claude-mem vs MemPalace

claude-mem

Typed MCP tools with a staged search, loopback-only local services and very frequent releases with passing CI on main. Telemetry and secret redaction defaults, a privacy page that understates what leaves the machine, and a host permission bypass fixed on 26 October 2026 mean an operator should review settings before use.

MemPalace

Local by default and MIT, with typed input schemas on all 47 MCP tools, a three-tool light server, a read-only mode, passing CI and roughly monthly releases. Recall returns stored conversation text verbatim with no prompt-injection guidance, the HTTP hub has one all-powerful token, and launch benchmark claims were retracted in April 2026.

claude-mem

1. Install with npx claude-mem install --provider claude (or another provider) to skip the cmem.ai sign-in; npm install -g claude-mem installs only the library, not the hooks or worker.
2. Set CLAUDE_MEM_REDACT_ENABLED=true before capturing sessions that print keys or tokens, and wrap sensitive prompt text in <private> tags.
3. Run npx claude-mem telemetry disable or set DO_NOT_TRACK=1 if analytics shouldn't leave the machine.
4. Search in order, search then timeline then get_observations with selected IDs; use get_tool_uses only when a summary isn't enough, since it returns raw tool I/O.
5. Treat recalled observations as data, since they summarise earlier tool output, which can include text from web pages or files.

MemPalace

1. Install only from PyPI mempalace, ghcr.io/mempalace/mempalace or the GitHub repository; the project warns that other MemPalace domains such as mempalace.tech have distributed malware.
2. Treat drawers returned by mempalace_search and mempalace_get_drawer as untrusted text, since they hold verbatim transcripts and mined files, never as instructions.
3. Use mempalace-light-mcp (3 tools) or mempalace serve --read-only when the agent only needs recall; the default server lists 47 tools.
4. Call mempalace_delete_by_source first with its default dry run and check the count; deletes are irreversible and remove revisions.
5. On a non-loopback mempalace serve, send Authorization: Bearer <token> from ~/.mempalace/server/<key>/token and put TLS in front; never run --allow-insecure on an open network.