Best for
- Developers using Claude Code or Codex CLI long-term
- Teams needing searchable, auditable, project-scoped memory
- Users who want data to stay local (SQLite/SQLCipher)
R
Remem MCP Server
Community
Local-first persistent memory for coding agents: automatic capture, distillation, and recall.
GitHub source repository ↗
66FMRS · C
A mature, audit-oriented local memory system for coding agents: one Rust binary spanning hooks, MCP, CLI, and REST. Strengths are auditable recall, project scoping, and governance. Cursor support remains partial, and performance claims are labeled directional rather than public. Best for heavy agent users who value data locality and traceability.
remem is a single Rust binary providing local-first persistent memory for Claude Code and OpenAI Codex / Codex CLI. Through hooks, an MCP server, CLI, and a localhost REST API, it injects relevant project memory at session start and summarizes decisions, bug-fix rationale, project patterns, and preferences in the background at session stop. Data lives in local SQLite with optional SQLCipher encryption — no external database or hosted service. Retrieval uses multi-channel Reciprocal Rank Fusion combining FTS5 BM25, an entity index, temporal semantics, LIKE fallback, and trusted graph expansion, with CJK segmentation and Chinese-English synonym support. It also provides auditable recall (remem why), suppression/feedback governance, token usage and cost reporting, and user-context governance.
Tools
search
Search project memories with fused full-text and vector retrieval; supports branch, type, and multi-hop filters.
get_observations
Retrieve observations grouped by host, project, and session.
save_memory
Explicitly save a memory to the local store.
workstreams
View the ongoing state of project workstreams.
timeline
Browse memories and events on a timeline.
search_raw
Search the raw session transcript archive with time-window pagination, returning the same JSON envelope as the CLI raw search.
Setup
1) Install the remem binary via Homebrew (brew install majiayu000/tap/remem), npm (npm install -g @remem-ai/remem), Cargo (cargo install remem-ai --bin remem), the install script, or from source (codesign required on macOS ARM). 2) Run remem install --target claude / codex / all (use --target cursor for Cursor on macOS/Linux). 3) Restart the agent, then verify with remem status and remem search; use remem install --target claude --repair for hook issues and remem doctor for troubleshooting.
Fit and risk
Not for
- Cursor users (v1 lacks session-init injection and automatic capture)
- Anyone needing hosted or team-shared memory services
- Users wanting a zero-install, no-local-binary solution
Required permissions
- Reads/writes the ~/.remem/ data directory and encrypted database
- Modifies Claude Code / Codex / Cursor config files to register hooks and the MCP server
- Calls the configured LLM API in the background for summarization and distillation (incur token costs)
- Optional local REST API binds only to 127.0.0.1 and requires Bearer token auth
Risks and side effects
- Background memory summarization via external LLMs incurs ongoing token costs
- Cursor integration is v1: automatic capture and session-init are not enabled, and config updates are not cross-file atomic
- Stores project and user context; accidental secret-like content relies on built-in redaction scans and suppression tooling
- Command enforcement (block mode) is Claude Code only; explicitly unsupported on Codex
Troubleshooting
- Run remem doctor to check schema, key, database, and per-host hooks/MCP status
- Run remem install --target claude --repair on Claude Hook Integrity Warning
- If multiple remem binaries appear on PATH, follow the doctor's install-path fix
- Rerun remem install after replacing the binary so hooks pick up current settings
- Verify SessionStart hook commands in ~/.claude/settings. and ~/.codex/hooks.
Use cases
Automatically recalling last session's decisions, bug root causes, and TODOs
Searchable, auditable engineering memory replacing hand-maintained MEMORY.md/CLAUDE.md
One shared memory store across hooks, MCP, CLI, and REST
Tracking token usage and background memory-AI cost
Supported clients
Claude CodeFull support
OpenAI Codex CLIFull support
CursorPartial support