Kairn MCP server

Kairn

Context-aware knowledge engine for AI assistants.

<!-- mcp-name: io.github.primeline-ai/kairn -->

Status: pre-1.0. In daily use since February 2026, with 722 tests (see Development) and a published LongMemEval-S benchmark. Interfaces may still change between releases until 1.0. Feedback and issues welcome.

Other tools give your AI a memory. Kairn gives it a knowledge graph with intelligent context routing. It knows what to load, when to load it, and how much - so your AI stays focused, not overwhelmed.

pip install kairn-ai
kairn init ~/brain
kairn serve ~/brain

Add it to Claude Code in one line:

claude mcp add kairn -- kairn serve ~/brain

Or install it as a one-click bundle, no Python setup required: download the .mcpb file from the latest release and open it with a bundle-aware app such as Claude Desktop.

For other clients, see Quick Start below. New to Kairn? Jump to First 5 Minutes.

Install routes

The bundle carries no Kairn source of its own. It declares kairn-ai as a dependency and the host resolves it with uv, so a bundle install and a pip install run identical code. Where the database lives is configurable when you install the bundle; it defaults to ~/.kairn and never leaves your machine.

Why Kairn?

Every AI conversation starts from scratch. Previous insights, decisions, and patterns - gone. Existing memory tools store flat key-value pairs that can't represent relationships or surface the right context at the right time.

Kairn is different:

• Context Router + Progressive Disclosure - Automatically loads relevant subgraphs based on keywords, starting with summaries and drilling into details only when needed. No other tool does this.
• Knowledge Graph with FTS5 - Not flat storage. Typed relationships (depends-on, resolves, causes) between nodes with provenance tracking and full-text search across everything.
• Experience Decay + Auto-Promotion - Experiences lose relevance over time (biological decay model). Frequently-accessed experiences auto-promote to permanent knowledge. Your AI naturally forgets what doesn't matter.
• 22 MCP Tools - Works with Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, and any MCP client. Includes knjudge for 5-verb relationship judgments and kndoctor for read-only health diagnostics.
• Per-Workspace Isolation - Each workspace is its own isolated SQLite store. JWT auth and role-based access control (owner / maintainer / contributor / reader) ship for team deployments.

Quick Start

Claude Desktop

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claudedesktopconfig.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kairn": {
      "command": "kairn",
      "args": ["serve", "~/brain"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Add to .cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kairn": {
      "command": "kairn",
      "args": ["serve", "~/brain"],
      "env": {
        "KAIRN_LOG_LEVEL": "WARNING"
      }
    }
  }
}

VS Code

Add to .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "kairn": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "kairn",
      "args": ["serve", "~/brain"]
    }
  }
}

Windsurf

Add to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kairn": {
      "command": "kairn",
      "args": ["serve", "~/brain"]
    }
  }
}

Shortened. The full README is on GitHub.