MIF v2.0 Specification

• Version: 2.0
• Status: Draft
• Created: 2026-03-03
• Author(s): Varun Sharma (@varun29ankuS)

Note: v2.0 is the first public release. The “v2” numbering reflects internal iterations during development.

The key words “MUST”, “MUST NOT”, “REQUIRED”, “SHALL”, “SHALL NOT”, “SHOULD”, “SHOULD NOT”, “RECOMMENDED”, “MAY”, and “OPTIONAL” in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119.

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Abstract

MIF is a vendor-neutral JSON schema for exchanging AI agent memories between systems. It defines a minimal, extensible envelope for memories and optional knowledge graph data, enabling portability across providers.

1. Document Structure

A MIF document is a JSON object:

{
  "mif_version": "2.0",
  "generator": { "name": "example-memory", "version": "1.0.0" },
  "export_meta": {
    "id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
    "created_at": "2026-03-03T10:00:00Z",
    "user_id": "user-1",
    "checksum": "sha256:abc123...",
    "privacy": { "pii_detected": false, "redacted_fields": [] }
  },
  "memories": [],
  "knowledge_graph": null,
  "vendor_extensions": {}
}

Required fields: mif_version, memories

A minimal conforming document:

{"mif_version": "2.0", "memories": []}

2. Memory Object

Each entry in the memories array:

Field	Type	Required	Description
id	string (UUID v4)	Yes	Unique identifier
content	string	Yes	Memory content text
created_at	string (ISO 8601)	Yes	Creation timestamp
memory_type	string	No	Type classification
updated_at	string (ISO 8601)	No	Last modification time
tags	string[]	No	Classification tags
entities	EntityReference[]	No	Referenced entities
metadata	object	No	Arbitrary metadata
embeddings	Embedding	No	Vector embedding
source	Source	No	Origin information
parent_id	string (UUID) | null	No	Parent memory reference
related_memory_ids	string[] (UUIDs)	No	Related memories
agent_id	string | null	No	Agent identifier
external_id	string | null	No	External system ID
version	integer (>= 1)	No	Version number

2.1 Memory Types

Lowercase snake_case strings. Common types:

Type	Description
observation	Factual observation about user or environment
decision	A decision made by or for the user
learning	Something learned during interaction
error	An error and its context
context	Session or project context
conversation	Conversation excerpt or summary

This list is non-exhaustive. Implementations MUST accept unknown types without error and MUST preserve them on round-trip.

2.2 Entity References

{ "name": "RocksDB", "entity_type": "technology", "confidence": 0.95 }

Common entity types: person, organization, location, technology, concept, event, product, unknown.

2.3 Embeddings

Optional. When present:

• Importers using the same model MAY reuse the vector directly
• Importers using a different model SHOULD discard and regenerate from content
• dimensions must equal len(vector)

3. Knowledge Graph (Optional)

{
  "entities": [
    {
      "id": "...",
      "name": "Rust",
      "types": ["technology"],
      "attributes": { "category": "programming_language" },
      "summary": "Systems programming language"
    }
  ],
  "relationships": [
    {
      "id": "...",
      "source_entity_id": "...",
      "target_entity_id": "...",
      "relation_type": "works_with",
      "confidence": 0.9
    }
  ]
}

4. Vendor Extensions

System-specific metadata lives in vendor_extensions, keyed by system name:

"vendor_extensions": {
  "shodh-memory": { "memory_metadata": { "<uuid>": { "importance": 0.85 } } },
  "mem0": { "organization_id": "org-123" }
}

Implementations MUST preserve vendor extensions from other systems on round-trip.

5. Privacy

The export_meta.privacy field communicates PII handling:

{ "pii_detected": true, "redacted_fields": ["email", "phone"] }

6. Import Behavior

• UUID preservation: Imported memories SHOULD retain original IDs
• Deduplication: By content hash (SHA-256 of content), not UUID collision
• Partial failure: Individual failures MUST NOT abort the batch
• Unknown fields: Importers MUST ignore unknown fields (forward compatibility)

7. MCP Tool Conventions

Memory servers implementing MIF SHOULD expose:

Tool	Purpose
export_memories	Export user memories as MIF JSON
import_memories	Import MIF JSON into the memory system

8. Versioning

• Minor versions (2.x) are additive only — new optional fields, no breaking changes
• A v2.0 consumer SHOULD accept any v2.x document
• Major versions (3.0+) MAY introduce breaking changes

9. JSON Schema

A formal JSON Schema for validation: mif-v2.schema.json