What is the key difference between Lean Memory and Tribal?

Lean Memory belongs to the Knowledge & Memory category with local stdio execution, while Tribal belongs to the Knowledge & Memory category with local stdio execution.

How do I install Lean Memory or Tribal in Claude Desktop or Cursor?

Copy the mcpServers JSON configuration snippet provided on this page into your claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json file and restart your AI client.

Are Lean Memory and Tribal free or paid?

Lean Memory operates under a Free / Open Source model (No auth required). Tribal operates under a BYOK (Pay Provider Direct) model (API Key required).

Which MCP server has more tools and community activity?

Lean Memory lists 6 tools with 2 views and 42 GitHub stars. Tribal lists 5 tools with 2 views and 9 GitHub stars.

Can I use both Lean Memory and Tribal together in the same MCP host?

Yes! MCP hosts like Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, and VS Code support configuring multiple servers under the mcpServers object simultaneously.

Side-by-Side Model Context Protocol Comparison

Lean Memory vs Tribal

In-depth architectural comparison of the Lean Memory and Tribal 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

Lean Memory

Knowledge & Memory · Local stdio

Quality: 52/100 (Good) | Auth: No auth required

Tribal

Knowledge & Memory · Local stdio

Quality: 56/100 (Good) | Auth: API Key required

Verdict Summary: Choose Lean Memory if you need specialized Knowledge & Memory tools running via a local process. Choose Tribal 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 Lean Memory 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: LM_DATA_ROOT, ANTHROPIC_API_KEY.
Primary tools included: Single SQLite file per namespace for isolated memory storage, Hybrid dense (embedding) and sparse (FTS5) search retrieval, Add-only memory history with point-in-time querying.

Explore Lean Memory Details

Choose Tribal when:

You need dedicated capabilities in the Knowledge & Memory domain.
You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
Your security boundary fits: API Key required (BYOK (Pay Provider Direct)).
You have access to required keys: OPENAI_API_KEY, ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, OLLAMA_API_KEY, TRIBAL_BEARER_TOKEN.

Feature & Specification Comparison

Specification	Lean Memory Wuesteon Knowledge & Memory	Tribal tribal-memory Knowledge & Memory
Summary	Embedded, local-first agent memory in a single SQLite file per namespace (vec0 + FTS5 hybrid retrieval). ADD-only history queryable as-of any past time; offline sleep-time maintenance stages dedupe/summarize/evict proposals a human reviews. No Docker, no server, no cloud key. pip install 'lean-memory[mcp]'	Self-hosted semantic memory server, served over MCP, for an engineering team's tribal knowledge: the tacit decisions and hard-won reasoning behind the code, captured once and kept queryable for the team and the agents they work with. Postgres-backed (pgvector).
Category & Scope

Tools & Capabilities Breakdown

Lean Memory Tools (6)

Single SQLite file per namespace for isolated memory storage

Hybrid dense (embedding) and sparse (FTS5) search retrieval

Add-only memory history with point-in-time querying

Offline sleep-time maintenance for deduplication and summarization

MCP server bridge with tools for add, search, and clear memory

Optional real embedder, reranker, and extractor models

Tribal Tools (5)

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).

Lean Memory Configuration

mcpServers (Claude Desktop / Cursor)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "wuesteon-lean-memory": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "lean-memory"
      ],
      "env": {
        "LM_DATA_ROOT": "YOUR_LM_DATA_ROOT_HERE",
        "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "YOUR_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Tribal Configuration

mcpServers (Claude Desktop / Cursor)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tribal-memory-tribal": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "skills"
      ],
      "env": {
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "YOUR_OPENAI_API_KEY_HERE",
        "ANTHROPIC_API_KEY": "YOUR_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY_HERE",
        "OLLAMA_API_KEY": "YOUR_OLLAMA_API_KEY_HERE",
        "TRIBAL_BEARER_TOKEN": "YOUR_TRIBAL_BEARER_TOKEN_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Frequently Asked Questions

Lean Memory is categorized under Knowledge & Memory and uses a local stdio subprocess. In contrast, Tribal belongs to Knowledge & Memory using local stdio subprocess. Select Lean Memory when you need capabilities focused on knowledge & memory and Tribal when you require tools for knowledge & memory.

More alternatives to Lean Memory More alternatives to Tribal Knowledge & Memory category hub Canonical compare URL