A side-by-side look at the Iai Personal Memory Engine and Sequential Thinking MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Iai Personal Memory Engine for knowledge & memory work; choose Sequential Thinking for knowledge & memory as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
memory_recall, memory_temporal_recall, memory_recall_structural.create_entities, create_relations, add_observations.Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Knowledge & Memory | Knowledge & Memory |
| Quality signal | 60/100 · Good | 90/100 · Excellent |
| Install command | Not confirmed yet | Confirmed |
| Transport | — | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | No auth required | No auth required |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Required env vars | None listed | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Verified |
| GitHub stars | 912 | 91,405 |
| Directory activity | 3 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 4 views 3 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 9 | 9 |
| Full listing | View Iai Personal Memory Engine | View Sequential Thinking |
memory_recallCue-based recall — returns hits **and anti-hits**: memories that *contradict* the cue surface next to the ones that match, so a stale fact can't masquerade as current.memory_temporal_recallTime-anchored recall — *"what did I say about pricing in May?"*memory_recall_structuralRetrieve by the *shape* of a memory (the HD substrate), not just its embedding.memory_searchPlain text search over the store.memory_captureWrite a memory explicitly (ambient capture normally does this for you).memory_contradictRecord that a fact changed. The old version is archived, not erased — both stay retrievable. That's the Rescue@10 and historical-verbatim story in the [benchmarks](#benchmarks).memory_reinforceStrengthen a memory's recall pathways.memory_consolidateRun a consolidation pass now instead of waiting for idle.profile_get_setThe eleven sealed procedural knobs the engine learns about you.create_entitiesCreate multiple new entities in the knowledge graphcreate_relationsCreate multiple new relations between entities in the knowledge graph. Relations should be in active voiceadd_observationsAdd new observations to existing entities in the knowledge graphdelete_entitiesDelete multiple entities and their associated relations from the knowledge graphdelete_observationsDelete specific observations from entities in the knowledge graphdelete_relationsDelete multiple relations from the knowledge graphread_graphRead the entire knowledge graphsearch_nodesSearch for nodes in the knowledge graph based on a queryopen_nodesOpen specific nodes in the knowledge graph by their namesPaste 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.
No confirmed install command for Iai Personal Memory Engine yet — follow the setup steps linked from its listing page rather than a guessed package name.
{
"mcpServers": {
"sequential-thinking": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@modelcontextprotocol/server-memory"
]
}
}
}