Cursor's long-term memory
Your Cursor loses memory between chats. Aether doesn't.
Aether's sessionStart hook runs a Python script that reads your last handover + last 3 decision logs + your pact, and injects them into the AI's additional_context. The first reply already knows where you left off yesterday. One capability. Zero accounts. Zero cloud.
Live Data
Refreshed on every deploy · all real · never fabricated
What Aether actually does
Cross-session memory · not a better LLM · not a prompt library · it is your Cursor's memory organ
Session Handshake
sessionStart hook triggers `aether_handshake.py` · reads the latest handover + last 3 collapses + pact · writes them into AI's additional_context. The AI's first reply already has the full context · no more copy-pasting 'as we discussed earlier'.
python aether/bin/aether_handshake.py --test 9-hook reflex arc
Nine Cursor IDE hooks subscribe to key events. Each tool_call appends to events.jsonl in <5ms. Each decision-shaped reply writes to agent-responses/. sessionEnd triggers indexer + summarizer. Three-layer separation: Layer A (markdown) · Layer B (SQLite FTS5) · Layer C (hooks).
ls <project>/.aether/events.jsonl Per-project isolation
Day 12 fix (coll-0092): each project has its own `.aether/` overlay · own handover chain · own Day counter · own task ledger. The central workspace is dev-self; other projects are guest. Scope-forking runs all the way to the status line.
aether project init --apply Same AI · with memory vs without
Same Cursor chat · same you · only difference: whether sessionStart hook fired.
AI is blank. You spend 10 min copy-pasting 'yesterday we decided this architecture · you rejected that proposal · today we continue with the implementation...'
AI brings its own context. Knows Day N · your decision history · today's P0. Straight to work.
Honest: no external users yet
Aether Day 13 · 1 user (the author) · 0 GitHub stars · 0 paying. Below is actual state · not hype:
⟁This is a 30-day public experiment. Through Day 1-12 the memory layer has undergone four read/write asymmetry fixes · all now closed. Honest score climbed 78 → 86. Next step: find one unaffiliated dev to install and use it · or five manually-invited people to try it.
⟁Day 11 discovered the cosmetic health score (93/100) and real user count (0) were totally decoupled · added `selfcheck --honest` to expose the truth: 0 stars / 0 paying / 100% self-referential colls. Stopped pretending to be complete.
⟁Day 12 the Owner saw the status line bleeding central's Day 12/30 into another project — cross-project concept pollution. Same-day diagnosis + design + fix · 90 min · closed the last segment of Day 9-12 read/write asymmetry.
How Aether compares
Not a Cursor replacement · it's a memory layer on top of Cursor
| Capability | Cursor default | .cursorrules | CLAUDE.md | Aether |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cross-session memory | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Per-project isolation | ⚠️ session-level | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ overlay |
| 9 IDE hook subscriptions | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| 5-mode auto-activation | ❌ | ⚠️ manual | ❌ | ✅ |
| 0 accounts / 0 cloud | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| 5-min install | — | ✅ | ✅ | ⚠️ needs Python |
Why would anyone give Cursor long-term memory?
Four pain points · not 'better prompts' · actual 'AI remembers you'
Every new chat is a blank slate
Cursor's every new chat is a blank slate. With Aether, the AI's first reply already has the handover + recent decisions · you don't explain 'where we left off'.
Rules aren't memory
`.cursorrules` can only write static rules (less of this / more of that). Memory is not rules · memory is: last week we rejected proposal X · Aether keeps that in coll · the AI reads it next time.
Docs require manual upkeep
ADR / Notion / Confluence · you have to remember to check and update. Aether's handover is auto-generated at session end · auto-read at the next. Zero manual.
Won't Cursor ship this natively?
Maybe. If they do, Aether's core value shrinks. The author's bet: 6-18 month window where Aether does this better than whatever Cursor ships next · worth the bet · even if the window closes.
4 steps to make it yours
Zero dependencies. Python stdlib only. Install once, use everywhere.
git clone https://github.com/497810wsl/aether-kit ~/aether
cd your-project ~/aether/bin/aether init
activate linus-torvalds=0.9, engineering-rigor=0.8
cat ~/aether/presets/code-reviewer.preset # 5 presets ready to paste
5 minutes from now · your Cursor stops forgetting
PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 · free for non-commercial · attribution required · commercial use → contact author · first unaffiliated dev star = win