The problem is not only retrieval
A local document assistant has two jobs that are easy to collapse into one: find relevant context and make that context accountable. A system can retrieve a plausible paragraph and still leave the user unable to tell where it came from.
Trust is a path back to the source, not a stronger adjective in the interface.
A legible retrieval path
Mneme starts with a question, optionally decomposes it, searches semantic and lexical paths, expands relationships for Graph RAG, deduplicates chunks, enriches PDF anchors, and produces bounded context for answer generation.
Why stable identity matters
Manifest-consistent indexing gives each source a canonical identity, content hash, stable chunk IDs, atomic replacement semantics, and exact deletion. That matters when a user wants to know whether an answer came from the current file.
The boundary is part of the API
Indexing and retrieval run locally. An LLM-backed feature may send retrieved snippets to the endpoint configured by the user. Stating that boundary precisely shapes configuration, tests, UI copy, and evidence objects.
Describe the observable result first—“answers with sources”—then explain BM25, RRF, graph expansion, or context caps as supporting mechanisms.
Read the implementation surface
The project is a Python package with src/ retrieval modules, a tui/ terminal interface, tests, benchmarks, plans, and CI workflows. The repository is the authoritative place for code and change history.