Control Center

What is Control Center?

Control Center is designed to help both non-technical builders and seasoned developers speed through common steps in a project's lifecycle. It provides quick action buttons for essential development tasks that would normally require command-line expertise or manual setup.

The Control Center recognizes that Memex users come from diverse technical backgrounds. For non-technical users, these actions handle complex setup tasks automatically. For experienced developers, they provide convenient shortcuts to streamline routine operations.

Version Control Setup

One of the most critical best practices in software development is version control, but it's often unfamiliar to non-technical users. Any interactions outside of Memex can irreversibly alter or damage your project, making version control essential for safe iteration.

What it does:

• Initializes Git repository with a single click

• Creates appropriate .gitignore files for your project type

• Makes initial commit with current project state

• Sets up repository for safe experimentation and rollbacks

Why it matters:

• Memex has built-in checkpoints, but they only work within Memex

• Version control protects against changes made outside Memex

• Essential safety net for any serious development project

• Industry standard practice for all software development

How to use:

Note: Memex is programmed to initialize version control and commit changes often on its own. The following steps are in case you want to prompt it do it at specific times.

1. Click "Setup Version Control" or "Commit Changes" in Control Center, depending on your project stage.

   1. Memex generates a prompt for you that you can run to start the process.

2. Memex analyzes your project type and creates appropriate .gitignore

3. All current files are committed as your project baseline

4. You can now safely iterate with full change history

Application Management

Memex is a general-purpose builder that can create any type of application—web apps, APIs, desktop tools, data pipelines, and more. Creating a universal system to start and stop any type of application is complex, but this is our first version and we're continuously improving it. Our goal is to make these traditionally difficult tasks easy and accessible for all users.

What it does:

• Analyzes your project to understand its structure and requirements

• Creates custom startup scripts tailored to your specific application

• Provides simple start/stop controls for any project type

• Handles complex dependency and environment management

Why it's powerful:

• No need to remember complex command sequences

• Works with any technology stack or application type

• Handles environment activation and dependency loading

• Creates reliable, repeatable startup process

How to use:

1. Click "Start Application" in Control Center, and then "View" once it's up and running.

2. Memex analyzes project structure and creates startup script

3. Application launches with proper environment and dependencies

4. Use "Stop Application" to safely terminate when finished, or use "View logs", "Attach to Chat" or "Restart", as needed.

Depending on your project type, you may also see a "View Application" button that opens your running app directly in your browser or appropriate viewer.

When you're actively building, Memex will usually generate a start script automatically. However, if it doesn't, you'll see a "Create Start Script" button that will analyze your project and create the appropriate startup process.

We design these features to work with every technology stack and project type, but there may inevitably be some configurations where it doesn't work perfectly. When this happens, Memex will provide guidance on manual startup procedures.

Example project types handled:

• Next.js websites: Handles npm install, environment setup, and dev server

• Python APIs: Manages virtual environments and service startup

• Desktop applications: Configures runtime and launches appropriately

• Data pipelines: Sets up processing environments and runs workflows

• Static sites: Builds and serves content appropriately

Documentation Generation

Good documentation is crucial for project maintenance and collaboration, but it's often neglected during active development.

What it does:

• Analyzes your project structure and functionality

• Generates comprehensive README files

• Documents API endpoints, configuration, and usage

• Creates installation and setup instructions

Why it's valuable:

• Essential for team collaboration

• Helps you remember project details later

• Makes projects shareable and maintainable

• Professional standard for software projects

How to use:

1. Click "Generate Documentation" or "Improve README" in Control Center, depending on what stage of your project you are on.

   1. This will generate a prompt that you can use for Memex to perform the required action, which you can update based on your needs.

2. Memex examines your project files and functionality

3. Creates or updates README.md with comprehensive documentation

4. Includes setup, usage, and architectural overview

Interactive Terminal

A breakthrough feature that enables Memex to handle command-line tools that require user interaction—something no other AI coding agent can do.

The Problem with Interactive Tools

Hundreds of software engineering tools are accessed via command line interfaces. Many of these tools interactively ask users questions like:

• "What would you like to name your project?"

• "What's your email address?"

• "Would you prefer TypeScript or JavaScript?"

Other commands start processes that never quit—they're designed to run indefinitely, like development servers or monitoring tools.

Traditional AI agents freeze when encountering these scenarios because they can't handle interactive input the way humans do with keyboards.

The Solution

Memex's Interactive Terminal completely reimagines how AI agents interact with command lines. The agent can:

• Create interactive terminal sessions

• Read responses from command line tools

• Submit "key presses" just like human keyboard interaction

• Handle multi-step interactive installations and configurations

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Practical Benefits

1. Handle Technical Tasks for You When a command line tool needs answers to technical questions, Memex can handle that automatically instead of requiring your intervention.

2. Unlock Previously Unavailable Tools Many development tools were off-limits to AI agents because of interactive requirements. Now Memex can use scaffolding tools, interactive installers, and complex setup wizards.

3. Faster Development Through Scaffolding Instead of building applications entirely from scratch, Memex can use existing framework tools to generate boilerplate code quickly, then customize it to your requirements.

Example: Framework Scaffolding

The traditional approach: Memex builds a React application completely from scratch, writing every component and configuration file manually.

With Interactive Terminal:

1. Memex uses create-vite to scaffold a React application

2. Interactive questions appear: "What framework?" "TypeScript or JavaScript?"

3. Memex answers questions automatically based on your requirements

4. A working application is generated in seconds

5. Memex then customizes it to your specific needs

This results in:

• Faster development: Working apps in minutes instead of hours

• Better reliability: Starting from tested, standard boilerplate

• Professional structure: Following framework best practices

• Fewer credits used: Less generation work required

Terminal sessions are visible directly in the Control Center, showing you high-level details about each active session including the session type, how long it's been running, and current status. You can also pass terminal context to the agent when needed.

Advanced Use Cases

Deployment Tools Interactive terminal enables Memex to use deployment tools that require configuration input:

• Cloud service setup with account configuration

• Container deployment with interactive parameter setup

• CI/CD pipeline configuration with guided setup

Development Environment Setup Handle complex development environment configuration:

• Interactive database setup and configuration

• Multi-step SDK installations with user prompts

• Framework-specific project initialization

Command-Line Applications Build and interact with command-line tools that require ongoing input:

• Interactive data processing tools

• Configuration wizards for complex systems

• Development tools that provide ongoing feedback