Development

Prerequisites

Python 3.10+
make (optional — you can use plain Python commands instead)

All commands below should be run from the python/ directory:

bash

cd python

Setup

Using Make (recommended)

All make targets automatically create a virtual environment (.venv/) and install the required dependencies — no manual setup needed.

bash

# Install the CLI in editable mode
make install

# Install with dev tools (tests + linting)
make dev

Using Python directly

bash

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
python -m pip install -U pip

# Install in editable mode
pip install -e .

# With dev tools
pip install -e ".[dev]"

Make targets

Target	Description
`make install`	Create venv and install the CLI (editable mode)
`make dev`	Create venv and install CLI + dev dependencies
`make test`	Run all tests (installs dev deps if needed)
`make lint`	Run linter and format check
`make format`	Auto-fix lint issues and format code
`make build`	Build distribution packages
`make clean`	Remove `dist/`
`make publish`	Build and publish to PyPI
`make publish-test`	Build and publish to Test PyPI
`make shell`	Open a new shell with the venv activated

Run tests

bash

# Using Make
make test

# Using Python directly
pytest

# Run a specific test file
pytest tests/test_cli_integration.py

# Run a single test
pytest -k test_help

Run the CLI

bash

# Using Make — drop into an activated shell
make shell
mem0 --help

# Using Python directly (with venv activated)
source .venv/bin/activate
mem0 --help
mem0 version

# Or run without activating
.venv/bin/mem0 --help

Lint

bash

# Using Make
make lint      # check only
make format    # auto-fix

# Using Python directly (with venv activated)
ruff check .
ruff format .

Optional extras

OSS integration

bash

pip install -e ".[oss]"