> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.mengram.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Capture Policy

> Set a server-side boundary on what your AI is allowed to remember — enforced before anything is stored, not a prompt asking the model to behave.

Most memory products decide what to keep by asking the model nicely. A capture policy is different: it's a **deterministic, server-side boundary** applied *before* any extracted memory is persisted. Facts, episodes, and procedures that match a deny rule are dropped — never written to storage, never embedded, never surfaced later.

Use it to keep whole categories of sensitive information (health, legal, financial…) out of long-term memory, block specific words or phrases, or restrict which sources are allowed to write at all.

<Note>
  The policy runs in the extraction pipeline, not in the LLM prompt. It cannot be talked around, and its behavior is identical for the same input every time.
</Note>

## How it works

Every `add` goes through the boundary in two stages:

1. **Source gate** — if `allow_sources` is set, an add is only accepted when its `metadata.source` is on the list; an add whose source is in `deny_sources` is skipped entirely (nothing from that add is stored).
2. **Content deny** — the enabled category packs and your custom `deny_keywords` are compiled into one lowercased keyword list. Each extracted fact, episode, and procedure is matched case-insensitively; any that contain a denied keyword as a substring are dropped, the rest are kept.

An empty policy (the default) captures everything.

## Fields

| Field             | Type       | Effect                                                                                       |
| ----------------- | ---------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `deny_categories` | `string[]` | Enable one or more built-in packs (below). Everything matching a pack's keywords is dropped. |
| `deny_keywords`   | `string[]` | Custom words or phrases to never store. Multi-word phrases work (`"project atlas"`).         |
| `deny_sources`    | `string[]` | Adds with `metadata.source` in this list are skipped entirely.                               |
| `allow_sources`   | `string[]` | If set, **only** adds whose `metadata.source` is in this list are accepted.                  |

## Built-in category packs

| Category        | Blocks memory about…                                                   |
| --------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `health`        | diagnoses, medications, symptoms, therapy, mental-health conditions    |
| `legal`         | lawsuits, litigation, attorneys, settlements, criminal charges         |
| `financial`     | bank/account/card numbers, SSN, salary, tax returns, wire transfers    |
| `credentials`   | passwords, API keys, tokens, private/SSH keys, seed phrases, OTP codes |
| `location`      | home/street address, zip code, GPS coordinates                         |
| `relationships` | spouse/partner, divorce, custody, children, family conflict            |

<Note>
  `credentials` is a belt-and-suspenders layer. Secrets are already redacted on import (client-side) and again server-side in extraction — enabling this pack additionally drops any *fact* that mentions a credential, not just the secret value.
</Note>

The current list of category keys is always returned by `GET /v1/capture-policy` under `available_categories`, so you never have to hardcode it.

## Read the current policy

```bash theme={null}
curl https://mengram.io/v1/capture-policy \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer om-..."
```

```json theme={null}
{
  "capture_policy": {
    "deny_categories": ["health", "credentials"]
  },
  "available_categories": [
    "health", "legal", "financial",
    "credentials", "location", "relationships"
  ]
}
```

## Set the policy

`PUT` replaces the stored policy. Send only the fields you want; omitted or empty fields are cleared.

```bash theme={null}
curl -X PUT https://mengram.io/v1/capture-policy \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer om-..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "deny_categories": ["health", "financial", "credentials"],
    "deny_keywords": ["project atlas", "acquisition"],
    "allow_sources": ["claude-code", "cursor"]
  }'
```

```json theme={null}
{
  "status": "saved",
  "capture_policy": {
    "deny_categories": ["health", "financial", "credentials"],
    "deny_keywords": ["project atlas", "acquisition"],
    "allow_sources": ["claude-code", "cursor"]
  }
}
```

An unknown category returns `400` with the list of valid categories.

## Notes

* The policy is per **account** and applies to every `add`, from every SDK, integration, and MCP client.
* It affects **new** captures only — it does not retroactively remove memories stored before the rule existed.
* Dropped items are silently omitted from extraction results; the add still succeeds for anything that passes.
* You can also manage the policy visually from the **Capture Policy** section of the [dashboard](https://mengram.io/dashboard).