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Persistent memory system for Cursor IDE — remembers context across sessions

Project description

cursor-mem

Persistent memory for Cursor IDE — automatically records session context and keeps memory across sessions.

中文说明 (README_CN.md)


Features

  • Cross-session memory: Remembers last session’s actions, edited files, and shell commands
  • Zero-config: Works out of the box with rule-based compression; no API key required
  • Optional AI summarization: Use any OpenAI-compatible API (e.g. free Gemini) for smarter summaries
  • Full-text search: FTS5 search over observations and sessions
  • MCP tools: Agent can query project history (memory_search, memory_timeline, memory_get)
  • Web viewer: Browse memory stream in the browser with live updates
  • Multi-project isolation: Separate memory per project

Comparison with claude-mem

criterion cursor-mem claude-mem
Target Cursor IDE only, native hooks Claude Code first, Cursor via adapter
Stack Python 3.10+, FastAPI, SQLite TypeScript/Bun, Express, SQLite + ChromaDB
Setup pip install cursor-memcursor-mem install Clone, build, plugin/marketplace or Cursor standalone setup
Out-of-the-box Works immediately with no API key (rule-based compression) AI processing is central; free tier needs Gemini/OpenRouter config
Codebase size ~20 core modules, single package 600+ files, plugin + worker + skills
Context injection .cursor/rules/cursor-mem.mdc (Cursor Rules) Same for Cursor; Claude Code uses additionalContext
Search SQLite FTS5 only (simple, no extra deps) FTS5 + ChromaDB vector search (hybrid)
Dependencies Python stdlib + FastAPI/Click/httpx Node/Bun, Claude Agent SDK, ChromaDB, etc.

When to choose cursor-mem: You use Cursor only, want minimal setup and no required API key, and prefer a small Python codebase. When to choose claude-mem: You use Claude Code or want vector/semantic search, token economics, or the full plugin ecosystem.


Quick start

# Install from PyPI
pip install cursor-mem

# One-shot setup (global; applies to all projects)
cursor-mem install --global

# Restart Cursor

From source (development):

pip install -e .
cursor-mem install --global

How it works

User submits prompt → beforeSubmitPrompt hook
  → init session + inject history into .cursor/rules/cursor-mem.mdc

Agent runs → afterShellExecution / afterFileEdit / afterMCPExecution hooks
  → capture operations, compress, store in SQLite

Agent stops → stop hook
  → generate session summary + refresh context file for next session

Commands

cursor-mem install [--global]   # Install hooks + start worker
cursor-mem start                # Start worker
cursor-mem stop                 # Stop worker
cursor-mem restart              # Restart worker
cursor-mem status               # Show status

cursor-mem config set <key> <val>   # Set config
cursor-mem config get [key]         # Show config

cursor-mem data stats             # Data stats
cursor-mem data projects          # List projects
cursor-mem data cleanup           # Clean old data
cursor-mem data export [file]     # Export data

Optional AI summarization

# Gemini (free tier)
cursor-mem config set ai.enabled true
cursor-mem config set ai.base_url "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/openai"
cursor-mem config set ai.api_key "your-gemini-api-key"
cursor-mem config set ai.model "gemini-2.0-flash"

# Or any OpenAI-compatible API
cursor-mem config set ai.base_url "https://api.openai.com/v1"
cursor-mem config set ai.api_key "sk-..."
cursor-mem config set ai.model "gpt-4o-mini"

Web viewer

After install, open http://127.0.0.1:37800 for:

  • Session list and details
  • Observation timeline
  • Full-text search
  • Live SSE updates

MCP tools

Registered in ~/.cursor/mcp.json on install:

  • memory_search(query) — search history
  • memory_timeline(session_id?) — timeline view
  • memory_get(ids) — fetch observation details

Project layout

cursor-mem/
├── cli.py           # CLI entry
├── installer.py     # Install logic
├── hook_handler.py  # Unified hook handler
├── config.py        # Config and paths
├── worker/          # FastAPI HTTP service
├── storage/         # SQLite layer
├── context/         # Context build and inject
├── summarizer/      # Rule-based + AI summarizer
├── mcp/             # MCP search tools
├── ui/              # Web viewer
├── pyproject.toml
└── README.md

Testing

  • Automated: pip install -e ".[dev]" then pytest tests/ -v
  • In Cursor: See TESTING.md for manual test cases (hooks, MCP, worker, CLI).

License

This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0. See LICENSE for the full text.


Data locations

  • Database: ~/.cursor-mem/cursor-mem.db
  • Config: ~/.cursor-mem/config.json
  • Logs: ~/.cursor-mem/logs/
  • Injected context: <project>/.cursor/rules/cursor-mem.mdc

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