that same shared local config.

CI / other shell-based agents. Set NMEM_API_URL and NMEM_API_KEY environment variables. Same variables work in any shell context.

Quick Health Check

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $NMEM_API_KEY" "$NMEM_API_URL/health/details"

Expected: health JSON response.

If wrong key:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer wrong_key" "$NMEM_API_URL/health/details"

Expected: 401.

If your proxy strips auth headers:

curl "$NMEM_API_URL/health/details?nmem_api_key=$NMEM_API_KEY"

Security and Operations

• API key is required for every remote request, both tunnel and LAN connections.
• When LAN access is enabled, connections from other devices on your network require the API key. Connections from the same computer are always allowed without a key, unless you enable Require API key on localhost in Settings.
• Rotate key anytime in Settings (old key becomes invalid immediately, along with any login link that has not been used yet).
• After your first successful Start, tunnel reconnects automatically on app restart until you click Stop.
• Browse-Now / Browser Bridge automation endpoints are local-only and are not exposed through Access Anywhere.
• Stop tunnel when remote access is not needed.

Troubleshooting

• Start timed out: your network/proxy may block Cloudflare traffic. Retry, or switch to Cloudflare account mode.
• 401 Missing API key: proxy likely removed auth headers. Update nmem, or use query fallback for manual checks.
• 429 Too many invalid auth attempts: wrong key was retried repeatedly. Re-copy key or click Rotate.