Engram vs Remembra

In-depth architectural comparison of the Engram and Remembra 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 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: engram_remember, engram_recall, engram_forget.

Explore Engram Details

Choose Remembra when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Knowledge & Memory domain.
• You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: API Key required (Free / Open Source).
• You have access to required keys: REMEMBRA_URL, REMEMBRA_USER_ID, REMEMBRA_ASYNC_ENRICHMENT.
• Primary tools included: Entity resolution and graph-aware memory recall, PII detection and AES-256-GCM encryption at rest, Verbatim source record preservation with metadata linking.

Feature & Specification Comparison

Specification	Engram HBarefoot Knowledge & Memory	Remembra remembra-ai Knowledge & Memory
Summary	Local-first persistent memory for AI agents. SQLite + local embeddings (all-MiniLM-L6-v2), hybrid semantic + FTS5 recall, secret detection, and contradiction handling. 6 MCP tools (remember, recall, forget, feedback, context, status) over stdio. Zero cloud, no API keys, fully offline. Works with Claude Desktop/Code, Cursor, and Windsurf. npm install -g @hbarefoot/engram	Persistent memory layer for AI agents with entity resolution, PII detection, AES-256-GCM encryption at rest, and hybrid search. 100% on LoCoMo benchmark. Self-hosted.
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": {
    "hbarefoot-engram": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "package"
      ]
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "remembra-ai-remembra": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "remembra"
      ],
      "env": {
        "REMEMBRA_URL": "YOUR_REMEMBRA_URL_HERE",
        "REMEMBRA_USER_ID": "YOUR_REMEMBRA_USER_ID_HERE",
        "REMEMBRA_ASYNC_ENRICHMENT": "YOUR_REMEMBRA_ASYNC_ENRICHMENT_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

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