engram

Persistent memory for AI coding agents
Agent-agnostic. Single binary. Zero dependencies.

Installation • Engram Cloud • Agent Setup • Architecture • Plugins • Contributing • Full Docs

engram /ˈen.ɡræm/ — neuroscience: the physical trace of a memory in the brain.

Your AI coding agent forgets everything when the session ends. Engram gives it a brain.

A Go binary with SQLite + FTS5 full-text search, exposed via CLI, HTTP API, MCP server, and an interactive TUI. Works with any agent that supports MCP — Claude Code, OpenCode, Gemini CLI, Codex, VS Code (Copilot), Antigravity, Cursor, Windsurf, or anything else.

Agent (Claude Code / OpenCode / Gemini CLI / Codex / VS Code / Antigravity / ...)
    ↓ MCP stdio
Engram (single Go binary)
    ↓
SQLite + FTS5 (~/.engram/engram.db)

Quick Start

Install

brew install gentleman-programming/tap/engram

Windows, Linux, and other install methods → docs/INSTALLATION.md

Setup Your Agent

Full per-agent config, Memory Protocol, and compaction survival → docs/AGENT-SETUP.md

That's it. No Node.js, no Python, no Docker. One binary, one SQLite file.

How It Works

1. Agent completes significant work (bugfix, architecture decision, etc.)
2. Agent calls mem_save → title, type, What/Why/Where/Learned
3. Engram persists to SQLite with FTS5 indexing
4. Next session: agent searches memory, gets relevant context

Full details on session lifecycle, topic keys, and memory hygiene → docs/ARCHITECTURE.md

MCP Tools (17)

Full tool reference with parameters → DOCS.md#mcp-tools-17-tools

Terminal UI

engram tui

Navigation: j/k vim keys, Enter to drill in, / to search, Esc back. Catppuccin Mocha theme.

Git Sync

Share memories across machines. Uses compressed chunks — no merge conflicts, no huge files.

Local SQLite remains the source of truth. Cloud integration is opt-in replication.

engram sync                    # Export new memories as compressed chunk
git add .engram/ && git commit -m "sync engram memories"
engram sync --import           # On another machine: import new chunks
engram sync --status           # Check sync status

Full sync documentation → DOCS.md

Cloud Integration (Opt-In Replication)

Cloud is optional. Local SQLite stays authoritative; cloud is replication/shared access only.

Recommended first path (local smoke):

docker compose -f docker-compose.cloud.yml up -d
engram cloud config --server http://127.0.0.1:18080
engram cloud enroll smoke-project
engram sync --cloud --project smoke-project

Cloud mode is always project-scoped (--project is required; engram sync --cloud --all is intentionally blocked).

Upgrade flow for existing local databases (diagnose → repair → bootstrap → status):

engram cloud upgrade doctor --project smoke-project        # read-only readiness check
engram cloud upgrade repair --project smoke-project --dry-run
engram cloud upgrade repair --project smoke-project --apply
engram cloud upgrade bootstrap --project smoke-project     # resumable enroll + push + verify
engram cloud upgrade status --project smoke-project        # stage/class/reason

See DOCS.md — Cloud upgrade flow for the full state machine.

For authenticated mode, upgrade flow, dashboard behavior, reason codes, and full runtime/env details:

• Engram Cloud docs landing
• Engram Cloud quickstart
• DOCS.md — Cloud CLI reference
• DOCS.md — Cloud Autosync

CLI Reference

Full CLI with all flags → docs/ARCHITECTURE.md#cli-reference

Documentation

Dashboard contributors: if you modify .templ files in internal/cloud/dashboard/, run make templ to regenerate before committing. See DOCS.md — Dashboard templ regeneration.

License

MIT

Inspired by claude-mem — but agent-agnostic, simpler, and built different.

Contributors