Component

Core / Python SDK

Description

Package: openclaw-mem0 + mem0ai (TypeScript SDK)
Affected versions: mem0ai npm 3.0.0, 3.0.1, 3.0.2
Files:

• mem0-ts/src/oss/src/config/defaults.ts (default value)
• mem0-ts/src/oss/src/storage/SQLiteManager.ts (file creation)
• openclaw-mem0 plugin dist/index.js (config propagation)

Description

When using openclaw-mem0 (the OpenClaw plugin wrapping mem0ai), running CLI commands like openclaw mem0 list from any directory creates a memory.db SQLite file in the current working directory.

This happens because mem0ai's default historyStore.config.historyDbPath is set to "memory.db" — a relative path:

// mem0-ts/src/oss/src/config/defaults.ts
historyStore: {
    provider: "sqlite",
    config: {
        historyDbPath: "memory.db",   // ← relative to CWD!
    },
},

Reproduction

cd /tmp
openclaw mem0 list
ls -la /tmp/memory.db   # ← 20KB SQLite file created

cd /var/tmp
openclaw mem0 list
ls -la /var/tmp/memory.db  # ← another one!

Root Cause

The config cascade in mem0-ts/src/oss/src/memory/index.ts (around line 4859):

historyDbPath: userConfig.historyDbPath ||
    userConfig.historyStore?.config?.historyDbPath ||
    DEFAULT_MEMORY_CONFIG.historyStore.config.historyDbPath  // ← "memory.db"

When the openclaw-mem0 plugin initializes via CLI (separate process), the explicitly configured oss.historyDbPath (an absolute path like /home/xxx/.openclaw/workspace/history.db) does not always propagate correctly through the config builder in all code paths. When it falls through, the relative default "memory.db" is used.

The SQLiteManager constructor then calls:

this.db = new Database(path.resolve("memory.db"));

Which resolves to <current-working-directory>/memory.db.

Impact

• Minor annoyance: memory.db files accumulate in directories where CLI commands are run
• Confusion: Users who configured PGVector as their vector store don't expect SQLite database files at all
• Security: Users may not want SQLite files created in arbitrary directories

Workaround

For users who use PGVector (or any non-SQLite vector store) and don't need the SQLite history feature:

"oss": {
    "embedder": {...},
    "vectorStore": {...},
    "llm": {...},
    "disableHistory": true
}

This completely avoids creating any memory.db files since mem0 uses DummyHistoryManager instead.