Prune old memories

Over time an eden-memory database accumulates expired, duplicated, or out-of-scope memories. eden_prune lets you remove them in bulk, scoped to the identities and workspaces you choose. This guide shows soft deletion and optional permanent deletion.

Prerequisites

eden-memory running as an MCP server.
The scope fields of the memories you want to remove.
A clear idea of whether you need soft-delete (recoverable until vacuum/purge) or hard-delete (permanent).

1. Choose your scope

eden_prune filters by any combination of:

agent_id
user_id
org_id
workspace_id
keywords
expired_only: true
org_empty, workspace_empty, agent_empty, user_empty — match rows where that scope is empty

Example: target memories in an old workspace.

{
  "org_id": "your-org",
  "workspace_id": "old-project",
  "keywords": "deprecated"
}

2. Run a dry-run preview

Without confirm: true, eden_prune returns the matching count and sample IDs without deleting anything.

{
  "org_id": "your-org",
  "workspace_id": "old-project",
  "keywords": "deprecated",
  "expired_only": false,
  "dry_run": true
}

Review the sample carefully. Pruning the wrong scope can remove memories you still need.

3. Soft-delete the memories

Soft-delete is the default. Pass confirm: true and dry_run: false.

{
  "org_id": "your-org",
  "workspace_id": "old-project",
  "keywords": "deprecated",
  "expired_only": false,
  "confirm": true,
  "dry_run": false
}

Soft-deleted memories are hidden from recall and search but remain in the database until they are purged by a hard prune or a vacuum.

4. Hard-delete for permanent removal

Use hard-delete only when you are sure. You must pass both hard: true and yes_i_really_want_to_delete: true.

{
  "org_id": "your-org",
  "workspace_id": "old-project",
  "keywords": "deprecated",
  "expired_only": false,
  "hard": true,
  "yes_i_really_want_to_delete": true,
  "confirm": true,
  "dry_run": false
}

Hard-deleted rows are removed from SQLite and cannot be recovered from this database.

5. Clean up expired memories only

To remove only memories whose TTL has passed:

{
  "expired_only": true,
  "confirm": true,
  "dry_run": false
}

This is useful for periodic housekeeping without touching live memories.

Expected outcome

Dry-run shows the exact count and sample IDs.
Soft-delete hides matching memories from recall and search.
Hard-delete permanently removes matching memories.
eden_health reflects the reduced total count after hard deletion.

Prune old memories

Prune old memories

Prerequisites

1. Choose your scope

2. Run a dry-run preview

3. Soft-delete the memories

4. Hard-delete for permanent removal

5. Clean up expired memories only

Expected outcome

See also