ContextForge MCP — Persistent Memory for Claude, Cursor & Copilot

Give Claude Code, Cursor, and GitHub Copilot persistent memory across sessions via the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Stop re-explaining your project every time.

ContextForge MCP is an open-source MCP server that connects your AI coding assistants to long-term, searchable memory. Decisions, architecture notes, debugging context, and project knowledge stay available across every session — across every tool that supports MCP.

• 🧠 Persistent memory — your AI remembers everything across sessions, days, and weeks
• 🔍 Semantic search — find knowledge by meaning, not keywords
• 🔗 One memory, every tool — Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot, Claude Desktop, Windsurf
• 🐙 Git integration — sync commits and PRs automatically
• ✅ Task tracking — issues, assignments, and project status
• 👥 Team collaboration — share projects and memory with your team
• 🆓 Free tier — get started without a credit card

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Quick Start

1. Install

No install step needed — the setup below runs the server via npx -y contextforge-mcp, which fetches it on demand and keeps it up to date.

Prefer a global install for slightly faster cold starts? npm install -g contextforge-mcp is optional; if you do it, you can drop the npx -y prefix from the commands below.

2. Get your API key

1. Go to contextforge.dev
2. Sign up (free tier available)
3. Settings → API Keys → Generate API Key
4. Copy your key (starts with cf_)

3. Connect to your AI tool

Claude Desktop

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "contextforge": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "contextforge-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "CONTEXTFORGE_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop.

Claude Code (CLI)

claude mcp add contextforge -s user \
  -e CONTEXTFORGE_API_KEY=your-api-key-here \
  -- npx -y contextforge-mcp

Restart Claude Code and run /mcp to verify it's connected.

Cursor

Add to your Cursor MCP settings:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "contextforge": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "contextforge-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "CONTEXTFORGE_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

GitHub Copilot (VS Code)

Add to your Copilot MCP config:

{
  "servers": {
    "contextforge": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "contextforge-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "CONTEXTFORGE_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

4. Initialize your project (required)

Set up your project so your AI editor knows to use ContextForge memory:

npx contextforge-mcp init

By default, init auto-detects which editor your project uses and writes three rule sections:

• Memory rules — route memory questions to ContextForge instead of the built-in file memory
• Session Presence rules — make parallel sessions check for each other at conversation start and before big changes
• Startup Context rules — load a short project summary (overview, open tasks, live sessions) from ContextForge at the start of every conversation

Files written:

• CLAUDE.md for Claude Code (signals: existing CLAUDE.md or .claude/ directory)
• .cursorrules for Cursor (signals: existing .cursorrules or .cursor/ directory)

If no editor is detected, both files are generated.

Without this step, your AI will silently ignore ContextForge for memory queries — even though the MCP is connected — because the built-in auto-memory wins by default.

Override with --editor

Flag	Behavior
--editor=claude	Generate only CLAUDE.md
--editor=cursor	Generate only .cursorrules
--editor=all	Generate both, skip detection

Re-running init is idempotent per section — sections you already have are left untouched; missing ones are appended. Upgrading from an older version? Just re-run npx contextforge-mcp init: it adds the new Startup Context section without touching the rest of your file.

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Available Tools

ContextForge provides tools for Knowledge Management, GitHub Integration, Issue Tracking, and Collaboration.

Knowledge Management

Tool	Description
memory_ingest	Save knowledge to memory
memory_query	Search your knowledge semantically
memory_list_items	List all stored items
memory_delete	Remove specific items
memory_ingest_batch	Save multiple items at once
memory_delete_batch	Delete items by filter

Spaces & Projects

Tool	Description
memory_list_spaces	List your spaces
memory_create_space	Create a new space
memory_delete_space	Delete a space
memory_move_space	Move space to project
memory_list_projects	List your projects
memory_create_project	Create a new project
memory_delete_project	Delete a project
memory_link_project	Link directory to project
memory_unlink_project	Unlink directory
memory_current_project	Show linked project

GitHub Integration

Tool	Description
memory_git_connect	Connect a GitHub repo
memory_git_list	List connected repos
memory_git_activate	Activate/deactivate webhook
memory_git_sync	Import existing history
memory_git_commits	List synced commits
memory_git_prs	List synced PRs
memory_git_disconnect	Disconnect a repo

Issue Tracking

Tool	Description
issues_list	List your issues
issues_create	Create a new issue
issues_start	Mark as in progress
issues_resolve	Mark as resolved
issues_resolve_by_name	Resolve by title
issues_assign	Assign to collaborator
issues_what_next	Get recommendation

Collaboration

Tool	Description
project_share	Share project by email
collaborators_list	List collaborators

Snapshots & Export

Tool	Description
memory_snapshot_create	Create a backup
memory_snapshot_list	List all snapshots
memory_snapshot_restore	Restore from backup
memory_snapshot_delete	Delete a snapshot
memory_export	Export to JSON/MD/CSV
memory_import	Import from file

Utility

Tool	Description
memory_stats	View usage statistics
memory_relate	Link two items
memory_help	Show help

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Session Presence (multi-session coordination)

Running several Claude Code sessions in parallel (worktrees, agent teams)? Each MCP process automatically registers itself as a live session and heartbeats while it runs. On a clean exit the session is removed at once (a detached helper delivers the goodbye even while the host process is being killed); if the process dies hard, the session expires ~10 minutes after its last heartbeat. Three tools let the agent coordinate:

Tool	What it does
session_update	Declare what this session is working on ("working on the auth module")
session_list	See other live sessions in the same project and their focus before touching shared areas (pass all_projects: true for the whole org)
session_end	Explicitly end this session's presence (also automatic on exit)

By default session_list is scoped to the current project — where work actually collides. In a multi-project organization, pass all_projects: true to see every session, or project: "<name-or-id>" to scope elsewhere.

Recommended pattern for your CLAUDE.md: call session_list when a conversation starts; call session_update when starting or switching tasks.

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Natural Language Examples

You don't need to memorize commands — just talk naturally to your AI:

# Knowledge
"Save this: we use PostgreSQL for the main database"
"What database do we use?"
"List my spaces"

# GitHub
"Connect my repo github.com/myuser/myproject"
"What commits did I make today?"
"Show PRs merged this week"

# Issues
"Create an issue: Update the login page design"
"What's pending?"
"What should I work on next?"
"Mark the login issue as done"

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Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Description
CONTEXTFORGE_API_KEY	Yes	Your API key from the dashboard
CONTEXTFORGE_API_URL	No	API endpoint (defaults to production)
CONTEXTFORGE_DEFAULT_SPACE	No	Default space for operations

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How it works

ContextForge MCP is a thin client that translates Model Context Protocol tool calls into authenticated HTTP requests against the ContextForge API. Your knowledge is stored, indexed (semantic embeddings), and retrieved on the server side — the MCP client itself is stateless.

This means:

• No infra to manage — no local databases, no embeddings to run, no vector stores to maintain
• Works everywhere your AI works — same memory across Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot, etc.
• Team collaboration — shared projects sync in real time

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Dashboard

Manage your memory visually at contextforge.dev:

• View and organize your knowledge
• Search and filter memories
• Manage API keys and billing
• Track issues and collaborate
• Export and backup data

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Development

# Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/alfredoizdev/contextforge-mcp.git
cd contextforge-mcp
npm install

# Build
npm run build

# Run tests
npm test

# Watch mode
npm run dev

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Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome at github.com/alfredoizdev/contextforge-mcp.

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Support

• 📖 Documentation
• 🐛 Report Issues
• 💬 Questions: support@contextforge.app

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License

MIT © Alfredo Izquierdo