Cortex-Inara/documentation/ARCH__AE_INTEGRATION.md

Aether Platform Integration — Cortex Tool Layer

Last updated: 2026-04-30 Status: Active development — Journal toolset being expanded

This doc covers how Cortex/Inara integrates with the Aether Platform API, what's implemented, what the data model looks like, and what's planned next.

---

Overview

Cortex connects to the Aether Platform V3 API to give the orchestrator read/write access to the user's knowledge base (Journals) and task data. Auth uses the same x-aether-api-key + x-account-id headers as every other Aether client.

Config lives in .env:

AE_API_URL=https://dev-api.oneskyit.com
AE_API_KEY=...
AE_ACCOUNT_ID=...
AE_API_TIMEOUT=15

Tool implementation: cortex/tools/ae_knowledge.py Tool registrations: cortex/tools/__init__.py

---

V3 Search Engine

Endpoint

POST /v3/crud/{obj_type}/search

For nested objects (journal_entry scoped to a journal):

POST /v3/crud/journal_entry/search
  ?for_obj_type=journal&for_obj_id={journal_id}

Search body

{
  "query_string": "fulltext search term",
  "and": [
    { "field": "tags",       "op": "icontains", "value": "networking" },
    { "field": "created_on", "op": "gte",        "value": "2026-01-01" }
  ],
  "or": [...],
  "page_size": 20,
  "page": 1,
  "order_by": "-updated_on"
}

query_string vs and_filters on default_qry_str:

• query_string → triggers MATCH(default_qry_str) AGAINST(... IN BOOLEAN MODE) — uses the FULLTEXT index. Faster and supports boolean operators (+word, -word, "phrase").
• and_filters with icontains on default_qry_str → plain LIKE '%term%'. Slower, no index. The current implementation uses this; should be migrated to query_string.

Supported operators

Operator	SQL	Notes
eq	=	exact match
ne	!=	not equal
gt / gte	> / >=	numeric, dates
lt / lte	< / <=	numeric, dates
contains / icontains	LIKE '%v%'	substring; both case-insensitive on MariaDB
startswith / istartswith	LIKE 'v%'
endswith / iendswith	LIKE '%v'
like	LIKE	raw LIKE pattern
in	IN (...)	value is a list
is_null / is_not_null	IS NULL / IS NOT NULL	no value needed

Sorting

order_by accepts any indexed field name. Prefix with - for descending:

• -updated_on (default for listing)
• -created_on
• name
• -priority

Pagination

page_size (default 10, max ~100) + page (1-based). Response includes total count for pagination UI.

---

journal_entry Schema

Full table schema from ae_describe journal_entry --detailed:

Field	Type	Indexed	Notes
id_random	varchar(22)	UNI	Public ID — use for all API calls
journal_id	int	MUL	FK — use for_obj_id param in search
name	varchar(250)	MUL	Entry title
short_name	varchar(25)
summary	text		Short summary (1–2 sentences)
content	text		Full markdown content
content_html	text		HTML version
content_json	longtext		Structured content (editor format)
content_encrypted	longtext		Optional encrypted content
tags	varchar(255)	MUL	Comma-separated string — filter with icontains
type / type_code	varchar		Classification: type
topic / topic_code	varchar		Classification: topic
activity / activity_code	varchar		Classification: activity
category_code	varchar(25)		Classification: category
code	varchar(20)		Short entry code
start_datetime	datetime	MUL	Optional event start
end_datetime	datetime		Optional event end
seconds / hours	int/decimal		Duration
priority	tinyint	MUL	1=low → 5=high
status	int	MUL	Status code (domain-specific)
private / public / personal / professional	tinyint	MUL	Visibility flags
billable	tinyint		Billing flag
enable	tinyint NOT NULL	MUL	Soft-delete flag (default 1)
hide	tinyint	MUL	UI hide flag
archive	tinyint	MUL	Archived flag
default_qry_str	text	FULLTEXT	Auto-generated search target (name + content)
data_json	longtext		Arbitrary structured data
notes	text		Internal notes
created_on	timestamp NOT NULL	MUL	Auto-set on create
updated_on	timestamp	MUL	Auto-updated on change

journal Schema (top-level)

Field	Type	Notes
id_random	varchar(22)	Public ID
name	varchar(250)	Journal name
summary / description	text
type_code	varchar(25)	Journal type
enable	tinyint
created_on / updated_on	timestamp

---

Current Tool Inventory

Tool	Status	Notes
ae_journal_list	✅	Lists journals with id + name
ae_journal_search	✅ improved	Keyword search; switched to fulltext in next pass
ae_journal_entry_read	✅	Full content by entry_id; configurable truncation
ae_journal_entries_list	✅	Browse a journal newest-first; paginated
ae_journal_entry_create	✅	Create with title, content, tags, summary
ae_journal_entry_update	✅	Patch any fields (title, content, tags, summary, enable)
ae_journal_entry_disable	✅	Soft-delete (enable=false)
ae_journal_entry_append	✅	Timestamped append to bottom
ae_journal_entry_prepend	✅	Timestamped prepend to top
ae_task_list	✅	agents_sync Kanban (admin only)

---

Planned: Search Improvements

Current search uses plain LIKE on default_qry_str. Migration plan:

1. Switch to query_string — fulltext MATCH/AGAINST; supports boolean operators
2. Tag filter — icontains on tags field
3. Date range — gte/lte on created_on or updated_on
4. Classification filters — type_code, topic_code, category_code (exact match)
5. Sort control — expose order_by (updated, created, name, priority)
6. Status / priority filters — eq on status, priority
7. Combined search — keyword + any filter combination in one call

Target signature:

ae_journal_search(
    query: str = "",         # fulltext (query_string path) — optional
    journal_id: str = "",    # scope to journal
    tags: str = "",          # icontains on tags field
    type_code: str = "",     # eq
    topic_code: str = "",    # eq
    date_from: str = "",     # created_on gte  (YYYY-MM-DD)
    date_to: str = "",       # created_on lte
    sort_by: str = "updated", # updated | created | name | priority
    sort_order: str = "desc",
    status: int | None,
    priority: int | None,
    max_results: int = 10,
    page: int = 1,
)

---

Planned: Broader AE Platform Integration

Phase 1 — Journal Toolset (current)

Complete read/write/search for Journals and Journal Entries.

Phase 2 — Tasks & Projects

• ae_task_create / ae_task_update / ae_task_complete on Aether tasks (not just agents_sync Kanban)
• Read project/task hierarchy

Phase 3 — Knowledge Import Pipeline

• Script to walk markdown dirs, chunk by H2, create Journal entries
• Dedup via search-before-create pattern
• Tag and classify entries automatically via orchestrator

Phase 4 — People & Contacts

• Read contact records (person, organization)
• Link journal entries to contacts

Phase 5 — Calendar / Events

• start_datetime / end_datetime already on journal_entry
• Could expose time-scoped journal queries as a calendar view

---

Notes on tags field

tags is stored as a raw comma-separated varchar(255), not a JSON array. The API accepts a Python list on write (the tags PATCH key takes a list and the backend joins it). On read, it comes back as a list in the API response. For filtering: use icontains on tags — e.g. {"field": "tags", "op": "icontains", "value": "networking"}. This means a tag search for "net" would match "networking" AND "subnet" — acceptable for now. True per-tag filtering would require a tags junction table.

Notes on default_qry_str

Auto-populated by the backend from name + content fields. Do not write to it directly. FULLTEXT index supports boolean mode: +required -excluded "exact phrase". The query_string key in the search body triggers this path automatically.