Loom concepts

This page defines the handful of terms you need before reading the rest of the Loom documentation: stores, sections, the default store, domains, workspaces and scope.

Stores and sections#

A store is one memory database that lives on a Loom server. Your computer knows how to reach your stores through one file, ~/.loom/stores.toml (%USERPROFILE%\.loom\stores.toml on Windows). Every harness reads that same file.

Each store you can reach is a section of that file. A section counts as a store only if it has an endpoint. A hosted sign-up writes a file shaped like this (values redacted):

default = "coding"

[coding]
description      = "Default coding memory store."
endpoint         = "tcp://loomcloud.ai:7443"
store            = "<your coding store id>"
namespace_scheme = "loom-8"
server_key       = "<redacted server key>"
store_key        = "<redacted coding store key>"
web_origin       = "https://loomcloud.ai"

The loom setup command writes and merges this file for you; do not hand-type keys. The full key reference is in the stores.toml reference page.

The default store#

The top-level default = "<section name>" line names the section your agent uses when no store is specified. loom setup only adds default if the file has none, and it never rebinds an existing section to a different store. If your account has two sections with the same name, setup keeps the oldest and warns about the other.

Starter stores#

Domains#

Every store has a domain that sets its capture and answer discipline, not just a label. The valid domains are:

You choose a domain when you create a store (see the store-management page).

Entities, relations and labels#

Memory is stored as facts about entities; entities are connected by relations (edges); labels such as topics or importance are index values that facts point at. Tutorial 04 walks through this with examples.

Workspaces and which store a repository uses#

Your agent picks a store per workspace, which is a product or team grouping that can span several repositories. A standalone repository's workspace defaults to its project name. The choice is cached in stores.toml:

[workspace]          # default for any workspace without its own entry
loom-coding = "coding"

[workspace.loom]     # override for the workspace named "loom"
loom-coding = "my-own-memory-store"

If neither entry exists the agent asks which store to use rather than silently assuming default.

Scope: the loom-scope line#

A repository records its scope in its guidance file (AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md or CODEX.md) with one line:

loom-scope: project=my_project workspace=my_workspace org=my_org

The agent asks you for these values the first time and writes the line back. Tutorial 03 covers it step by step.

Loading a store#

A store other than default or your session primary must be explicitly loaded before use (loom_load_store); loading is idempotent and returns that store's domain guidance. Your agent does this for you.