# Dreams

Dreams are memory-derived insights. Cortex looks across everything you have saved,
connects weak signals, and surfaces higher-order synthesis, so the system can tell you
what is *emerging*, not just what is already obvious.

## Recall vs dream

Recall answers a question you asked. A dream answers a question you didn't know to ask.

| | Recall | Dream |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Trigger | A query | A consolidation sweep |
| Returns | The relevant memories | Synthesis across many memories |
| Horizon | What you asked about | Patterns, weak signals, long-horizon connections |
| Surface | "Here's what you know" | "Here's what your memory is telling you" |

## How a dream forms

::::steps

##### Look across the graph

Instead of matching one query, a dream scans the namespace for relationships, recurring
themes, and faint but repeated signals.

##### Connect weak signals

Individually unremarkable memories that point the same direction get connected into a
pattern worth surfacing.

##### Synthesize

Cortex distills those patterns into higher-order insight, and the synthesis becomes durable
memory itself, so it compounds.

::::

## Built on consolidation

Dreams ride on the same machinery as the [elastic brain](/concepts/elastic-brain).
Consolidation already folds duplicates, verifies facts, and finds pattern matches; dreams
are the *synthesis* side of that sweep, turning structure into insight.

:::tip
Because a dream becomes memory, tomorrow's recall and tomorrow's dreams are sharper than
today's. Insight compounds.
:::

## Try it

| Surface | How |
| --- | --- |
| App | The dream view in the [Cortex App](/app/overview) |
| MCP | `dream_run` runs consolidation and synthesis (see [Tools](/mcp/tools)) |

## Keep reading

* The hygiene side of the same sweep: [The Elastic Brain](/concepts/elastic-brain).
* How memory drives autonomous work: [Agentic Loops](/loops/overview).