integrations

engram integrations

engram integrates with every major AI coding tool — usually via the Model Context Protocol (MCP), sometimes via a static rules file, sometimes via a native hook. Pick the path that matches your IDE.

By IDE

IDE / Editor	Integration doc	Mechanism
Claude Code	claude-code.md	Hook-based interception (native, automatic)
Cursor	cursor-mcp.md (active) + MDC file (passive)	MCP server + .cursor/rules/*.mdc
Continue.dev	continue.md	@engram context provider
Cline	cline.md	MCP server — engram-serve registered in Cline's MCP settings
Zed	zed.md	Context server (JSON-RPC) — /engram slash command
Aider	aider.md	.aider-context.md static snapshot
Windsurf (Codeium)	MCP server — register engram-serve	See cursor-mcp.md; Windsurf supports MCP natively with the same config. Also: engram gen-windsurfrules for a .windsurfrules snapshot.
Neovim	neovim.md	MCP via codecompanion.nvim or avante.nvim
Emacs	emacs.md	MCP via gptel-mcp

By mechanism

Active (MCP server)

The agent decides when to call engram. Best for structural queries that vary per question — "what calls X?", "trace the path from A to B". Register the engram-serve binary:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "engram": { "command": "engram-serve", "args": [] }
  }
}

Tools exposed: query_graph, god_nodes, graph_stats, shortest_path, benchmark, list_mistakes.

Passive (static snapshot)

engram writes a markdown file your IDE auto-loads. Best for cheap always-on context — architecture, decisions, landmines.

Command	File	Consumer
engram gen-mdc	.cursor/rules/engram-context.mdc	Cursor
engram gen-windsurfrules	.windsurfrules	Windsurf
engram gen-aider	.aider-context.md	Aider
engram gen-ccs	.context/index.md	CCS-compatible tools

All static generators accept --watch to regenerate automatically on graph changes.

Hook-based (interception)

Claude Code only. engram intercepts Read/Edit/Write tool calls and injects a structural summary inline. Install with:

engram install-hook

This is the path that delivers the measured 88.1% session-level token savings (see EngramBench v0.2).

Composition

These paths compose. A typical production setup:

• Claude Code: hooks for automatic Read interception
• Any other IDE: MCP server for ad-hoc queries + a static snapshot for always-on architecture context

engram's graph is a single source of truth — all paths read from the same .engram/graph.db. You don't need to re-index per IDE.