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NexusMem

NexusMem is a local, zero-cloud memory engine for coding agents that indexes shell history with exit codes, per-file git diffs, and project docs into a local SQLite database, then serves token-budgeted context snippets over MCP — no account, no telemetry.

★★★★☆ 4.3 Free (Open Source, MIT)

Pros / Advantages

  • Records shell commands with exit codes, git history (per-file patches), and project docs into a local SQLite DB
  • Hybrid retrieval: BM25 (FTS5) + optional vector search (sqlite-vec/Ollama) fused via Reciprocal Rank Fusion
  • Token-budget packing returns ranked, pruned context chunks without calling a model to summarize
  • MCP server exposes search_memory / sync_project / get_status for agent integration
  • Cross-project queries over all initialized repos; content-addressed nodes (sha256) avoid duplicate ingestion

Cons / Limitations

  • Requires Node 22+ (Node 20 unsupported due to better-sqlite3 prebuilds)
  • Vector/semantic search needs a local Ollama instance to be enabled
  • Young project (v0.3.1) — smaller community and fewer integrations than mature memory layers

💰 Pricing Plans

Free (Open Source, MIT)

Pricing details are gathered from public sources and are subject to change. Please visit the official website for real-time rates.

Last updated: July 2026 · 9bests editorial review

Who should use NexusMem

  • Records shell commands with exit codes, git history (per-file patches), and project docs into a local SQLite DB
  • Hybrid retrieval: BM25 (FTS5) + optional vector search (sqlite-vec/Ollama) fused via Reciprocal Rank Fusion
  • Token-budget packing returns ranked, pruned context chunks without calling a model to summarize
  • MCP server exposes search_memory / sync_project / get_status for agent integration
  • Cross-project queries over all initialized repos; content-addressed nodes (sha256) avoid duplicate ingestion

⚠️ Who should look elsewhere

  • Requires Node 22+ (Node 20 unsupported due to better-sqlite3 prebuilds)
  • Vector/semantic search needs a local Ollama instance to be enabled
  • Young project (v0.3.1) — smaller community and fewer integrations than mature memory layers

🎯 Common use cases

Autocompleting and refactoring code

Multi-file AI edits

Debugging and test generation

⚖️ NexusMem vs Cursor

NexusMem Cursor
Rating 4.3/5 4.8/5
Pricing Free (Open Source, MIT) Free / $20/mo
Key strength Records shell commands with exit codes, git history (per-file patches), and project docs into a local SQLite DB Best AI code editor

See the full head-to-head in our NexusMem vs Cursor comparison.

❓ Frequently asked questions

Is NexusMem free?

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NexusMem offers a free tier (Free (Open Source, MIT)). Paid plans unlock higher limits and advanced features.

What is NexusMem best for?

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NexusMem is best for Records shell commands with exit codes, git history (per-file patches), and project docs into a local SQLite DB and Hybrid retrieval: BM25 (FTS5) + optional vector search (sqlite-vec/Ollama) fused via Reciprocal Rank Fusion. NexusMem is a local, zero-cloud memory engine for coding agents that indexes shell history with exit codes, per-file git diffs, and project docs into a local SQLite database, then serves token-budgeted context snippets over MCP — no account, no telemetry.

How does NexusMem compare to Cursor?

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NexusMem (4.3/5) and Cursor (4.8/5) serve overlapping needs. NexusMem stands out for Records shell commands with exit codes, git history (per-file patches), and project docs into a local SQLite DB, while Cursor is stronger at Best AI code editor. Choose based on your priority.

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