Central Intelligence vs Cognee
A side-by-side look at the Central Intelligence and Cognee MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Central Intelligence for knowledge & memory work as a local process; choose Cognee for knowledge & memory. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Central Intelligence when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Knowledge & Memory domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- Its auth model fits you: API key required.
- You have the keys it needs:
CI_API_KEY.
Choose Cognee when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Knowledge & Memory domain.
- Its auth model fits you: No auth required.
- You have the keys it needs:
LLM_API_KEY.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Knowledge & Memory | Knowledge & Memory |
| Quality signal | 51/100 · Good | 48/100 · Fair |
| Install command | Confirmed | Not confirmed yet |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | — |
| Auth | API key required | No auth required |
| Pricing | Freemium | Free |
| Required env vars | CI_API_KEY | LLM_API_KEY |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 3 | 32,581 |
| Directory activity | 3 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 5 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | Not listed | Not listed |
| Full listing | View Central Intelligence | View Cognee |
Tools & capabilities
Central Intelligence tools
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
Cognee tools
No tool names declared yet. Check the project README from the listing page.
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
Central Intelligence
{
"mcpServers": {
"alekseimarchenko-central-intelligence": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"central-intelligence-local"
],
"env": {
"CI_API_KEY": "YOUR_CI_API_KEY_HERE"
}
}
}
}
Cognee
No confirmed install command for Cognee yet — follow the setup steps linked from its listing page rather than a guessed package name.