MCP

Package: @turbomem/mcp

A Model Context Protocol server built on turbomem. It gives Claude a private, local long-term memory: Claude can remember durable facts about the user and recall them in future conversations. Everything is stored on disk on the user's machine (the same ~/.turbomem/data store as the CLI); nothing is uploaded anywhere except the AI provider chosen to extract and embed the notes.

It ships as a one-click Claude Desktop extension (.mcpb), so non-technical users never touch a terminal or config file.

Install in Claude Desktop (no terminal)

1. Download turbomem.mcpb (from the project Releases).
2. Double-click the file - Claude Desktop opens an install screen. (You can also drag it onto the window, or use Settings → Extensions → Advanced settings → Install Extension…)
3. Fill in two fields and click Install:
   • AI provider - type openai, google, or anthropic (leave as openai if unsure).
   • API key - paste the key for that provider.

Then just chat. Claude saves and recalls memories on its own. Try "Remember that my dog is named Rex," then, in a new chat, ask "What's my dog's name?"

Which API key do I need?

You only need one key, matching the provider you chose:

Provider	Get a key	What it powers
openai	platform.openai.com	Understanding + searching memories
google	aistudio.google.com	Understanding + searching memories
anthropic	console.anthropic.com	Understanding memories (extraction)

openai and google use a single key for both understanding and search. See the Providers reference for details.

Using Anthropic (Claude)?

Anthropic can organize your memories, but it has no embedding model, so memory search needs a second provider. On the install screen, set:

• AI provider → anthropic, API key → your Anthropic key
• Search provider → openai or google, Search API key → that provider's key

That runs extraction on Claude and search on OpenAI/Google over HTTP — no local model or extra download required. (Advanced: you can instead run search fully on-device by installing @huggingface/transformers via the manual setup.)

Tools

Claude is instructed to use these automatically, but you can also ask for them directly ("list everything you remember about me", "forget that I like dark mode").

Tool	Description
remember	Saves durable facts about the user to local memory
recall	Searches memory for anything relevant to a query
list_memories	Lists everything currently stored
forget	Deletes one memory by id
forget_everything	Erases all memories (only on explicit confirmation)

Advanced: manual setup

For another MCP client, or to wire it up by hand, run the server over stdio.

npm install -g @turbomem/mcp

Add it to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "turbomem": {
      "command": "turbomem-mcp",
      "env": {
        "TURBOMEM_PROVIDER": "openai",
        "TURBOMEM_API_KEY": "sk-...",
        "TURBOMEM_USER_ID": "me",
        "TURBOMEM_DATA_DIR": "/Users/you/.turbomem/data"
      }
    }
  }
}

To run extraction on Anthropic and search on OpenAI (no local model):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "turbomem": {
      "command": "turbomem-mcp",
      "env": {
        "TURBOMEM_PROVIDER": "anthropic",
        "TURBOMEM_API_KEY": "sk-ant-...",
        "TURBOMEM_EMBEDDINGS_PROVIDER": "openai",
        "TURBOMEM_EMBEDDINGS_API_KEY": "sk-..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Or run without installing:

npx @turbomem/mcp

To run Anthropic search fully on-device instead (no embeddings key), set TURBOMEM_EMBEDDINGS_PROVIDER=local and install the local model:

npm install -g @huggingface/transformers

Environment variables

Variable	Default	Notes
TURBOMEM_PROVIDER	openai	Extraction provider: openai, google, or anthropic
TURBOMEM_API_KEY	-	API key for the extraction provider (required)
TURBOMEM_EMBEDDINGS_PROVIDER	mirrors provider	Search provider: openai, google, or local
TURBOMEM_EMBEDDINGS_API_KEY	-	API key for the search provider (needed unless it is local)
TURBOMEM_USER_ID	me	Label for this memory profile
TURBOMEM_DATA_DIR	~/.turbomem/data	Where memories are stored on disk
TURBOMEM_EXTRACTION_MODEL	provider default	Override the fact-extraction model
TURBOMEM_EMBEDDING_MODEL	provider default	Override the embedding model

Standard provider env vars (OPENAI_API_KEY, GEMINI_API_KEY, ANTHROPIC_API_KEY) are also honored as fallbacks for the matching provider.

Build the .mcpb yourself

pnpm --filter @turbomem/mcp pack:mcpb

This builds the server, installs its production dependencies into a bundle, and writes turbomem.mcpb in the package directory. Double-click it to install, or submit it to the Claude Connectors Directory so users can install it from inside Claude Desktop.