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// Glossary · Protocol and platform

MCP memory server

Also called: memory over MCP, MCP-native memory, memory tool server

What is an MCP memory server?

An MCP memory server is a service that exposes memory operations as Model Context Protocol tools. Any compatible agent discovers those tools at connect time and calls them to write and retrieve context, so one server serves every client without integration code written per tool.

// In more depth

What the server actually exposes.

Memory as tools rather than as an API, which is what makes it portable.

01

Write and retrieve, as named tools

The agent sees capabilities with descriptions and typed schemas, and decides during a session which to call. It is not calling an endpoint somebody wired up in advance; it is choosing a tool from a list it discovered.

02

Scope carried on the call

A memory is written somewhere: this machine, this project, or the whole organization. Making scope part of the tool contract is what keeps private working notes out of the shared pool.

03

One server, every client

Because discovery happens at connect time, the same server answers Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, opencode and Cowork. Adding a capability does not require any of them to change.

// Why it matters

Why the protocol is the interesting part.

The memory is not novel. Reaching it from any tool your team switches to is.

No integration per tool

Teams do not standardise on one coding agent and they change their minds. Memory behind a protocol survives that.

Switching tools keeps the corpus

Moving from one agent to another does not orphan what the previous one learned, because the memory never belonged to the client.

Calls are inspectable events

A tool call is discrete and named, which is what makes it something an audit trail can record meaningfully.

// Commonly confused with

Commonly confused with.

Three near neighbours.

A vector databaseA vector store is where embeddings live. A memory server is the thing that decides what gets written, deduplicated, scoped and scored, and exposes that as tools an agent can call.
A REST API for memoryAn API is called by code written against it. Tools are chosen by a model at runtime from their descriptions, which is why they work across clients nobody integrated with.
A local memory fileA file in a repository is per-checkout and per-person. A server is shared, scoped, and reachable from every machine and tool a team uses.
// FAQ

MCP memory server questions

What is an MCP memory server?

A service that exposes memory operations as Model Context Protocol tools. Compatible agents discover those tools when they connect and call them to write and retrieve context, so one server works with every client.

Which tools can connect to it?

Any MCP-compatible client. For Virex Memory that includes Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, opencode and Cowork, all reading and writing the same corpus.

Is it the same as a vector database?

No. A vector store holds embeddings. The memory server decides what is worth writing, deduplicates near-identical entries, applies scope, scores importance, and exposes all of that as callable tools.

Do I need to write integration code?

No, and that is the point of the protocol. Connecting a compatible client is the integration.

Does Virex charge per call?

No. Virex bills a flat $15 per seat per month per product, with no usage component.

Connect a client and you are integrated.

Virex Memory is an MCP server, so there is no per-tool work to do.