Side-by-Side Model Context Protocol Comparison
Agent Recall vs Memory Vault
In-depth architectural comparison of the Agent Recall and Memory Vault MCP servers. Compare execution transports, security boundaries, tool capabilities, quality scores, and ready-to-paste client installation snippets for Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and VS Code.
At a Glance & Executive Verdict
Agent Recall
Knowledge & Memory · Local stdio
Quality: 65/100 (Great) | Auth: No auth required
Memory Vault
Knowledge & Memory · Remote HTTP/SSE
Quality: 55/100 (Good) | Auth: No auth required
Verdict Summary: Choose Agent Recall if you need specialized Knowledge & Memory tools running via a local process. Choose Memory Vault if your workspace requires Knowledge & Memory integration with remote web transport. Both servers can be configured concurrently in your client's
mcpServers manifest.Which MCP Server Should You Choose?
Choose Agent Recall when:
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Knowledge & Memory domain.
- You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
- Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).
- Primary tools included: session_start, session_end, remember.
Choose Memory Vault when:
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Knowledge & Memory domain.
- You prefer remote streaming HTTP/SSE transport architecture.
- Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).
- Primary tools included: recall, remember, forget.
Feature & Specification Comparison
Tools & Capabilities Breakdown
Agent Recall Tools (5)
session_start
[ENTRY — call FIRST, before acting] Use when the user asks to start, load, continue, resume, or open memory for a project. Set mode='lite' for a ≤500-token briefing (good for fresh conversations where the agent will pull memory on demand via recall()).
session_end
[ON SAVE/EXIT — YOU must call this; nothing auto-saves] Use when the user asks to save, checkpoint, summarize, end, retain, or persist the current session. Optionally pass close_phase / open_phase to update the project pipeline narrative spine in the same call.
remember
[MID-SESSION WRITE — single fact/decision; saying it is not saving it] Use when the user asks to remember, store, note, or save a specific decision, fact, or insight.
recall
[RETRIEVE — use freely, any time] Use when the user asks to recall, search, find, or look up previous memory, context, or decisions.
check
Ready-to-Paste Client Configurations
Paste either (or both) of these JSON server blocks into your client config file (e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json).
Agent Recall Configuration
Memory Vault Configuration