aide-memory — Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2026-06-24

aide-memory (“the Software”) is a persistent-memory layer for AI coding agents, published by Ahmed Meky (“we”, “us”). This policy explains what the Software collects, why, and how to turn it off.

Summary

  • The Software sends anonymous usage telemetry by default — you can disable it with a single environment variable.
  • It never transmits your memories, code, file paths, prompts, or search queries, or any information that identifies you.
  • We don’t sell or share your data. There are no ads and no third-party trackers.

What we collect (anonymous usage telemetry)

When telemetry is enabled (the default), the Software sends anonymized event records to our analytics provider, PostHog. Each record contains only:

  • The event type — e.g. which of the tools ran (recall, remember, update, forget, search, list, import) or a lifecycle event — plus an optional non-identifying label.
  • A machine-hashed ID — a one-way SHA-256 hash of your machine hostname + OS username, truncated to 16 characters. It exists only to count distinct installations and cannot be reversed to identify you.
  • Basic environment info — operating-system platform, CPU architecture, and Node.js version.

Your IP address is discarded (sent as null, with geolocation disabled).

What we never collect

The Software does not transmit, and we never receive:

  • your memories or their contents,
  • your source code,
  • file names or paths,
  • search queries or prompts,
  • project, account, or repository names,
  • your name, email, or any personal identifier.

Semantic-search embeddings are computed locally on your machine (local model / Ollama) — no content is sent to any embedding API.

Data that stays on your machine

The Software stores your memories and a local usage table on your own device (under the project’s .aide/ directory). This data never leaves your machine and is never sent to us. The aide-memory stats command reads only this local data.

How to opt out

Set the environment variable:

AIDE_TELEMETRY=off

With telemetry off, the Software makes no analytics network requests at all.

Third parties

  • PostHog — our analytics provider; receives the anonymous events described above. See PostHog’s own privacy policy for how they process data.
  • npm registry — the Software is installed and updated via npm / npx, which involves standard package-download requests to the npm registry.

We use no advertising networks, no third-party behavioral trackers, and no data brokers.

Why we collect it

Solely to understand aggregate usage — roughly how many installs there are and which features get used — so we can improve the Software. We do not build individual profiles.

Data retention

Anonymous events are retained by our analytics provider for operational analytics. Because the data is anonymous and cannot be tied to an individual, we are unable to locate or delete a single person’s records; opting out prevents any future collection.

Children

The Software is a developer tool and is not directed at children under 13 (or under 16 in the EEA).

Your rights

Depending on where you live (e.g. the EU’s GDPR or California’s CCPA), you may have rights over your personal data. Because the Software collects no personal data — only anonymous, non-identifying event counts — most such requests do not apply. To stop all collection, set AIDE_TELEMETRY=off.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected here with a new “Last updated” date.

Contact

Questions about this policy: open an issue at github.com/aide-memory/aide-memory/issues.

This policy is provided as-is and has not been reviewed by legal counsel. Consult a qualified attorney before relying on it for compliance in your jurisdiction (particularly for EU/UK users).