Memory Lean MCP server

memory-lean

Long-term memory for AI coding agents that doesn't burn the context window.

Quick start · What the agent sees · Why it stays lean · Tools · Agent protocol · Settings · Contributing

memory-lean is an MCP server that gives Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor and any other MCP client a knowledge graph that persists between sessions. It is a drop-in replacement for the reference memory server (@modelcontextprotocol/server-memory): same memory.jsonl file, same nine tool names, plus two extras. What changes is how much the tools send back.

One file. No dependencies. Nothing to build.

Quick start

Claude Code: install the plugin. It adds the server, a skill with the agent instructions, and a short reminder at the start of each session.

/plugin marketplace add zamansheikh/memory-lean
/plugin install memory-lean@memory-lean

Any other agent: add the server to the agent's MCP config, then give the agent the instructions.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "memory": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "memory-lean"] }
  }
}

npx -y memory-lean --protocol >> AGENTS.md   # into the rules file your agent reads

The config file and its exact shape differ per agent.

Copy-paste setup for each agent is in docs/SETUP.md:

Shortened. The full README is on GitHub.