brain — the recorder

Name: brain — the recorder
Author: mordechaipotash

by mordechaipotashversion 2.0.0i★ –iRuns on your computer

Registry nameio.github.mordechaipotash/brain-mcp

Install

Overview

Description from the maker (original English)

Records your Claude Code, Codex and Pi history before deletion. Cited-or-abstain recall.

PopNx MCP’s three pillars

These three are never merged into one score: opinions, measurements and popularity are different things.

User voiceiNo reviews yetReviews open together with accounts in a later step
Our basic checksi1 of 1 passedChecked from public information; code not scanned yet
UsageiVery new↓ 179/wk · ★ –

What you can do with it

We have not written a plain-language summary for this one yet. Below are the facts we read from the registry.

Connection: Runs on your computer
Transport: stdio
Category: Developer tools

Install

Pick the AI app you use, then copy the settings.

Before you install

Basic checks: 1 of 1 passed
Runs on your computer with your user’s permissions (files, network, apps).
You fill in yourself: BRAIN_HOME

You need

PyPIPython’s uv installed (for the uvx command)

Which app do you use?

ClaudeClaude CodeCursorVS CodeChatGPT

Pick your app above. We remember it, so next time the button says “Install in …”.

Open Claude Desktop → Settings → Developer → Edit Config, and paste this into claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "brain": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "brain-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "BRAIN_HOME": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}

Run this in your terminal

claude mcp add brain --env BRAIN_HOME=your-value -- uvx brain-mcp

Fill in the empty values before running it.

Open in Cursor

Or copy the settings yourself

Paste into .cursor/mcp.json in your project, or ~/.cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "brain": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "brain-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "BRAIN_HOME": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}

Your browser asks to open the app, then the app shows the settings and asks you to confirm. Key values are left empty for you to fill in.

Open in VS Code

Or copy the settings yourself

Paste into .vscode/mcp.json in your project

{
  "servers": {
    "brain": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "brain-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "BRAIN_HOME": "your-value"
      }
    }
  }
}

Your browser asks to open the app, then the app shows the settings and asks you to confirm. Key values are left empty for you to fill in.

This one runs on your computer, and ChatGPT can only connect to servers on the internet. Pick another app.

Your choice stays on this device in a cookie; no account needed.

Values you fill in

BRAIN_HOME env
Data directory for the floor (default ~/.brain)

These settings are generated from the maker’s registry entry. If the README says otherwise, follow the README.

What it can do

Runs on your computer; the tool list appears in your AI app after you install it.

Basic checksi

We check information anyone can see; we have not read the code. Checks that do not apply are left out of the count. · Checked Nov 9, 2026

✓ Pass
Maker matches the repo
The registry name was verified with the GitHub account mordechaipotash, which owns the repo
… Not checked yet
Still maintained
We have not read this repo from GitHub yet
… Not checked yet
Has a licence
We have not read this repo from GitHub yet
– Not applicable
Endpoint responds
This one runs on your computer; there is no internet endpoint
– Not applicable
Sign-in with OAuth
Runs on your computer and uses local settings instead
… Not checked yet
No hidden instructions in tool descriptions
Runs on your computer; we can only read tool lists from internet endpoints

Compared with others in Developer toolsi

More stars than 0% of the other 5597 servers in this category
Published to the registry more recently than 48% of the other 5597 servers in this category
Basic checks equal to or better than 100% of the other 5597 servers in this category

Compared with every active server in this category in the registry. Stars count only when the publisher owns the repo.

Common questions

Is brain — the recorder safe?

It passed 1 of 1 applicable basic checks. We have not read the code. Before adding a key or token, see what access the server asks for and use a key with only the permissions you need.

What keys or codes does it need?

The registry does not list a required key, though some servers ask you to sign in on first use.

Does it run on my computer or in the cloud?

It runs on your computer. Your AI app starts it when needed, and data does not pass through the maker’s servers (unless it calls an online service itself).

Is it still maintained?

The GitHub repo last changed –, and the latest version (2.0.0) reached the registry 36 days ago.

Which apps can use it?

Apps that support MCP, such as Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor and VS Code. You also need Python (uv) on your computer.

What can I use instead?

In the same category: GitHub, Desktop Commander, Cloudflare MCP

Alternatives

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Reading a card:↓ Downloads per weeki★ GitHub starsiThree pillars: reviews · checks · usageiUpdated = latest version published to the registryi

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README from the maker

Open the README

Copied from the maker’s repo as written. PopNx MCP has not reviewed or endorsed it. HTML, images and scripts are removed. Links lead off this site.

brain-mcp — the recorder for your AI conversations

Your AI history is being deleted right now. Claude Code deletes session files older than cleanupPeriodDays (default 30) at startup. Run this and see your own cliff edge:

# macOS

find ~/.claude/projects -name '*.jsonl' -exec stat -f '%Sm %N' -t '%Y-%m-%d' {} + | sort | head -3

Linux

find ~/.claude/projects -name '*.jsonl' -printf '%TY-%Tm-%Td %p\n' | sort | head -3

The oldest date you see is where your history ends. brain-mcp records it before it goes — the whole session, subagent transcripts and saved tool output included, byte-exact, content-hashed, locally — makes it queryable with citations you can verify with sed and shasum, tells you what was deleted, and puts it back.

If Claude Code deleted it

brain-mcp health          # the receipt: "3 session(s) and 41 file(s) are gone from where the

agent kept them; the floor holds every one" — each re-hashed

against the manifest when the recorder first noticed it

brain-mcp restore --list # what can be put back brain-mcp restore # writes the session (and its folder) back, byte-exact, then:

cd && claude --resume

restore never overwrites different bytes (identical bytes are a no-op), is all-or-nothing, and takes --dry-run and --to . It is a CLI verb only — no MCP tool writes outside the floor.

Install

pipx install brain-mcp           # or: uvx brain-mcp

brain-mcp install cc # CC hooks + 60-second scheduler brain-mcp serve # the MCP server (stdio) — add to your client config

Or as a Claude Code plugin (hooks + server in one step):

/plugin marketplace add mordechaipotash/brain-marketplace

/plugin install brain

What it does

Captures at source. Claude Code via Stop/SessionEnd hooks (line-deltas + a final snapshot); Codex, Pi, and everything inside a Claude Code session's own folder (subagent and workflow transcripts, .meta.json, tool-results/) via a 60-second poll-scan. One spool, one floor.
Keeps the bytes. The floor is ~/.brain/lake/ / .jsonl — append-only, byte-identical to the original, with an append-only sha256 manifest. Nothing is parsed and discarded; the DuckDB index is a cache, fully re-derivable from the lake.
Cites or abstains. Every search hit carries {file, line span, sha256} — checkable by anyone with sed -n 'A,Bp' file | shasum -a 256, no database required. Zero hits return an explicit abstention naming the lanes and dates actually searched.
Reports health honestly. fresh = the floor holds everything the agent's files show; stale = the agent has content the recorder missed; `unknown` = unmeasured, not healthy — never folded into "looks fine".
Backs up verifiably. brain-mcp backup syncs lake+manifest and re-hashes sampled files at the destination. The verify can fail; that is the point.
One network fetch, ever, and it is not about you. No telemetry, no cloud, no accounts, and no HTTP client in this package. The exception: DuckDB downloads its full-text-search extension (fts) from DuckDB's own extension repository the first time the index is built, and caches it under ~/.duckdb. brain-mcp install does that fetch up front and says so; brain-mcp doctor reports whether it is cached.

The 7 MCP tools

tool	what
`brain_search`	BM25 over everything recorded; cited hits or an explicit abstention
`brain_get`	the raw lines behind a citation, with sha verification
`brain_recent`	time-ordered recent activity, every row cited
`brain_sessions`	session cards per day/agent
`brain_health`	per-lane origin-vs-floor freshness (unknown ≠ healthy), plus the receipt of what the agents deleted
`brain_capture_status`	is the machinery itself moving (spool, heartbeats, floor)
`brain_backup`	verified backup; writes only outside the floor

🤖 For AI Assistants

*You're reading this because your human runs THE RECORDER and gave you access to their AI history. This is the honesty contract.*

The one rule: everything you state from these tools is either CITED or ABSTAINED — there is no third state. A cited claim carries a checkable pointer (file + line span + sha256); verify it with brain_get(expect_sha256=...) before building on it. An abstention means "not found above threshold in the lanes and dates the tool measured" — it does NOT mean "it never happened". Never fill an abstention with your own guess.

Present recall as their words, dated: *"On 2026-08-19 you wrote: '…' (sess-7f2a.jsonl:412)"* — never as your own knowledge. One claim, one citation.
verified: false from brain_get means the floor changed since indexing. Say so plainly.
A health response containing any unknown lane is never "everything looks fine". The honest sentence is: "2 lanes fresh, 1 stale, 1 unmeasured."
"What do I think about X" → brain_search(query, role="user"). That returns what the PERSON wrote: text the harness injected under the user role (skill bodies, reminders, slash-command wrappers, compaction summaries, Codex context blocks — a quarter to two thirds of "user" rows, measured) is excluded unless you pass include_machine=True, and subagent transcripts unless include_subagents=True. "How did my thinking evolve" → add order="time_asc"; bound it with since / until. The server has no opinion about your human's mind; it has their words, with receipts.

The floor format

~/.brain/

spool/ / hooks + scanner write here (atomic, dot-tmp invisible) lake/ / .jsonl THE FLOOR: append-only, byte-identical to the origin; a rewrite opens .g2.jsonl — old kept, never deleted lake/cc_sessiondir/ / /... a CC session's folder, mirrored at the same relative paths (subagents/, tool-results/, *.meta.json) manifest/manifest.jsonl one versioned line per chunk: byte range, line range, sha256 offsets/ / hook fast-path line counters health/*.last_run side-effect heartbeats (mtimes are the proof, never a report) brain.duckdb the index — a cache, re-derivable from lake/ + manifest/

Where your agents keep their transcripts: Claude Code ~/.claude/projects/**/*.jsonl (rolling window!), Codex ~/.codex/sessions/YYYY/MM/DD/rollout-*.jsonl, Pi ~/.pi/agent/sessions/**/*.jsonl.

Other verbs

brain-mcp record                  # one capture tick (the scheduler runs this every 60s)

brain-mcp health [--exit-nonzero-on-stale] # cron-able brain-mcp doctor # capture status, health, fts cache, the receipt, runaway generations brain-mcp restore [ ] [--list] [--to DIR] [--dry-run] # put a deleted session back brain-mcp redact --lines A B --reason "..." # tombstone a secret; audited in manifest brain-mcp migrate-v1 # import v1 data (marked v1_derived) brain-mcp uninstall # removes hooks + scheduler; your floor is KEPT

v1 → v2

v2 is a rebuild around one principle: capture the bytes first; derive everything else. v1 parsed conversations into a parquet and discarded the originals — v2's floor makes that structurally impossible. v1's 25 tools became 7: the synthesis tools ("cognitive patterns", "switching cost") are gone because a claim that can't carry a line-span citation isn't one this server makes. Migration: brain-mcp migrate-v1 — v1 rows are kept, marked as derived, and floor-backed rows win wherever the source still exists.

Windows: out of scope for v2.0. Scheduling is LaunchAgent (macOS) / systemd user timer (Linux).

MIT.

brain — the recorder

Overview

PopNx MCP’s three pillars

What you can do with it

Install

Before you install

Values you fill in

What it can do

Basic checksi

Maker matches the repo

Still maintained

Has a licence

Endpoint responds

Sign-in with OAuth

No hidden instructions in tool descriptions

Compared with others in Developer toolsi

Common questions

Alternatives

GitHub

Desktop Commander

Cloudflare MCP

README from the maker

brain-mcp — the recorder for your AI conversations

Linux

If Claude Code deleted it

agent kept them; the floor holds every one" — each re-hashed

against the manifest when the recorder first noticed it

cd && claude --resume

Install

What it does

The 7 MCP tools

🤖 For AI Assistants

The floor format

Other verbs

v1 → v2