Mem0

Mem0

Official

Persistent memory layer for AI agents — auto-summarised, cross-session recall.

Quick answer

What it does

Stores, queries, and updates a managed memory store keyed by user/session. Handles summarisation, deduplication, and expiry behind a small tool surface.

Best for

  • Cross-session agent memory
  • Personalised assistants
  • Customer-context retrieval
  • Long-running coding agents

Not for

  • One-off pipelines
  • Workflows that need raw embedding control

Setup recipe

Pick your client, then follow the three steps.

  1. 1

    Install

    claude_desktop_config.json
    {
      "mcpServers": {
        "mem0": {
          "command": "docker",
          "args": [
            "run",
            "--rm",
            "-i",
            "-e",
            "MEM0_API_KEY",
            "mem0ai/mem0-mcp:latest"
          ],
          "env": {
            "MEM0_API_KEY": "${MEM0_API_KEY}",
            "MEM0_USER_ID": "${MEM0_USER_ID}"
          }
        }
      }
    }

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

    CLI or .mcp.json
    # export MEM0_API_KEY=changeme
    # export MEM0_USER_ID=optional-default-user
    claude mcp add mem0 -- docker run --rm -i -e MEM0_API_KEY mem0ai/mem0-mcp:latest

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

    .cursor/mcp.json
    {
      "mcpServers": {
        "mem0": {
          "command": "docker",
          "args": [
            "run",
            "--rm",
            "-i",
            "-e",
            "MEM0_API_KEY",
            "mem0ai/mem0-mcp:latest"
          ],
          "env": {
            "MEM0_API_KEY": "${MEM0_API_KEY}",
            "MEM0_USER_ID": "${MEM0_USER_ID}"
          }
        }
      }
    }

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

    .vscode/mcp.json
    {
      "servers": {
        "mem0": {
          "command": "docker",
          "args": [
            "run",
            "--rm",
            "-i",
            "-e",
            "MEM0_API_KEY",
            "mem0ai/mem0-mcp:latest"
          ],
          "env": {
            "MEM0_API_KEY": "${MEM0_API_KEY}",
            "MEM0_USER_ID": "${MEM0_USER_ID}"
          }
        }
      }
    }

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

    ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json
    {
      "mcpServers": {
        "mem0": {
          "command": "docker",
          "args": [
            "run",
            "--rm",
            "-i",
            "-e",
            "MEM0_API_KEY",
            "mem0ai/mem0-mcp:latest"
          ],
          "env": {
            "MEM0_API_KEY": "${MEM0_API_KEY}",
            "MEM0_USER_ID": "${MEM0_USER_ID}"
          }
        }
      }
    }

    Open via Cascade → hammer icon → Configure.

    cline_mcp_settings.json
    {
      "mcpServers": {
        "mem0": {
          "command": "docker",
          "args": [
            "run",
            "--rm",
            "-i",
            "-e",
            "MEM0_API_KEY",
            "mem0ai/mem0-mcp:latest"
          ],
          "env": {
            "MEM0_API_KEY": "${MEM0_API_KEY}",
            "MEM0_USER_ID": "${MEM0_USER_ID}"
          }
        }
      }
    }

    Open via the Cline sidebar → MCP Servers → Edit.

    ~/.continue/config.json
    {
      "experimental": {
        "modelContextProtocolServers": [
          {
            "transport": {
              "type": "stdio",
              "command": "docker",
              "args": [
                "run",
                "--rm",
                "-i",
                "-e",
                "MEM0_API_KEY",
                "mem0ai/mem0-mcp:latest"
              ],
              "env": {
                "MEM0_API_KEY": "${MEM0_API_KEY}",
                "MEM0_USER_ID": "${MEM0_USER_ID}"
              }
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    }

    Continue uses modelContextProtocolServers with a transport block.

    ~/.codex/config.toml
    # ~/.codex/config.toml
    [mcp_servers.mem0]
    command = "docker"
    args = [
      "run",
      "--rm",
      "-i",
      "-e",
      "MEM0_API_KEY",
      "mem0ai/mem0-mcp:latest",
    ]
    env = { MEM0_API_KEY = "${MEM0_API_KEY}", MEM0_USER_ID = "${MEM0_USER_ID}" }

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

    ~/.config/zed/settings.json
    {
      "context_servers": {
        "mem0": {
          "command": {
            "path": "docker",
            "args": [
              "run",
              "--rm",
              "-i",
              "-e",
              "MEM0_API_KEY",
              "mem0ai/mem0-mcp:latest"
            ]
          },
          "env": {
            "MEM0_API_KEY": "${MEM0_API_KEY}",
            "MEM0_USER_ID": "${MEM0_USER_ID}"
          }
        }
      }
    }

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

    ChatGPT → Apps directory

    Mem0 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. 2

    Set required secrets

    Set MEM0_API_KEY, MEM0_USER_ID in your shell environment before launching your MCP client.

  3. 3

    Try a minimum working prompt

    Minimum working prompt pending verification. Try any prompt from the MCP’s README once installed.

Tools & permissions

ToolDescriptionArgsSide effects
add_memoryStore a piece of context against a user.content: string, user_id: stringWrite
search_memorySemantically retrieve relevant memories for a user.query: string, user_id: stringRead
list_memoriesList all memories for a user.user_id: stringRead
delete_memoryDelete a specific memory.memory_id: stringWrite

Security & scope

Access scope
Read + write
Sandbox
Cloud mode talks to api.mem0.ai with an API key scoped to one workspace. Self-hosted mode talks to a local server you operate; memories never leave the host.
Gotchas
  • API keys carry full workspace access — rotate on any team change.
  • user_id must be set per-conversation; without it, memories pool into a shared bucket and leak across users.
  • Mem0 stores embeddings of your raw turns — review your privacy contract before sending PII into it.

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. ai & machine learning 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-ai-machine-learning
Compare Mem0 against a real alternative. Swap the second MCP in [brackets] if you want a different match.
Compare Mem0 MCP vs [Chroma 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/mem0
- top-mcps.com listing for Chroma
Asks the agent to install and verify. Works inside Claude Code, Cursor Agent, Codex CLI.
Install the Mem0 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/mem0 (fetch https://top-mcps.com/mcp/mem0.json for the canonical server.json if you can read URLs).

Before finishing:
1. Create the required secrets (MEM0_API_KEY, MEM0_USER_ID) 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.
  1. Refreshed install snippets and fact sheet; verified for 2026.

  2. Initial directory listing.

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