CortexDB Cloud Quickstart

Sign up, create an API token and store and recall your first memory on CortexDB Cloud (api.cortexdb.ai), in curl, Python or TypeScript.

CortexDB Cloud is CortexDB run for you at https://api.cortexdb.ai: the same server these docs describe, with nothing to install. Every account gets its own isolated space; the Free plan needs no card. This page takes you from nothing to a stored and recalled memory in about two minutes.

1. Create an account

Sign up at cortexdb.ai/signup/free with Google, or with an email and a password (then open the link in the confirmation email). Your account starts on the Free plan; paid plans are on cortexdb.ai/pricing.

2. Create an API token

Open your dashboard and choose Create an API token. The dashboard shows everything a client needs:

	Example	What it is
Endpoint	`https://api.cortexdb.ai`	Where every request goes.
Token	`v4.public.…`	Send it as `Authorization: Bearer <token>`. Valid 90 days; create a new one at any time. Keep it secret.
Actor	`user:acct_42`	Who you are; send it as `X-Cortex-Actor` with every request.
Scope	`org:acct_42/user:acct_42`	Where your memories live. Everything under `org:acct_42` is yours (Tenants).

The token works only inside your own account: it can never read or write another account's memories.

3. Store and recall a memory

Replace acct_42 with the account id your dashboard shows.

export CORTEXDB_TOKEN='<your token>'
export CORTEXDB_ACTOR='user:acct_42'
SCOPE='org:acct_42/user:acct_42'

# Write a memory and wait until it can be recalled
curl -sS -X POST 'https://api.cortexdb.ai/v1/experience?wait=indexed' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CORTEXDB_TOKEN" -H "X-Cortex-Actor: $CORTEXDB_ACTOR" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"scope":"'"$SCOPE"'","modality":"conversation","content":{"kind":"message","role":"user","text":"Priya at Acme signed for 200 seats."}}'

# Recall it
curl -sS -X POST 'https://api.cortexdb.ai/v1/recall' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CORTEXDB_TOKEN" -H "X-Cortex-Actor: $CORTEXDB_ACTOR" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"scope":"'"$SCOPE"'","query":"How many seats did Acme sign for?"}'

The recall answers with a stratified pack whose context_block is ready to paste into a prompt (POST /v1/recall).

Python

# pip install cortexdbai
import os
from cortexdb import Cortex

scope = "org:acct_42/user:acct_42"
with Cortex("https://api.cortexdb.ai", actor="user:acct_42",
            bearer=os.environ["CORTEXDB_TOKEN"]) as c:
    c.experience(scope, text="Priya at Acme signed for 200 seats.", wait="indexed")
    print(c.recall(scope, query="How many seats did Acme sign for?")["context_block"])

TypeScript

npm install cortexdbai, then follow the TypeScript quickstart with https://api.cortexdb.ai as the base URL, your token as the bearer and your actor.

4. Ask for an answer

POST /v1/answer writes a cited reply from your memories with a language model. Answers have their own monthly allowance on every plan (Plans and limits).

curl -sS -X POST 'https://api.cortexdb.ai/v1/answer' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CORTEXDB_TOKEN" -H "X-Cortex-Actor: $CORTEXDB_ACTOR" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"scope":"'"$SCOPE"'","question":"How many seats did Acme sign for?"}'

Plans and limits: what each plan allows, what counts, and what a refusal looks like.
Tenants on the cloud: keep your apps' and customers' memories apart under your account.
MCP Server: give Claude Code, Cursor or another MCP client memory on the cloud.
Core Concepts: memory layers, scopes and time.

Running CortexDB on your own servers

The same server runs self-hosted for customers, with binaries from the customer portal; talk to us. Self-hosted servers have no plan limits: the Self-Hosting pages cover them.