Cortex Plugin vs Deja Vu — MCP Server Comparison | AllMCPs
Side-by-Side Model Context Protocol Comparison
Cortex Plugin vs Deja Vu
In-depth architectural comparison of the Cortex Plugin and Deja Vu 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.
At a Glance & Executive Verdict
Cortex Plugin
Knowledge & Memory · Local stdio
Quality: 55/100 (Good) | Auth: No auth required
Deja Vu
Knowledge & Memory · Local stdio
Quality: 53/100 (Good) | Auth: No auth required
Verdict Summary: Choose Cortex Plugin if you need specialized Knowledge & Memory tools running via a local process. Choose Deja Vu if your workspace requires Knowledge & Memory integration with local subprocess execution. Both servers can be configured concurrently in your client's mcpServers manifest.
Which MCP Server Should You Choose?
Choose Cortex Plugin 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: MEMEM_TELEMETRY_SOURCE.
Primary tools included: Event-triggered background miner extracting durable lessons from conversations, Stores memories as markdown files in a local Obsidian vault, Active Memory Slice assembling query-tailored context briefings.
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: Zero-dependency single binary, fully local operation, Search 3.5 GB of session history in ~1.5 ms, Supports multiple coding agents via MCP protocol.
Persistent, self-evolving memory plugin for Claude Code. Background miner extracts durable lessons (decisions, conventions, bug fixes) from completed sessions via Claude Haiku, stores them as human-readable markdown in an Obsidian vault, and assembles query-tailored context briefings at session start. Local-first, no cloud, no API keys. Self-healing install via uv bootstrap shim, /cortex-doctor preflight, graceful FTS-only degraded mode when claude CLI missing. MIT.
Local memory layer over the session histories coding agents already write (Claude Code, Codex CLI, opencode): lexical search, recall tools, session-start auto-recall, secret redaction at index time, cross-machine sync over SSH.
Category & Scope
Tools & Capabilities Breakdown
Cortex Plugin Tools (6)
Event-triggered background miner extracting durable lessons from conversations
Stores memories as markdown files in a local Obsidian vault
Active Memory Slice assembling query-tailored context briefings
Path-scoped memory retrieval auto-derived from session file paths
Persistent FTS5 transcript search index for efficient memory lookup
Self-healing install and degraded mode when dependencies are missing
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).
Cortex Plugin is categorized under Knowledge & Memory and uses a local stdio subprocess. In contrast, Deja Vu belongs to Knowledge & Memory using local stdio subprocess. Select Cortex Plugin when you need capabilities focused on knowledge & memory and Deja Vu when you require tools for knowledge & memory.