list_memory_projects reports cloud projects as source: local

[groksrc]

Description

When calling list_memory_projects via the cloud MCP server (https://cloud.basicmemory.com/mcp), all projects are returned with "source": "local" and no cloud metadata (cloud_path: null, workspace_name: null, etc.).

This is technically accurate from the server's internal perspective — the projects are local to the cloud server — but it's confusing from the client/LLM perspective. There's no way to distinguish cloud-hosted projects from truly local filesystem projects.

Example Response

{
  "name": "aitext",
  "path": "/aitext",
  "local_path": "/aitext",
  "cloud_path": null,
  "source": "local",
  "workspace_name": null,
  "workspace_type": null,
  "workspace_tenant_id": null
}

Why This Matters

LLMs consuming this tool output will:

• Assume projects are on the local filesystem
• Have no signal that they're interacting with cloud-hosted data
• Be unable to distinguish cloud vs local projects in mixed environments
• Potentially give incorrect guidance to users about where their data lives

Expected Behavior

Projects returned by the cloud MCP server should either:

1. Report "source": "cloud" to reflect the user's perspective
2. Include populated cloud metadata (workspace_name, workspace_tenant_id, etc.)
3. Or some other signal that differentiates cloud-served projects from local ones

Reproduction

1. Configure basic-memory-cloud as an HTTP MCP server: https://cloud.basicmemory.com/mcp
2. Authenticate
3. Call list_memory_projects with output_format: "json"
4. Observe all projects show "source": "local"

Comparison

The local CLI (bm project list) correctly shows these same projects with cloud routing and cloud paths, so the information is available — it's just not surfaced through the cloud MCP server's project listing.

[claude]

Claude finished @groksrc's task in 2m 22s —— View job

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Issue Triage

• Gather context and analyze issue
• Explore codebase to understand list_memory_projects and project source field
• Check for duplicate issues (none found)
• Add labels and provide triage analysis

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Analysis

Type: Bug (incorrect source field in cloud factory mode)
Priority: Medium — confuses LLMs consuming the tool output; no data loss
Component: MCP tools + cloud
Complexity: Simple — one-line targeted fix

Labels added: bug, cloud

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Root Cause

The bug is in src/basic_memory/mcp/tools/project_management.py at line 206.

When list_memory_projects runs in factory mode (i.e., the cloud MCP server at https://cloud.basicmemory.com/mcp), it fetches projects from the factory client and passes them to _merge_projects as the local_list argument:

# Line 201-213 — Factory mode path
if is_factory_mode():
    async with get_client() as client:
        project_client = ProjectClient(client)
        project_list = await project_client.list_projects()

    merged = _merge_projects(project_list, None)  # <-- BUG: passed as local_list

Inside _merge_projects (lines 82-88), source is determined by which map contains the project:

if local_proj and cloud_proj:
    source = "local+cloud"
elif cloud_proj:
    source = "cloud"
else:
    source = "local"   # <-- Always hits this since cloud_list=None

Since cloud_list=None, cloud_by_permalink is always empty, so every project gets source = "local".

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Fix

Swap the argument order — pass the factory-fetched list as cloud_list, not local_list:

# Line 206: change from:
merged = _merge_projects(project_list, None)

# To:
merged = _merge_projects(None, project_list)

This causes all projects to correctly show "source": "cloud" and sets cloud_path (not local_path), matching what the user expects when accessing via the cloud MCP server.

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Affected File

• src/basic_memory/mcp/tools/project_management.py — line 206

A test covering factory-mode output format should also be added or updated to assert source == "cloud".

[phernandez]

This was addressed in PR #752 (commit 56d6f1b). The cloud MCP server runs basic-memory in factory mode, and list_memory_projects now has a dedicated factory-mode branch that reports source: "cloud" along with the resolved workspace metadata (workspace_name, workspace_type, workspace_tenant_id, workspace_slug).

Relevant code on main: src/basic_memory/mcp/tools/project_management.py:307-339:

# --- Factory mode (cloud app) ---
# Trigger: set_client_factory() was called (e.g., basic-memory-cloud)
# Why: there is no local ASGI server; the factory IS the cloud source
# Outcome: single fetch, projects reported as source="cloud" with workspace metadata
if is_factory_mode():
    ...

Cloud-hosted basic-memory will pick this up on its next deploy. Closing as fixed; please reopen if you still see source: "local" from cloud.basicmemory.com/mcp after that rolls out.