One device, one agent

01

It runs, but only half of it

Solo is not a crippled build: the everyday memory capabilities are all here. What goes unused is what was built for a second device in the first place.

01 / Runs

This machine is the hub

No second machine needed. Import, extraction, recall and backup all happen on this one; a single data directory is everything.

02 / Remembers

Long-term memory for one agent

core belongs to it alone; the world memory covers just the two of you. A new session does not start from scratch, because yesterday is still there.

03 / Never starts

The multi-device set stays in the drawer

Pairing, replication, snapshots and cross-machine transcript reads never run on their own. Nothing is broken; there is just no second party to connect to.

02

Dafeiyu: one companion, one device

Separate two things first: DSH (DeepSeek Harness) is the runtime for agents, and Dafeiyu is the most popular companion character in the community. The desktop pet is the look; the persona is the way of speaking. What reads files and runs tasks is the agent inside DSH; the pet draws its state.

CASE · DSH / Dafeiyu

It remembers the persona,
but not that line from two days ago

You have one owner and one computer. Its persona is stable and it always talks like that fish; but open a new session and "the cat's check-up on Wednesday" still tends to drop.

Import DSH sessions through the contract and recollect keeps a copy of the memory on this machine. The DSH path uses the repository's tools/converters/dsh_v1.py: it turns sessions into unified events, and if acceptance fails the converter changes, not the core. Next time a new session opens, the agent first reads the conclusion + handle, not the whole chat; to verify, follow the handle back to the original words.

It still has only one agent. No second agent shares its memory, no second machine syncs with it. That is not a defect; the solo case never needed that set.

Recall · one sentence

Last week you said the cat was due Wednesday; yesterday you moved it to Friday. Remember the carrier before you leave[1].

Follow [1] back to that original line; this is only an example.

Same computer · no network

DSH agent Dafeiyu persona · one agent identity

Session · imported by contract

Local recollect hub

transcript.dbmemory.dbcore.db

Extraction runs locally; core has only this one key

MCP / hook reads back

Context for the next turn One brief line + [1] handle; expand for evidence

1 device0 pairings0 replicas1 core key

03

One device and two devices:
where they differ

The same stack, only the enabled scope differs. Switch to see what runs and what stays in the drawer.

Scaling is addition, not a precondition

Get memory running solo first; when a second device arrives, add pairing, replication and cross-machine reads. Nothing has to be reinstalled.

1device / 1 agent

Local hub, extraction and recallRuns
Session import (agent-side converter)Runs
Keyword search and raw-text replayNo model needed
Pairing, replication, snapshots, cross-machine transcript readsNever enabled
Local backupKeep it on

04

What memory does in a day

Solo works the same way: it does not record the chat, it hands back the right memory at a few key moments.

09:10 · New session

No need to start over
It first sees last night's line, "cat's check-up Wednesday, moved to Friday", and asks about the carrier instead of asking again what you keep.
12:30 · You ask it to note something

The notebook only appends
"Remind me before Friday" goes into core's notebook; the summary enters the next opening on its own, so you never repeat it.
20:00 · You ask about the deploy script

One line first, evidence second
It answers "everything goes through build-release.sh" with [1]; follow [1] back to that day's words instead of trusting its retelling.
23:00 · You say you do not want to talk about work

Mood has an expiry
This is a state from that moment, not a permanent label; the next day it does not open by pushing for progress.

Dafeiyu (whale girl) artwork — Dafeiyu (whale girl) · community fan art, unofficial. Artwork:deepseek-chan-meme-pack

The case is illustrative only; in a solo setup these actions all happen on this machine.

05

Minimal start: four steps, no pairing

Get it running first, then decide whether you want a second device. The solo path has no server, no node and no one-time code.

01 / Download

Verify and unpack

Get the release for your platform and check SHA256 first; the installer does not touch host config and ships no data.

02 / Create a directory

One data directory

Pick a local directory as --data-dir; the first start is an empty database, and everything lives here.

03 / Import

Sessions arrive by contract

The DSH session format is the agent-side converter's job; if the converter fails acceptance, fix the converter, not the core.

04 / Connect

One identity in MCP

Give this agent an id and core's key opens to it alone; no hub serve.

solo · local startExample commands

$ recollect-hub import --data-dir ./data \ ./dsh-session.json $ recollect-mcp --data-dir ./data \ --agent-id dafeiyu # file names are examples; DSH sessions go through the agent-side converter and arrive by the ingest contract

06

Solo is not high security

Solo removes one layer of network exposure, not one boundary to guard: disk, key, port and model egress are all yours to defend.

One disk Backups must be encrypted and kept apart

hub backup handles a dead disk, not a machine being taken away; do not keep backups and keys on this disk alone.

One key A lost or leaked core key is trouble either way

Each agent's notebook uses its own key; lose the key and the text stays shut, leak it and the text is public. Keys go into no backup and no model; archive them separately.

One port Do not expose the hub to the internet

A solo machine gets scanned too. Listen on this host or a trusted LAN by default; for remote access use a tunnel or a mesh, and never expose the serve port directly.

One piece of raw text Extraction sends raw text into the model

Only the current turn leaves the machine; keys stay local, and secrets and identity fields are scanned before sending. Without a model, search and replay work as usual.

Fewer devices does not mean fewer boundaries; security comes from configuration, not from being solo.

You can run just one device, but never just one boundary.

← Evidence: why trust it Back to overview

Just one computer,one agent