AgentIndex icon
AgentIndex
origin logo
origin
★ 86
vs
context-mode logo
context-mode
★ 31.8k

origin vs context-mode

origin: Origin provides a local memory and knowledge system for AI workflows, enabling agents to recall past context, capture decisions and lessons, and distill them into versioned wiki pages. It uses hybrid retrieval (vector + FTS + graph) and git versioning for auditable, refreshable context.; context-mode: Every tool call in an MCP (Model-Controller-Program) environment dumps raw data into the context window, quickly consuming space and causing the agent to lose track of ongoing tasks. Context Mode is an MCP server that tackles this by sandboxing tool outputs to significantly reduce context usage, tracking session events in SQLite for continuity, and promoting 'think in code' to minimize data processing within the LLM.

01

TL;DR

origin logo
originMemory & Context · ★ 86

Maintaining persistent context across AI work sessions

Read origin full review →
context-mode logo
context-modeMemory & Context · ★ 31.8k
When to choose:
  • Your sessions fill up with tool output such as Playwright snapshots, GitHub issue lists or logs.
  • You want work state (edits, git operations, tasks, decisions) to survive context compaction without being dumped back into the window.
  • You use a hook-capable agent, where tool routing happens automatically.
When to skip:
  • You need an OSI open-source licence: it uses the Elastic License 2.0, which restricts uses such as offering it as a managed service.
  • Your sessions are short and rarely hit the context limit.
  • You do not want hooks changing how your agent's tools behave.
Read context-mode full review →
02

Side-by-Side Comparison

Field
origin logoorigin
context-mode logocontext-mode
Category
Memory & Context
Memory & Context
Stars
★ 86
★ 31.8k
License
Apache-2.0
Elastic License 2.0
Install Command
npx -y @7xuanlu/origin setup
npm install -g context-mode
Updated
1d ago
1d ago
Open Source
Yes
Yes
Website
↗ Visit
↗ Visit
GitHub
↗ GitHub
↗ GitHub
Tags
agent-memory, ai-agents, ai-memory
antigravity, claude, claude-code
03

Features

origin logoorigin
01Composition of memories into pages and entity graph linking
02Real git versioning for every memory write
03Mandatory provenance with refreshable wiki pages
04Hybrid retrieval: vector, FTS, and graph context
05Background enrichment, deduplication, and confidence decay
context-mode logocontext-mode
01Context Saving: Sandbox tools keep raw data out of the context window, achieving up to 98% reduction.
02Session Continuity: Tracks every file edit, git operation, task, and user decision in SQLite for seamless session resume.
03Think in Code: Promotes LLMs to program analysis, not compute it, saving 100x context by logging only results.
04Batch Execution & Search: Run multiple commands/queries in one call with tools like `ctx_batch_execute`.
05Advanced Knowledge Base: Uses SQLite FTS5 with BM25 ranking, smart snippets, and TTL cache for efficient information retrieval.
04

Use Cases

origin logoorigin
↳Maintaining persistent context across AI work sessions
↳Capturing and retrieving decisions, lessons, and project facts
↳Distilling related memories into searchable wiki pages
context-mode logocontext-mode
↳Deep repository research and analysis (e.g., architecture, contributors, issues)
↳Analyze Git history to identify top contributors, commit frequency, and most changed files
↳Efficiently process large JSON APIs, web pages, or logs without flooding the context window
05

Best For

origin logoorigin
—
context-mode logocontext-mode
Most PopularTrending
FAQ

FAQ

What is the difference between origin and context-mode?
Both origin and context-mode are in the Memory & Context category. origin has 86 stars, while context-mode has 31.8k stars.
Which is better, origin or context-mode?
The best choice depends on your use case. Choose origin if Maintaining persistent context across AI work sessions, and context-mode if Deep repository research and analysis (e.g., architecture, contributors, issues).
Is origin free or open source?
Yes, origin is open source on GitHub (Apache-2.0).
Is context-mode free or open source?
Yes, context-mode is open source on GitHub (Elastic License 2.0).
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Related

Alternatives to origin →Alternatives to context-mode →origin details →context-mode details →context-mode vs headroom →Trail-Code vs context-mode →