Engram MCP vs Memory Vault

In-depth architectural comparison of the Engram MCP 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.

Which MCP Server Should You Choose?

Choose Engram MCP 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).
• You have access to required keys: ENGRAM_DB, ENGRAM_EMBEDDING_URL.
• Primary tools included: remember, recall, search.

Explore Engram MCP Details

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.

Explore Memory Vault Details

Feature & Specification Comparison

Specification	Engram MCP Cartisien Knowledge & Memory	Memory Vault Knowledge & Memory
Summary	Persistent semantic memory for AI agents. SQLite-backed, local-first, zero config. Semantic search via Ollama embeddings (nomic-embed-text) with keyword fallback. remember, recall, history, forget, and stats tools. Works with Claude Desktop, Cursor, and any MCP client.	Local-first AI memory layer with hybrid search. Postgres + pgvector. Self-hosted, MIT.
Category & Scope	Knowledge & Memory

Tools & Capabilities Breakdown

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).

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cartisien-engram-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@cartisien/engram-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "ENGRAM_DB": "YOUR_ENGRAM_DB_HERE",
        "ENGRAM_EMBEDDING_URL": "YOUR_ENGRAM_EMBEDDING_URL_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "memory-vault": {
      "url": "http://192.168.1.50:8000/api/mcp/sse"
    }
  }
}

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