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Shared memory MCP server — persistent, searchable, cross-client

Project description

Ogham MCP

Ogham (pronounced "OH-um") -- persistent, searchable shared memory for AI coding agents. Works across clients.

License: MIT Docker Python 3.13+ PyPI

The problem

AI coding agents forget everything between sessions. Switch from Claude Code to Cursor to Kiro to OpenCode and context is lost. Decisions, gotchas, architectural patterns -- gone. You end up repeating yourself, re-explaining your codebase, re-debugging the same issues.

Ogham gives your agents a shared memory that persists across sessions and clients.

Quick start

1. Install

uvx ogham-mcp init

This runs the setup wizard. It walks you through everything: database connection, embedding provider, schema migration, and writes MCP client configs for Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, and others.

You need a database before running this. Either create a free Supabase project or a Neon database. The wizard handles the rest.

Using Neon or self-hosted Postgres? Install with the postgres extra so the driver is available:

uvx --from 'ogham-mcp[postgres]' ogham-mcp init

2. Add to your MCP client

The wizard configures everything and writes your client config -- including all environment variables the server needs. For Claude Code, it runs claude mcp add automatically. For other clients, copy the config snippet it prints.

3. Use it

Tell your agent to remember something, then ask about it later -- from the same client or a different one. It works because they all share the same database.

Manual setup (if you prefer)

If you'd rather configure things yourself instead of using the wizard:

# Supabase
export SUPABASE_URL=https://your-project.supabase.co
export SUPABASE_KEY=your-service-role-key
export EMBEDDING_PROVIDER=openai  # or ollama, mistral, voyage
export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...      # for your chosen provider

# Or Postgres (Neon, self-hosted)
export DATABASE_BACKEND=postgres
export DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:pass@host/db
export EMBEDDING_PROVIDER=openai
export OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...

Run the schema migration (sql/schema.sql for Supabase, sql/schema_postgres.sql for Neon/self-hosted), then add the MCP server to your client.

Installation methods

Method Command When to use
uvx (recommended) uvx ogham-mcp Quick setup, auto-updates
Docker docker pull ghcr.io/ogham-mcp/ogham-mcp Isolation, self-hosted
Git clone git clone + uv sync Development, contributions

Claude Code

claude mcp add ogham -- uvx ogham-mcp

OpenCode

Add to ~/.config/opencode/opencode.json:

{
  "mcp": {
    "ogham": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": ["uvx", "ogham-mcp"],
      "environment": {
        "SUPABASE_URL": "https://your-project.supabase.co",
        "SUPABASE_KEY": "{env:SUPABASE_KEY}",
        "EMBEDDING_PROVIDER": "openai",
        "OPENAI_API_KEY": "{env:OPENAI_API_KEY}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Docker

docker run --rm \
  -e SUPABASE_URL=https://your-project.supabase.co \
  -e SUPABASE_KEY=your-key \
  -e EMBEDDING_PROVIDER=openai \
  -e OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-... \
  ghcr.io/ogham-mcp/ogham-mcp

From source

git clone https://github.com/ogham-mcp/ogham-mcp.git
cd ogham-mcp
uv sync
uv run ogham --help

SSE transport (multi-agent)

By default, Ogham runs in stdio mode -- each MCP client spawns its own server process. For multiple agents sharing one server, use SSE mode:

ogham serve --transport sse --port 8742

The server runs as a persistent background process. All clients connect to the same instance -- one database pool, one embedding cache, shared memory.

Client config for SSE (any MCP client):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ogham": {
      "url": "http://127.0.0.1:8742/sse"
    }
  }
}

Health check at http://127.0.0.1:8742/health (cached, sub-10ms).

Configure via env vars (OGHAM_TRANSPORT=sse, OGHAM_HOST, OGHAM_PORT) or CLI flags. The init wizard (ogham init) walks through SSE setup if you choose it.

Entry points

Ogham has two entry points:

  • ogham -- the CLI. Use this for ogham init, ogham health, ogham search, and other commands you run yourself. Running ogham with no arguments starts the MCP server.
  • ogham-serve -- starts the MCP server directly. This is what MCP clients should call. When you run uvx ogham-mcp, it invokes ogham-serve.

CLI

ogham init                      # Interactive setup wizard
ogham health                    # Check database + embedding provider
ogham search "query"            # Search memories from the terminal
ogham store "some fact"         # Store a memory
ogham list                      # List recent memories
ogham profiles                  # List profiles and counts
ogham stats                     # Profile statistics
ogham export -o backup.json     # Export memories
ogham import backup.json        # Import memories
ogham cleanup                   # Remove expired memories
ogham serve                     # Start MCP server (stdio, default)
ogham serve --transport sse     # Start SSE server on port 8742
ogham openapi                   # Generate OpenAPI spec

Configuration

Variable Required Default Description
DATABASE_BACKEND No supabase supabase or postgres
SUPABASE_URL If supabase -- Your Supabase project URL
SUPABASE_KEY If supabase -- Supabase secret key (service_role)
DATABASE_URL If postgres -- PostgreSQL connection string
EMBEDDING_PROVIDER No ollama ollama, openai, mistral, or voyage
EMBEDDING_DIM No 512 Vector dimensions -- must match your schema (see below)
OPENAI_API_KEY If openai -- OpenAI API key
MISTRAL_API_KEY If mistral -- Mistral API key
VOYAGE_API_KEY If voyage -- Voyage AI API key
OLLAMA_URL No http://localhost:11434 Ollama server URL
OLLAMA_EMBED_MODEL No embeddinggemma Ollama embedding model
MISTRAL_EMBED_MODEL No mistral-embed Mistral embedding model
VOYAGE_EMBED_MODEL No voyage-4-lite Voyage embedding model
DEFAULT_MATCH_THRESHOLD No 0.7 Similarity threshold (see below)
DEFAULT_MATCH_COUNT No 10 Max results per search
DEFAULT_PROFILE No default Memory profile name

Embedding providers

Provider Default dimensions Recommended threshold Notes
OpenAI 512 (schema default) 0.35 Set EMBEDDING_DIM=512 explicitly -- OpenAI defaults to 1024
Ollama 512 0.70 Tight clustering, scores run 0.8-0.9
Mistral 1024 0.60 Fixed 1024 dims, can't truncate. Schema must be vector(1024)
Voyage 512 (schema default) 0.45 Moderate spread

EMBEDDING_DIM must match the vector(N) column in your database schema. The default schema uses vector(512). If you use Mistral, you need to alter the column to vector(1024) before storing anything.

Each provider clusters vectors differently, so the similarity threshold matters. Start with the recommended value and adjust based on your results.

MCP tools

Memory operations

Tool Description Key parameters
store_memory Store a new memory with embedding content (required), source, tags[], auto_link
store_decision Store an architectural decision decision, reasoning, alternatives[], tags[]
update_memory Update content of existing memory memory_id, content, tags[]
delete_memory Delete a memory by ID memory_id
reinforce_memory Increase confidence score memory_id
contradict_memory Decrease confidence score memory_id

Search

Tool Description Key parameters
hybrid_search Combined semantic + full-text search (RRF) query, limit, tags[], graph_depth
list_recent List recent memories limit, profile
find_related Find memories related to a given one memory_id, limit

Knowledge graph

Tool Description Key parameters
link_unlinked Auto-link memories by embedding similarity threshold, limit
explore_knowledge Traverse the knowledge graph memory_id, depth, direction

Profiles

Tool Description Key parameters
switch_profile Switch active memory profile profile
current_profile Show active profile --
list_profiles List all profiles with counts --
set_profile_ttl Set auto-expiry for a profile profile, ttl_days

Import / export

Tool Description Key parameters
export_profile Export all memories in active profile format (json or markdown)
import_memories_tool Import memories with deduplication data, dedup_threshold

Maintenance

Tool Description Key parameters
re_embed_all Re-embed all memories (after switching providers) --
compress_old_memories Condense old inactive memories (full text to summary to tags) --
cleanup_expired Remove expired memories (TTL) --
health_check Check database and embedding connectivity --
get_stats Memory counts, profiles, activity --
get_cache_stats Embedding cache hit rates --

Skills

Ogham ships with three workflow skills in skills/ that wire up common MCP tool chains. Install them in Claude Code, Cursor, or any client that supports skills.

Skill Triggers on What it does
ogham-research "remember this", "store this finding", "save what we learned" Checks for duplicates via hybrid_search before storing. Auto-tags with a consistent scheme (type:decision, type:gotcha, etc.). Uses store_decision for architectural choices.
ogham-recall "what do I know about X", "find related", "context for this project" Chains hybrid_search, find_related, and explore_knowledge to surface connections. Bootstraps session context at project start.
ogham-maintain "memory stats", "clean up my memory", "export my brain" Runs health_check, get_stats, cleanup_expired, re_embed_all, link_unlinked. Warns before irreversible operations.

Skills call existing MCP tools -- they don't replace them. The MCP server must be connected for skills to work.

Install all three with npx:

npx skills add ogham-mcp/ogham-mcp

Or install a specific skill:

npx skills add ogham-mcp/ogham-mcp --skill ogham-recall

Manual install (copy from a local clone):

cp -r skills/ogham-research skills/ogham-recall skills/ogham-maintain ~/.claude/skills/

Scoring and condensing

Ogham goes beyond storing and retrieving. Three server-side features run automatically, no configuration needed.

Novelty detection. When you store a memory, Ogham checks how similar it is to what you already have. Redundant content gets a lower novelty score and ranks quieter in search results. You can still find it, but it won't push out more useful memories.

Content signal scoring. Memories that mention decisions, errors, architecture, or contain code blocks get a higher signal score. A debug session where you fixed a real bug ranks above a casual note about a meeting. The scoring is pure regex, no LLM involved.

Automatic condensing. Old memories that nobody accesses gradually shrink. Full text becomes a summary of key sentences, then a one-line description with tags. The original is always preserved and can be restored if the memory becomes relevant again. Run compress_old_memories manually or on a schedule. High-importance and frequently-accessed memories resist condensing.

Database setup

Ogham works with Supabase or vanilla PostgreSQL. Run the schema file that matches your setup:

File Use case
sql/schema.sql Supabase Cloud
sql/schema_selfhost_supabase.sql Self-hosted Supabase with RLS
sql/schema_postgres.sql Vanilla PostgreSQL / Neon (no RLS)

Supabase and Neon both include pgvector out of the box -- no extra setup needed. If you're self-hosting Postgres, you need PostgreSQL 15+ with the pgvector extension installed. We develop and test against PostgreSQL 17.

For Postgres, set DATABASE_BACKEND=postgres and DATABASE_URL=postgresql://... in your environment.

Architecture

Ogham runs as an MCP server over stdio or SSE. Your AI client connects to it like any other MCP tool.

AI Client (Claude Code, Cursor, Kiro, OpenCode, ...)
    |
    | stdio (MCP protocol)
    |
Ogham MCP Server
    |
    | HTTPS (Supabase REST API) or direct connection (Postgres)
    |
PostgreSQL + pgvector

Memories are stored as rows with vector embeddings. Search combines pgvector cosine similarity with PostgreSQL full-text search using Reciprocal Rank Fusion (RRF).

The knowledge graph uses a memory_relationships table with recursive CTEs for traversal -- no separate graph database.

Documentation

Full docs and integration guides at ogham-mcp.dev.

Credits

Inspired by Nate B Jones and his work on persistent AI memory.

Named after Ogham, the ancient Irish alphabet carved into stone -- the original persistent memory.

Changelog

v0.4.4 (2026-03-20)

  • Python 3.14 support (tested and verified)
  • Fixed deprecated asyncio APIs (new_event_loop/set_event_loop replaced with asyncio.run())
  • Docker image updated to Python 3.14-slim
  • Upgraded pyroaring for 3.14 C extension compatibility
  • Agent Zero FAISS memory import (agent_zero_import.py library)

v0.4.3 (2026-03-19)

  • Fixed psycopg missing module error for Postgres/Neon users
  • Added psycopg to the [all] extra
  • Better error messages when database driver is missing
  • Updated Quick Start docs for Postgres users

v0.4.2 (2026-03-16)

  • Launch release
  • ogham-mcp script alias for uvx ogham-mcp
  • Default embedding dimensions fixed (OpenAI/Voyage default to 512)

License

MIT

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