Basic Memory basicmachines-co/basic-memory

Local-first MCP memory server that stores what you and your AI write as linked Markdown files with full-text and semantic search.

Creator kit + Compare GitHub ↗ Install guide (official) ↗

Basic Memory at a glance

Checked 16 Oct 2026

Basic Memory is an MCP server that lets Claude, Codex, Cursor, ChatGPT and other MCP clients read and write a knowledge graph of plain Markdown notes (observations and wikilinks) on your disk, indexed in SQLite with hybrid full-text and FastEmbed vector search. It needs no LLM of its own, but you need an MCP-capable AI client to use it. Code is AGPL-3.0. Installed with uv (Python). A paid hosted version ($15/month per the README) adds sync and mobile.

Cite this pageRepoQuarry. “Basic Memory.” Checked 16 Oct 2026. https://repoquarry.dev/projects/basic-memory

How much of Mem0 Platform does it replace?

2 of 3 jobs. Memory is Markdown notes the AI writes through MCP tools, not automatic extraction from every conversation.

Long-term memory for chat assistants Not covered

Memory for coding agents Partial replacement

Knowledge graph memory Partial replacement

For long-term memory for chat assistants, see other Mem0 Platform alternatives. You may also need to build an interface, an API server and hosting yourself.

Facts, with sources

Every answer links to where we found it. We read the documentation; we did not install it.

Report a correction

QuestionAnswerSourceChecked

Runs on my machine? Yes, local files plus a SQLite index; air-gapped use supported Just files plus a local SQLite index. No servers required. github.com · basic-memory#why-basic-memory ↗ 1d ago

Code licence AGPL-3.0 (copyleft) github.com · LICENSE ↗ 1d ago

Model weights licence No separate model weights (optional FastEmbed models download on first use) github.com · basic-memory#optional-cross-encoder-reranking ↗ 1d ago

Commercial use Yes, under AGPL-3.0 copyleft terms (share source of modified versions offered over a network) github.com · LICENSE ↗ 1d ago

Paid services needed? None required by Basic Memory; you need an MCP-capable AI client, which may itself be paid Free forever (AGPL-3.0) github.com · basic-memory#cloud-vs-local ↗ 1d ago

Hardware Not documented github.com · basic-memory#readme ↗ 1d ago

Operating systems Windows x86_64, Linux x86_64/ARM64 and macOS are listed in the semantic-search compatibility table; Intel Macs need an ONNX Runtime pin or OpenAI embeddings for local semantic search docs.basicmemory.com · semantic-search#platform-compatibility ↗ today

Setup effort Easy, uv tool install plus adding the MCP server to your AI client uv tool install basic-memory --prerelease=allow github.com · basic-memory#get-started ↗ 1d ago