> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL.
> For a complete documentation index, see https://help.getzep.com/llms.txt.
> For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://help.getzep.com/_mcp/server.

# Working with Context

> Use the Zep context lifecycle for enterprise context graphs, agent memory, and customer or account context.

Zep turns business data, documents, JSON, and conversations into temporal Context Graphs of entities, relationships, facts, and source episodes. An application can then retrieve selected graph data as context for a task.

Work through the stages in order, or jump to the one you need.

| Stage               | What you do                                                                                                            | Start here                              |
| ------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------- |
| **Ingest**          | Add conversations, business data, documents, or JSON to the correct user or shared Context Graph                       | [Ingest](/adding-context)               |
| **Shape the Graph** | Customize extraction — ontology, domain terminology, summaries, and observations                                       | [Shape the Graph](/customizing-context) |
| **Retrieve**        | Search a graph or assemble facts, entities, summaries, and other context types                                         | [Retrieve](/assembling-context)         |
| **Govern**          | Control which callers can retrieve each graph and source, trace facts to source episodes, and review recorded activity | [Governance](/governance)               |

Ingest and Retrieve are required for each implementation. Zep extracts
entities, relationships, and summaries automatically. Shape the graph when the
domain needs a specific ontology, terminology, or summary configuration. Apply
governance before an application retrieves production context.

Graph search is part of the Retrieve stage. Graph reads and CRUD are also documented under Working with Graphs, starting with [searching the graph](/searching-the-graph).

The graph scope remains part of the application design. User graphs support user and thread workflows. Shared Context Graphs addressed with `graph_id` support customer, account, project, product, and business-domain context.