Remove OpenPanel telemetry

OpenPanel telemetry has been removed due to:
- API returning 400 errors
- Printing to stdout (noisy)
- Hosted version too expensive at scale (500k+ events/month)
- Self-hosted version too complex to maintain

Changes:
- Remove openpanel dependency from pyproject.toml
- Delete telemetry.py module and CLI command
- Remove track_mcp_tool() calls from all 14 MCP tools
- Remove telemetry config fields (telemetry_enabled, telemetry_notice_shown)
- Remove telemetry from CLI app callback and MCP server lifespan
- Update README and docs to remove telemetry documentation
- Delete telemetry tests

The `bm telemetry` command is removed. Users who had telemetry
disabled via config will see no change in behavior.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Signed-off-by: phernandez <paul@basicmachines.co>

Author: phernandez

README.md

@@ -466,39 +466,6 @@ tail -f ~/.basic-memory/basic-memory.log
 BASIC_MEMORY_CLOUD_MODE=true uvicorn basic_memory.api.app:app
 ```
 
-## Telemetry
-
-Basic Memory collects anonymous usage statistics to help improve the software. This follows the [Homebrew model](https://docs.brew.sh/Analytics) - telemetry is on by default with easy opt-out.
-
-**What we collect:**
-- App version, Python version, OS, architecture
-- Feature usage (which MCP tools and CLI commands are used)
-- Error types (sanitized - no file paths or personal data)
-
-**What we NEVER collect:**
-- Note content, file names, or paths
-- Personal information
-- IP addresses
-
-**Opting out:**
-```bash
-# Disable telemetry
-basic-memory telemetry disable
-
-# Check status
-basic-memory telemetry status
-
-# Re-enable
-basic-memory telemetry enable
-```
-
-Or set the environment variable:
-```bash
-export BASIC_MEMORY_TELEMETRY_ENABLED=false
-```
-
-For more details, see the [Telemetry documentation](https://basicmemory.com/telemetry).
-
 ## Development
 
 ### Running Tests

docs/testing-coverage.md

@@ -8,9 +8,8 @@ To keep the default CI signal **stable and meaningful**, the default `pytest` co
 - highly environment-dependent (OS/DB tuning)
 - inherently interactive (CLI)
 - background-task orchestration (watchers/sync runners)
-- external analytics
 
-### What’s excluded (and why)
+### What's excluded (and why)
 
 Coverage excludes are configured in `pyproject.toml` under `[tool.coverage.report].omit`.
 
@@ -19,7 +18,6 @@ Current exclusions include:
 - `src/basic_memory/db.py`: platform/backend tuning paths (SQLite/Postgres/Windows), covered by integration tests and targeted runs.
 - `src/basic_memory/services/initialization.py`: startup orchestration/background tasks; covered indirectly by app/MCP entrypoints.
 - `src/basic_memory/sync/sync_service.py`: heavy filesystem↔DB integration; validated in integration suite (not enforced in unit coverage).
-- `src/basic_memory/telemetry.py`: external analytics; exercised lightly but excluded from strict coverage gate.
 
 ### Recommended additional runs
 

pyproject.toml

@@ -41,7 +41,6 @@ dependencies = [
     "mdformat>=0.7.22",
     "mdformat-gfm>=0.3.7",
     "mdformat-frontmatter>=2.0.8",
-    "openpanel>=0.0.1", # Anonymous usage telemetry (Homebrew-style opt-out)
     "sniffio>=1.3.1",
     "anyio>=4.10.0",
     "httpx>=0.28.0",
@@ -143,6 +142,5 @@ omit = [
     "*/db.py",                     # Backend/runtime-dependent (sqlite/postgres/windows tuning); validated via integration tests
     "*/services/initialization.py", # Startup orchestration + background tasks (watchers); exercised indirectly in entrypoints
     "*/sync/sync_service.py",      # Heavy filesystem/db integration; covered by integration suite, not enforced in unit coverage
-    "*/telemetry.py",              # External analytics; tested lightly, excluded from strict coverage target
     "*/services/migration_service.py", # Complex migration scenarios
 ]

src/basic_memory/cli/app.py

@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@
 
 from basic_memory.cli.container import CliContainer, set_container  # noqa: E402
 from basic_memory.config import init_cli_logging  # noqa: E402
-from basic_memory.telemetry import show_notice_if_needed, track_app_started  # noqa: E402
 
 
 def version_callback(value: bool) -> None:
@@ -47,13 +46,6 @@ def app_callback(
     container = CliContainer.create()
     set_container(container)
 
-    # Show telemetry notice and track CLI startup
-    # Skip for 'mcp' command - it handles its own telemetry in lifespan
-    # Skip for 'telemetry' command - avoid issues when user is managing telemetry
-    if ctx.invoked_subcommand not in {"mcp", "telemetry"}:
-        show_notice_if_needed()
-        track_app_started("cli")
-
     # Run initialization for commands that don't use the API
     # Skip for 'mcp' command - it has its own lifespan that handles initialization
     # Skip for API-using commands (status, sync, etc.) - they handle initialization via deps.py

src/basic_memory/cli/commands/__init__.py

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 """CLI commands for basic-memory."""
 
 from . import status, db, import_memory_json, mcp, import_claude_conversations
-from . import import_claude_projects, import_chatgpt, tool, project, format, telemetry
+from . import import_claude_projects, import_chatgpt, tool, project, format
 
 __all__ = [
     "status",
@@ -14,5 +14,4 @@
     "tool",
     "project",
     "format",
-    "telemetry",
 ]

src/basic_memory/cli/commands/command_utils.py

@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@
 from basic_memory.mcp.tools.utils import call_post, call_get
 from basic_memory.mcp.project_context import get_active_project
 from basic_memory.schemas import ProjectInfoResponse
-from basic_memory.telemetry import shutdown_telemetry
 
 console = Console()
 
@@ -24,8 +23,8 @@
 def run_with_cleanup(coro: Coroutine[Any, Any, T]) -> T:
     """Run an async coroutine with proper database cleanup.
 
-    This helper ensures database connections and telemetry threads are cleaned up
-    before the event loop closes, preventing process hangs in CLI commands.
+    This helper ensures database connections are cleaned up before the
+    event loop closes, preventing process hangs in CLI commands.
 
     Args:
         coro: The coroutine to run
@@ -39,9 +38,6 @@ async def _with_cleanup() -> T:
             return await coro
         finally:
             await db.shutdown_db()
-            # Shutdown telemetry to stop the OpenPanel background thread
-            # This prevents hangs on Python 3.14+ during thread shutdown
-            shutdown_telemetry()
 
     return asyncio.run(_with_cleanup())
 

src/basic_memory/cli/commands/telemetry.py

@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@
     mcp,
     project,
     status,
-    telemetry,
     tool,
 )
 

src/basic_memory/cli/main.py

@@ -221,17 +221,6 @@ class BasicMemoryConfig(BaseSettings):
         description="Cloud project sync configuration mapping project names to their local paths and sync state",
     )
 
-    # Telemetry configuration (Homebrew-style opt-out)
-    telemetry_enabled: bool = Field(
-        default=True,
-        description="Send anonymous usage statistics to help improve Basic Memory. Disable with: bm telemetry disable",
-    )
-
-    telemetry_notice_shown: bool = Field(
-        default=False,
-        description="Whether the one-time telemetry notice has been shown to the user",
-    )
-
     @property
     def is_test_env(self) -> bool:
         """Check if running in a test environment.
@@ -241,7 +230,7 @@ def is_test_env(self) -> bool:
         - BASIC_MEMORY_ENV environment variable is "test"
         - PYTEST_CURRENT_TEST environment variable is set (pytest is running)
 
-        Used to disable features like telemetry and file watchers during tests.
+        Used to disable features like file watchers during tests.
         """
         return (
             self.env == "test"

src/basic_memory/config.py

@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@
 from basic_memory import db
 from basic_memory.mcp.container import McpContainer, set_container
 from basic_memory.services.initialization import initialize_app
-from basic_memory.telemetry import show_notice_if_needed, track_app_started
 
 
 @asynccontextmanager
@@ -19,7 +18,6 @@ async def lifespan(app: FastMCP):
 
     Handles:
     - Database initialization and migrations
-    - Telemetry notice and tracking
     - File sync via SyncCoordinator (if enabled and not in cloud mode)
     - Proper cleanup on shutdown
     """
@@ -30,10 +28,6 @@ async def lifespan(app: FastMCP):
 
     logger.debug(f"Starting Basic Memory MCP server (mode={container.mode.name})")
 
-    # Show telemetry notice (first run only) and track startup
-    show_notice_if_needed()
-    track_app_started("mcp")
-
     # Track if we created the engine (vs test fixtures providing it)
     # This prevents disposing an engine provided by test fixtures when
     # multiple Client connections are made in the same test