# Piia Engram (MCP server)

> Piia Engram is an MCP server that adds developer tools to AI assistants such as Claude Desktop, Claude Code and Cursor. Local-first AI identity for MCP coding tools. It has 162 GitHub stars, is released under the AGPL-3.0 license and runs locally with uvx piia-engram.

Tell AI once who you are, how you work, and what "good" means. Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Windsurf, and other MCP-compatible tools can start from the same AI work identity layer — local files you own, no cloud account, no hidden memory you cannot inspect.

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Repository | https://github.com/Patdolitse/piia-engram |
| GitHub stars | 162 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python |
| Transport | stdio |
| Packages | pypi: piia-engram |
| Remote URL | none |
| Needs API key | no |
| Official | no |
| Works with | Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code |
| Category | Developer tools |
| Latest release | v4.21.2 (Sep 26, 2026) |
| Last commit | Sep 26, 2026 |
| MCP registry name | io.github.Patdolitse/piia-engram |

## Install

### Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json)

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "piia-engram": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "piia-engram"
      ],
      "env": {
        "ENGRAM_MCP_STARTUP_SYNC": "your-value",
        "ENGRAM_TOOLS": "your-value",
        "PYTHONIOENCODING": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Settings > Developer > Edit Config. macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/, Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\. Restart Claude Desktop afterwards.

### Claude Code

```sh
claude mcp add --env ENGRAM_MCP_STARTUP_SYNC=your-value --env ENGRAM_TOOLS=your-value --env PYTHONIOENCODING=your-value --transport stdio piia-engram -- uvx piia-engram
```

### Cursor (.cursor/mcp.json)

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "piia-engram": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "piia-engram"
      ],
      "env": {
        "ENGRAM_MCP_STARTUP_SYNC": "your-value",
        "ENGRAM_TOOLS": "your-value",
        "PYTHONIOENCODING": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Project file; use ~/.cursor/mcp.json to enable it in every project.

### VS Code (.vscode/mcp.json)

```json
{
  "servers": {
    "piia-engram": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "piia-engram"
      ],
      "env": {
        "ENGRAM_MCP_STARTUP_SYNC": "your-value",
        "ENGRAM_TOOLS": "your-value",
        "PYTHONIOENCODING": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Config formats checked against the official docs on 2026-10-07.

## Environment variables

- `ENGRAM_MCP_STARTUP_SYNC`: Skip optional local startup reconciliation during marketplace/client validation; set to background for local cross-tool sync.
- `ENGRAM_TOOLS`: Expose the context-budget friendly default surface; set to all for the full advanced surface.
- `PYTHONIOENCODING`: Force UTF-8 stdio frames on Windows-style consoles.

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