Where does the memory actually live?

In plain Markdown files in a local folder (default ~/basic-memory). You can open, edit, and git-version them directly, or point Basic Memory at an existing Obsidian vault.

How is it different from the official Memory MCP?

The official Memory server stores a knowledge graph in a JSONL file the human rarely opens. Basic Memory stores human-readable Markdown notes and derives the graph from their links — the store and your notes are the same files.

Does anything leave my machine?

No, by default. Basic Memory is local-first; cloud sync is an explicit opt-in. With no cloud configured, all reads and writes stay on disk.

Basic Memory

Name: Top MCPs — curated MCP directory
Creator: Top MCPs
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Local-first agent memory as plain Markdown — a semantic knowledge graph you and the agent can both read.

Score 81(?)Basic MachinesAGPL-3.0 3.3kVerified Jun 22, 2026Top MCPs for Agent Orchestration →

Install View on GitHub

Quick answer

What it does

Reads and writes Markdown notes in a local project folder, builds a link-based semantic graph over them, and serves relevant context back to the agent via search and graph-traversal tools.

Best for

Local-first agent memory
Obsidian vault read/write from an agent
Inspectable, git-versionable memory
Cross-session project recall

Not for

Multi-tenant SaaS memory at scale
Billion-scale vector retrieval

Setup recipe

Pick your client, then follow the three steps.

Install

claude_desktop_config.jsonjson

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "basic-memory": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "basic-memory",
        "mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "BASIC_MEMORY_PROJECT": "${BASIC_MEMORY_PROJECT}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Paste under mcpServers. Fully quit and reopen Claude after editing.

CLI or .mcp.jsonshell

# export BASIC_MEMORY_PROJECT=optional-project-name
claude mcp add basic-memory -- uvx basic-memory mcp

Run from your repo. Commit .mcp.json to share with your team.

.cursor/mcp.jsonjson

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "basic-memory": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "basic-memory",
        "mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "BASIC_MEMORY_PROJECT": "${BASIC_MEMORY_PROJECT}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Global path: ~/.cursor/mcp.json. Reload window after editing.

.vscode/mcp.jsonjsonc

{
  "servers": {
    "basic-memory": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "basic-memory",
        "mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "BASIC_MEMORY_PROJECT": "${BASIC_MEMORY_PROJECT}"
      }
    }
  }
}

VS Code uses the "servers" key (not "mcpServers").

~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.jsonjson

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "basic-memory": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "basic-memory",
        "mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "BASIC_MEMORY_PROJECT": "${BASIC_MEMORY_PROJECT}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Open via Cascade → hammer icon → Configure.

cline_mcp_settings.jsonjson

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "basic-memory": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "basic-memory",
        "mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "BASIC_MEMORY_PROJECT": "${BASIC_MEMORY_PROJECT}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Open via the Cline sidebar → MCP Servers → Edit.

~/.continue/config.jsonjson

{
  "experimental": {
    "modelContextProtocolServers": [
      {
        "transport": {
          "type": "stdio",
          "command": "uvx",
          "args": [
            "basic-memory",
            "mcp"
          ],
          "env": {
            "BASIC_MEMORY_PROJECT": "${BASIC_MEMORY_PROJECT}"
          }
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Continue uses modelContextProtocolServers with a transport block.

~/.codex/config.tomlshell

# ~/.codex/config.toml
[mcp_servers.basic-memory]
command = "uvx"
args = [
  "basic-memory",
  "mcp",
]
env = { BASIC_MEMORY_PROJECT = "${BASIC_MEMORY_PROJECT}" }

Codex uses TOML. Each server is a [mcp_servers.<name>] subtable.

~/.config/zed/settings.jsonjsonc

{
  "context_servers": {
    "basic-memory": {
      "command": {
        "path": "uvx",
        "args": [
          "basic-memory",
          "mcp"
        ]
      },
      "env": {
        "BASIC_MEMORY_PROJECT": "${BASIC_MEMORY_PROJECT}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Zed calls them "context_servers". Settings live-reload on save.

ChatGPT → Apps directorynone

Basic Memory doesn't ship a hosted HTTPS endpoint today. ChatGPT supports remote MCP servers only — to use this server in ChatGPT you'll need to deploy it to a public HTTPS URL first (e.g. via Cloudflare Workers or Vercel) or wait for an official remote build.

2
Set required secrets
Set BASIC_MEMORY_PROJECT in your shell environment before launching your MCP client.
3
Try a minimum working prompt
Minimum working prompt pending verification. Try any prompt from the MCP’s README once installed.

Tools & permissions

Tool	Description	Args	Side effects
`write_note`	Create or update a Markdown note in the knowledge base.	title: string, content: string	Write
`read_note`	Read a note by title or path.	identifier: string	Read
`search`	Full-text and semantic search across notes.	query: string	Read
`build_context`	Traverse the note graph to assemble relevant context for a topic.	url: string	Read
`recent_activity`	List recently created or edited notes.	—	Read

Security & scope

Access scope: Read + write
Sandbox: Reads and writes Markdown files inside the configured project directory. No outbound network calls unless cloud sync is explicitly enabled.
Gotchas: Tools can delete and overwrite notes — point it at a dedicated folder, not your whole home directory.
AGPL-3.0 is copyleft; review it before bundling Basic Memory into a distributed product.
A misconfigured project path can let the agent write outside the intended vault — set BASIC_MEMORY_PROJECT explicitly.

Agent prompt pack

— copy into Claude, Cursor, or ChatGPT.

Paste into Claude, Cursor, or ChatGPT. Edit the [brackets] before sending.

Recommend the best MCP servers for [task: e.g. agent orchestration work] in [client: Claude].

Constraints:
- Prefer tools that are [official | open-source | read-only] — pick what matters for my use case.
- Exclude MCPs that require [e.g. a paid plan, OAuth-only flows, remote-only transport].
- Return at most 3 picks, ranked.

For each pick include:
1. One-sentence rationale.
2. The ready-to-paste install snippet for my client.
3. Any required secrets I need to create before installing.

Cross-check the top-mcps.com listing: https://top-mcps.com/top-mcps-for-agent-orchestration

Compare Basic Memory against a real alternative. Swap the second MCP in [brackets] if you want a different match.

Compare Basic Memory MCP vs [Memory MCP] for the following job: [describe the job, e.g. "let an agent create GitHub issues on bug triage"].

Judge them on:
- Setup time and complexity (what a new user hits first).
- Auth model (none / API key / OAuth 2.1) and credential risk.
- Transport (stdio / Streamable HTTP / SSE) and where the server runs.
- Required secrets and the blast radius if they leak.
- Operational risk in an unattended agent loop.
- Which one is "good enough" for a weekend prototype vs. production.

End with one sentence: which should I pick for my scenario, which is: [my scenario].

References:
- https://top-mcps.com/mcp/basic-memory
- top-mcps.com listing for Memory

Asks the agent to install and verify. Works inside Claude Code, Cursor Agent, Codex CLI.

Install the Basic Memory MCP server for my [client: Claude] at the default config path for that client.

Use the exact install snippet published at https://top-mcps.com/mcp/basic-memory (fetch https://top-mcps.com/mcp/basic-memory.json for the canonical server.json if you can read URLs).

Before finishing:
1. Create the required secrets (BASIC_MEMORY_PROJECT) and put them in the appropriate env block — do not hard-code them.
2. Restart or reload the client so it picks up the new server.
3. Verify the server is connected (green / running state) and at least one tool is listed.
4. If anything fails, read the client's MCP logs and report the exact error — do not silently retry.

Confirm when done and list the tools the server now exposes.

Frequently asked questions

What changed

— 2 updates tracked.

Jun 22, 2026
Refreshed install snippets and fact sheet; verified for 2026.
Mar 1, 2025
Initial directory listing.

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Compared with Basic Memory

Side-by-side breakdowns for the choices people most often weigh against this MCP.

Basic MemoryvsMemory Basic MemoryvsMem0 Basic MemoryvsContext Forge

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