TotalRecall™
Your AI forgets everything between conversations. TotalRecall fixes that. It gives your ProductiveBot persistent memory that works across sessions, plus full transcript search, document and PDF search, a 7-step Deep Recall protocol for surfacing buried context, and automatic session summarization.
The Problem
Without TotalRecall, your ProductiveBot starts fresh every conversation. It does not remember your name, your preferences, your past decisions, or what you talked about yesterday. Every session is a blank slate.
This is not a bug. It is how most AI assistants work by default. The AI model processes your message, responds, and moves on. There is no built-in system to carry information forward.
TotalRecall changes that. It adds a persistent memory layer that runs entirely on your Mac Mini. Your bot remembers what matters and brings it back when it is relevant.
How It Works
TotalRecall creates a set of memory files on your Mac Mini and watches them in real time. When your bot learns something important, it writes it down. When you ask a question, TotalRecall searches those files and surfaces the most relevant context before the bot responds.
TotalRecall also searches every past conversation transcript, shared documents, PDFs, and channel history — so your bot can recall what you discussed weeks or months ago, even if it was never explicitly saved. The 7-step Deep Recall protocol digs through memory files, session transcripts, shared documents, PDFs, Google Docs, and channel history to surface buried information. Session summarization automatically captures key decisions and details after every work session.
Hybrid Search
Finds memories by meaning and keywords. If you wrote "prefers Slack over email," asking "how should I contact them?" will find it.
Full Transcript Search
Search every past conversation transcript on your Mac Mini. Your bot can recall what you discussed weeks or months ago, even conversations that were never saved to memory files.
Deep Recall Protocol (7-step)
When a simple search is not enough, Deep Recall searches memory files, session transcripts, shared documents, PDFs, Google Docs, and channel history — leaving no stone unturned.
Session Summarization
Long conversations are automatically distilled into key takeaways. Your bot captures decisions, action items, and important details without you asking.
Completely Private
All memory files stay on your Mac Mini. Nothing is sent to the cloud. No one else can access your memories.
Real-Time Sync
Edit a memory file and the changes are indexed immediately. No manual re-indexing or restarts needed.
See It In Action
Here is what a conversation looks like with TotalRecall installed:
Memory File Structure
TotalRecall uses simple markdown files that you and your bot both read and write:
├── MEMORY.md # Long-term: key decisions, preferences
└── memory/
├── 2026-03-15.md # Daily notes
├── 2026-03-16.md
└── 2026-03-17.md
MEMORY.md is for curated, long-term memories: preferences, key decisions, lessons learned. Think of it as your bot's cheat sheet.
Daily files are raw notes from each day. Your bot writes these automatically as it works. Over time, the important stuff gets distilled into MEMORY.md.
What It Does Not Do
Transparency matters. Here is what TotalRecall is not:
It does not record your conversations verbatim. It stores what you and your bot explicitly write to the memory files. If you say "remember this," your bot writes it down. Casual conversation that is not flagged for memory does not get stored.
It does not send data anywhere. There is no cloud sync, no analytics, no telemetry. The memory files are plain text files on your Mac Mini's hard drive.
It is not AI training. Your memories are never used to train any AI model. They are only used to give your bot context in your conversations.
Common Questions
How do I install TotalRecall?
Does it slow down my bot?
Can I read and edit the memory files myself?
How much storage does it use?
What if I want my bot to forget something?
Is TotalRecall included with every ProductiveBot?
Does it work with ChatGPT OAuth?
Update Log
Full session transcript search (searches all past conversations on disk), document and PDF search (shared files, workspace docs), Google Docs integration, recency-weighted results, 7-step Deep Recall protocol, mandatory session summarization. Includes pdftotext for PDF content extraction.
Session & channel history search, Deep Recall protocol, session summarization, improved installer with native module rebuild.
Initial release — local memory file search, BM25 keyword matching.
Need help? Talk to Scout
Scout can help you install TotalRecall, troubleshoot memory issues, or answer any questions.
You can also email us at support@productivebot.ai