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Overview

The foundation endpoint retrieves all guidelines tagged as foundational. These are core principles and constitutional rules that should govern the AI assistant’s behavior across all sessions and projects.

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Endpoint

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method
string
GET
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path
string
/api/memory/foundation
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authentication
string
API Key required

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Query Parameters

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project
string
Project identifier to include project-specific foundational guidelines (e.g., org/repo). When provided, fetches both global and project-scoped foundation guidelines.

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Response

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success
boolean
Indicates if the operation was successful
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guidelines
array
Array of foundational guideline documents
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guidelines[].memory_id
string
Unique document ID
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guidelines[].content
string
Full guideline text
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guidelines[].category
string
Document category (always guidelines for foundation guidelines)
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guidelines[].source_ref
string
Source reference (e.g., foundation:constitution, project:org/repo)
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guidelines[].tags
array
Array of tags. Foundation guidelines have foundation or constitution tag.
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count
integer
Total number of foundation guidelines returned

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Foundation Detection

A guideline is considered foundational when it meets ANY of these criteria:
  1. Tags: Contains foundation or constitution tag (case-insensitive)
  2. Source Reference: source_ref starts with foundation:constitution (case-insensitive)
This dual detection ensures guidelines can be marked as foundational through either tagging or source reference.

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Retrieval Behavior

  • Without project parameter: Returns all global foundation guidelines (category=guidelines, foundation tags)
  • With project parameter: Returns both:
    • Global foundation guidelines
    • Project-specific foundation guidelines (source_ref=project:{project})
  • Queries document store directly (no semantic search)
  • Limit: 50 guidelines
curl -X GET "https://api.cems.dev/api/memory/foundation" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

{
  "success": true,
  "guidelines": [
    {
      "memory_id": "mem_abc123",
      "content": "Always prioritize user privacy and data security. Never log sensitive information.",
      "category": "guidelines",
      "source_ref": "foundation:constitution",
      "tags": ["foundation", "security", "privacy"]
    },
    {
      "memory_id": "mem_def456",
      "content": "Write clear, self-documenting code. Prefer readability over cleverness.",
      "category": "guidelines",
      "source_ref": "foundation:constitution",
      "tags": ["constitution", "code-quality"]
    },
    {
      "memory_id": "mem_ghi789",
      "content": "All API endpoints must include rate limiting and authentication.",
      "category": "guidelines",
      "source_ref": "project:acme/webapp",
      "tags": ["foundation", "api", "security"]
    }
  ],
  "count": 3
}

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Use Cases

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Session Initialization

Fetch foundation guidelines at session start to inject core principles into the system prompt: 
const response = await fetch('https://api.cems.dev/api/memory/foundation', {
  headers: { 'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' }
});
const { guidelines } = await response.json();
const principles = guidelines.map(g => g.content).join('\n\n');

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Project-Specific Rules

Retrieve both global and project-specific foundational rules: 
const response = await fetch(
  'https://api.cems.dev/api/memory/foundation?project=acme/webapp',
  { headers: { 'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' } }
);

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Constitution Validation

Verify that an action complies with foundational guidelines before execution.

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