AgentIndex icon
AgentIndex
hippocampus logo
hippocampus
★ 13
vs
context-mode logo
context-mode
★ 31.8k

hippocampus vs context-mode

hippocampus: Hippocampus is an open-source, self-hosted MCP memory server that provides persistent, cross-platform memory for AI assistants. Deploy once and connect to multiple AI platforms such as Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Cursor, and Perplexity, enabling them to share and recall context seamlessly. It uses a knowledge graph with local embeddings and encrypts the database at rest.; 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

hippocampus logo
hippocampusMemory & Context · ★ 13

Store and recall personal preferences across different AI assistants

Read hippocampus 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
hippocampus logohippocampus
context-mode logocontext-mode
Category
Memory & Context
Memory & Context
Stars
★ 13
★ 31.8k
License
AGPL-3.0
Elastic License 2.0
Install Command
git clone https://github.com/karrolcia/hippocampus.git && cd hippocampus && npm install && cp .env.example .env && npm run dev
npm install -g context-mode
Updated
1d ago
1d ago
Open Source
Yes
Yes
Website
↗ Visit
↗ Visit
GitHub
↗ GitHub
↗ GitHub
Tags
ai, chatgpt, claude
antigravity, claude, claude-code
03

Features

hippocampus logohippocampus
01Cross-platform memory sharing across major AI tools via MCP protocol
02Knowledge graph storage with entities, observations, and relationships
03Semantic search using local embeddings (all-MiniLM-L6-v2)
04AES-256 database encryption via SQLCipher, including embedding vectors
05Self-contained OAuth 2.1 authentication with PKCE
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

hippocampus logohippocampus
↳Store and recall personal preferences across different AI assistants
↳Maintain project context and decisions when switching between AI tools
↳Avoid repeating information when using multiple AI platforms simultaneously
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

hippocampus logohippocampus
—
context-mode logocontext-mode
Most PopularTrending
FAQ

FAQ

What is the difference between hippocampus and context-mode?
Both hippocampus and context-mode are in the Memory & Context category. hippocampus has 13 stars, while context-mode has 31.8k stars.
Which is better, hippocampus or context-mode?
The best choice depends on your use case. Choose hippocampus if Store and recall personal preferences across different AI assistants, and context-mode if Deep repository research and analysis (e.g., architecture, contributors, issues).
Is hippocampus free or open source?
Yes, hippocampus is open source on GitHub (AGPL-3.0).
Is context-mode free or open source?
Yes, context-mode is open source on GitHub (Elastic License 2.0).
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