Interview Mode vs Context Engine

In-depth architectural comparison of the Interview Mode and Context Engine 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?

I

Choose Interview Mode when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Developer Tools domain.
• You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).

Explore Interview Mode Details

Choose Context Engine when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Developer Tools domain.
• You prefer remote streaming HTTP/SSE transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: No auth required (Free / Open Source).

Explore Context Engine Details

Feature & Specification Comparison

Specification	I Interview Mode Developer Tools	Context Engine Developer Tools
Summary	Structured interviewer for Claude Code — probing questions, decision tracking, evolving checkpoints.	Compress logs, retrieval chunks, and code context into structured LLM-ready signal.
Category & Scope	Developer Tools	Developer Tools
Quality signal

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": {
    "interview-mode": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "interview-mode"
      ]
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "context-engine": {
      "url": "https://img.shields.io/badge/Python-3.11%20%7C%203.12%20%7C%203.13-blue?style=flat-square&logo=python"
    }
  }
}

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