cortex/autonomy/tools/orchestrator.py

@@ -28,12 +28,15 @@ class ToolOrchestrator:
         tools = {}
 
         # Import tool modules as they become available
+        if os.getenv("NEOMEM_ENABLED", "false").lower() == "true":
             try:
                 from memory.neomem_client import search_neomem
                 tools["RAG"] = search_neomem
                 logger.debug("[ORCHESTRATOR] RAG tool available")
             except ImportError:
                 logger.debug("[ORCHESTRATOR] RAG tool not available")
+        else:
+            logger.info("[ORCHESTRATOR] NEOMEM_ENABLED is false; RAG tool disabled")
 
         try:
             from integrations.web_search import web_search

cortex/context.py

@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ from neomem_client import NeoMemClient
 # Configuration
 # -----------------------------
 NEOMEM_API = os.getenv("NEOMEM_API", "http://neomem-api:8000")
+NEOMEM_ENABLED = os.getenv("NEOMEM_ENABLED", "false").lower() == "true"
 RELEVANCE_THRESHOLD = float(os.getenv("RELEVANCE_THRESHOLD", "0.4"))
 VERBOSE_DEBUG = os.getenv("VERBOSE_DEBUG", "false").lower() == "true"
 
@@ -148,6 +149,10 @@ async def _search_neomem(
     Returns:
         List of memory objects with full structure, or empty list on failure
     """
+    if not NEOMEM_ENABLED:
+        logger.info("NeoMem search skipped (NEOMEM_ENABLED is false)")
+        return []
+
     try:
         # NeoMemClient reads NEOMEM_API from environment, no base_url parameter
         client = NeoMemClient()
@@ -259,11 +264,15 @@ async def collect_context(session_id: str, user_prompt: str) -> Dict[str, Any]:
         logger.debug(json.dumps(intake_data, indent=2, default=str))
 
     # D. Search NeoMem for relevant memories
+    if NEOMEM_ENABLED:
         rag_results = await _search_neomem(
             query=user_prompt,
             user_id="brian",  # TODO: Make configurable per session
             limit=5
         )
+    else:
+        rag_results = []
+        logger.info("Skipping NeoMem RAG retrieval; NEOMEM_ENABLED is false")
 
     if VERBOSE_DEBUG:
         logger.debug(f"[COLLECT_CONTEXT] NeoMem search returned {len(rag_results)} results")