---
title: Cursor
description: "Add persistent memory to Cursor with the Mem0 plugin — MCP server, lifecycle hooks, and SDK skill for context-aware coding."
---

Add persistent memory to [**Cursor**](https://cursor.com) with the Mem0 plugin. Your AI assistant forgets everything between sessions — this plugin fixes that by connecting to Mem0's cloud memory layer via MCP, automatically capturing learnings at key lifecycle points, and retrieving relevant context before every response.

## Prerequisites

Before setting up Mem0 with Cursor, ensure you have:

1. A Mem0 Platform account and API key:
   - <a href="https://app.mem0.ai?utm_source=oss&utm_medium=integration-cursor" rel="nofollow">Sign up at app.mem0.ai</a>
   - <a href="https://app.mem0.ai/dashboard/api-keys?utm_source=oss&utm_medium=integration-cursor" rel="nofollow">Get your API key</a> (starts with `m0-`)

2. Cursor installed ([cursor.com](https://cursor.com))

3. Your API key added to your shell profile (persists across sessions):

<CodeGroup>
```bash zsh
echo 'export MEM0_API_KEY="m0-your-api-key"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc
```

```bash bash
echo 'export MEM0_API_KEY="m0-your-api-key"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
```
</CodeGroup>

<Warning>
  Already have `mem0` configured as an MCP server in Cursor? Remove the existing entry from your Cursor MCP settings before installing to avoid duplicate tools.
</Warning>

## Installation

### Option A — One-Click Deeplink (MCP Only)

The fastest way to get started. Click the link below to install the Mem0 MCP server directly in Cursor:

[Install Mem0 MCP in Cursor](cursor://anysphere.cursor-deeplink/mcp/install?name=mem0&config=eyJtY3BTZXJ2ZXJzIjp7Im1lbTAiOnsidXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9tY3AubWVtMC5haS9tY3AvIiwiaGVhZGVycyI6eyJBdXRob3JpemF0aW9uIjoiVG9rZW4gJHtlbnY6TUVNMF9BUElfS0VZfSJ9fX19)

### Option B — npx (MCP Only)

```bash
npx mcp-add \
  --name mem0-mcp \
  --type http \
  --url "https://mcp.mem0.ai/mcp" \
  --clients "cursor"
```

### Option C — Manual Configuration (MCP Only)

Add the following to your `.cursor/mcp.json`:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mem0": {
      "url": "https://mcp.mem0.ai/mcp/",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Token ${env:MEM0_API_KEY}"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

### Option D — Cursor Marketplace (Full Plugin)

Install from the [Cursor Marketplace](https://cursor.com/marketplace) for the complete experience including lifecycle hooks, the Mem0 SDK skill, and automatic memory capture.

<Info icon="check">
  Start a new Cursor session and ask: *"List my mem0 entities"* or *"Search my memories for hello"*. If the `mem0` tools appear and respond, you're all set.
</Info>

## What's Included

| Component | Marketplace Install | Deeplink / Manual / npx |
|-----------|:-------------------:|:-----------------------:|
| MCP Server (9 memory tools) | Yes | Yes |
| Lifecycle Hooks | Yes | No |
| Mem0 SDK Skill | Yes | No |

## Available MCP Tools

Once installed, the following tools are available in every Cursor session:

| Tool | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `add_memory` | Save text or conversation history for a user/agent |
| `search_memories` | Semantic search across memories with filters |
| `get_memories` | List memories with filters and pagination |
| `get_memory` | Retrieve a specific memory by ID |
| `update_memory` | Overwrite a memory's text by ID |
| `delete_memory` | Delete a single memory by ID |
| `delete_all_memories` | Bulk delete all memories in scope |
| `delete_entities` | Delete a user/agent/app/run entity and its memories |
| `list_entities` | List users/agents/apps/runs stored in Mem0 |

## Lifecycle Hooks (Marketplace Install)

When installed via the Cursor Marketplace, Mem0 hooks into Cursor's lifecycle:

| Hook | Event | What it does |
|------|-------|-------------|
| **Session start** | `sessionStart` | Loads prior memories and displays status banner |
| **User prompt** | `beforeSubmitPrompt` | Searches relevant memories before each message; skips short prompts |
| **Pre-tool (2 handlers)** | `preToolUse` | Blocks MEMORY.md writes, enforces `user_id`/`app_id` on mem0 tool calls |
| **Post-tool (2 handlers)** | `postToolUse` | Tracks stats, scans bash errors for related memories |
| **Pre-compact** | `preCompact` | Stores a session summary before context compaction |

## Example Workflow

```text
# Session 1: Debugging a performance issue
You: The API endpoint /users is taking 3 seconds. Help me optimize it.

# Cursor agent searches memories, proceeds with investigation.
# After completing the task, Mem0 stores:
#   - Learning: "N+1 query in UserService.getAll() — fixed with eager loading"
#   - Decision: "Added database index on users.email column"
#   - Preference: "User prefers query-level fixes over caching"

# Session 2 (next week): Similar issue
You: The /orders endpoint is also slow, same pattern as before.

# Agent searches memories, retrieves the optimization learnings.
# Immediately checks for N+1 queries and missing indexes.
```

## Troubleshooting

- **"Connection failed"** — Verify `MEM0_API_KEY` is set: `echo $MEM0_API_KEY`
- **Duplicate tools** — If you had a previous MCP config for `mem0`, remove it before installing the plugin
- **No tools appearing** — Go to Cursor Settings > MCP and verify the `mem0` server shows as connected
- **Hooks not running** — Hooks require the Marketplace install (Option D). Deeplink/manual installs only provide MCP tools.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Mem0 MCP Setup" icon="puzzle-piece" href="/platform/mem0-mcp">
    Detailed MCP configuration for all clients
  </Card>
  <Card title="Claude Code Integration" icon={<svg width="24" height="25" viewBox="0 0 24 25" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><path d="M5.92888 16.2181L9.86008 14.0122L9.92585 13.8199L9.86008 13.7137H9.66782L9.01009 13.6732L6.76369 13.6125L4.81581 13.5315L2.92863 13.4303L2.45304 13.3292L2.00781 12.7423L2.05335 12.4488L2.45304 12.1807L3.02476 12.2313L4.28962 12.3173L6.18692 12.4488L7.56309 12.5298L9.60204 12.7423H9.92585L9.97138 12.6107L9.86008 12.5298L9.77407 12.4488L7.811 11.1182L5.68603 9.71165L4.57295 8.90214L3.97088 8.49233L3.66731 8.10781L3.53577 7.26794L4.08219 6.66587L4.81581 6.71646L5.00301 6.76706L5.74674 7.33877L7.33541 8.56822L9.40979 10.0962L9.71335 10.3491L9.83478 10.2631L9.84996 10.2024L9.71335 9.97475L8.5851 7.93579L7.38095 5.86141L6.84465 5.00131L6.70298 4.48524C6.65239 4.27275 6.61697 4.09567 6.61697 3.87811L7.23928 3.03318L7.58332 2.92188L8.41307 3.03318L8.76218 3.33675L9.27824 4.5156L10.113 6.37242L11.4083 8.89708L11.7877 9.64588L11.9901 10.339L12.066 10.5515H12.1975V10.4301L12.3038 9.00839L12.5011 7.26288L12.6934 5.01649L12.7591 4.38406L13.0728 3.62514L13.6951 3.21532L14.1808 3.44806L14.5805 4.01978L14.5249 4.38912L14.2871 5.93225L13.8216 8.35066L13.5181 9.96969H13.6951L13.8975 9.76731L14.7171 8.67953L16.0933 6.95931L16.7005 6.27629L17.4088 5.52243L17.8641 5.16321H18.7242L19.3567 6.10427L19.0733 7.07568L18.1879 8.19888L17.4543 9.15006L16.4019 10.5667L15.7442 11.7L15.8049 11.7911L15.9618 11.7759L18.3397 11.27L19.6248 11.0372L21.1578 10.7741L21.851 11.0979L21.9269 11.4268L21.6537 12.0997L20.0144 12.5045L18.0918 12.889L15.2282 13.567L15.1927 13.5923L15.2332 13.6428L16.5234 13.7643L17.0749 13.7946H18.4257L20.9403 13.9818L21.598 14.4169L21.9926 14.9482L21.9269 15.3529L20.915 15.869L19.5489 15.5452L16.3615 14.7863L15.2686 14.5131H15.1168V14.6041L16.0275 15.4946L17.6972 17.0023L19.7867 18.9451L19.893 19.4258L19.6248 19.8053L19.3415 19.7648L17.5049 18.3835L16.7966 17.7612L15.1927 16.4104H15.0865V16.552L15.4558 17.0934L17.4088 20.0279L17.51 20.9285L17.3683 21.2219L16.8624 21.399L16.3058 21.2978L15.1624 19.6939L13.9835 17.8877L13.0324 16.2687L12.916 16.3345L12.3544 22.3805L12.0913 22.6891L11.4842 22.9219L10.9782 22.5374L10.7101 21.915L10.9782 20.6856L11.302 19.0818L11.5651 17.8068L11.8029 16.2232L11.9446 15.697L11.9345 15.6616L11.8181 15.6767L10.6241 17.316L8.80771 19.7698L7.37083 21.3079L7.02679 21.4445L6.42977 21.1359L6.48542 20.5844L6.81935 20.0936L8.80771 17.5639L10.0068 15.9955L10.7809 15.0898L10.7758 14.9583H10.7303L5.44824 18.3886L4.50718 18.51L4.10242 18.1306L4.15302 17.5083L4.34528 17.3059L5.93394 16.213L5.92888 16.2181Z" fill="currentColor"/></svg>} href="/integrations/claude-code">
    Add Mem0 memory to Claude Code workflows
  </Card>
</CardGroup>
