Agent-agnostic persistent memory for AI coding agents: a single, dependency-free Go binary backed by SQLite + FTS5 full-text search, exposed via an MCP (stdio) server, an HTTP API, a CLI, and an interactive TUI. Works with any MCP client (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code Copilot, OpenCode, and more).
- Storage
- A single local SQLite database (~/.engram/engram.db) with FTS5 full-text indexing — one binary, one file, no Node/Python/Docker dependencies. Designed so memory survives agent context compaction across sessions.
- Retrieval
- FTS5 full-text search exposed as MCP tools (and via HTTP/CLI/TUI); the agent writes and recalls memories over stdio. An 'Engram Cloud' hosted tier offers a shared brain alongside the local mode.
- Self-host
- Self-host: trivial
- License
- MIT
- Pricing
- Open-source (MIT) single binary, free to self-host (brew install); an 'Engram Cloud' managed/shared tier is available (pricing not captured). · Free + paid
- GitHub stars
- 4,712
- Last release
- 2026-06-20
- Last commit
- 2026-06-20
- First catalogued
- 2026-06-28
Strengths
- Zero-dependency single Go binary over one SQLite file — trivial to self-host
- Agent-agnostic via MCP: works across Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code, OpenCode and others
- Explicit focus on surviving context compaction; CLI/HTTP/TUI surfaces in addition to MCP
Watch out
- 'Engram Cloud' hosted-tier pricing not captured — priceTier and pricing need reviewer confirmation
- MCP transport is stdio-only (no network MCP endpoint) and the HTTP API binds to loopback only — relevant for Dockerized/remote agents
- Retrieval is full-text (FTS5) rather than semantic/embedding — note for comparability against vector-based systems
Best for
- Coding agents needing a lightweight, local, agent-agnostic persistent memory that survives session and compaction boundaries
Benchmark results
No sourced results yet.
Sources
- Engram README (vendor)
- GitHub API repo metadata (stars, MIT license, release) (third-party)
Last verified 2026-06-28 · updated by discover-frameworks