# Cairn Remembers

Keeps architectural choices, project notes, and discussion context inside a local SQLite vault. Helps AI agents retain background knowledge across restarts.

- MCP server · `type=mcp` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf (Devin Desktop), Cline, Zed, Gemini CLI · ★ 5
- Author: CairnRemembers
- License: not stated · policy=link-only · description only; the file stays with the author
- Source: https://github.com/CairnRemembers/cairn
- Updated: 2026-09-24
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/mcp/cairn-remembers

## What it does

Cairn supplies coding assistants with persistent storage directly on your machine. Every entry sits in an SQLite database at `~/.cairn/`. The engine uses an append-only log, marking obsolete entries as void rather than erasing them from history.

Integration splits into two distinct paths: passive session capture and interactive vault queries via MCP tools. The package requires Python 3.11 or higher. You can run the server directly through `uvx` without manual cloning.

Installing the complete package with dashboard features on Linux demands attention. If you omit the CPU-specific PyTorch repository flag during pip setup, the installer fetches an unnecessary multi-gigabyte CUDA package.

## Requirements
- Needs: Python and uv (commands run via uvx)

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

**Platform CLI**
```bash
claude mcp add cairn-remembers -- uvx cairn-remembers
```
uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from cairn-remembers <command>

### Codex

**Platform CLI**
```bash
codex mcp add cairn-remembers -- uvx cairn-remembers
```
uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from cairn-remembers <command>

### Cursor

**Config file**
File `.cursor/mcp.json`:
```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "cairn-remembers": {
            "command": "uvx",
            "args": [
                "cairn-remembers"
            ]
        }
    }
}
```
uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from cairn-remembers <command>

### GitHub Copilot

**Config file**
File `.vscode/mcp.json`:
```json
{
    "servers": {
        "cairn-remembers": {
            "type": "stdio",
            "command": "uvx",
            "args": [
                "cairn-remembers"
            ]
        }
    }
}
```
uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from cairn-remembers <command>

### Gemini CLI

**Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini mcp add cairn-remembers uvx cairn-remembers
```
uvx runs the command named after the package; if the README names another one, use uvx --from cairn-remembers <command>

## When to use it
- share decisions and design rationale across separate chat sessions
- keep project history in a private local file without cloud sync
- track abandoned approaches and previous dead ends
- retain work state between different coding assistants

## Example prompts
- Check Cairn notes to see why we rejected JWT tokens for session auth
- Save our conclusion about database indexing into Cairn memory
- Search previous sessions in Cairn for unfinished tasks in the API module

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