Cognitive Substrate vs Scrivener MCP

In-depth architectural comparison of the Cognitive Substrate and Scrivener MCP 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?

C

Choose Cognitive Substrate 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).

Explore Cognitive Substrate Details

Choose Scrivener 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).
• Primary tools included: Scrivener 3 document access and editing, Deterministic writing analysis, Keyword and offline semantic search.

Explore Scrivener MCP Details

Feature & Specification Comparison

Specification	C Cognitive Substrate Knowledge & Memory	Scrivener MCP writerslogic Knowledge & Memory
Summary	28-layer cognitive substrate with cross-session ToT evolutionary memory and self-telemetry tools	Connect Scrivener 3 writing projects to Claude and other AI assistants. 47 tools for document management, writing analysis, semantic search, character/plot memory, and content enhancement. Progressive skill loading, relationship engine with HMS triplets, and JS fallback for offline semantic search. npm i -g scrivener-mcp
Category & Scope

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": {
    "cognitive-substrate": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-cognitive-substrate"
      ]
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "writerslogic-scrivener-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "scrivener-setup"
      ]
    }
  }
}

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