Artel

Name: Artel
Author: NicolasPrimeau

by NicolasPrimeauversion 0.17.1i★ –iRuns in the cloud

Registry nameio.github.NicolasPrimeau/artel

Install

Overview

Description from the maker (original English)

Self-hosted shared-memory & coordination mesh for AI agent fleets. You host it; agents connect.

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★ –

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 in the cloud
Transport: Streamable HTTP
Category: Search & AI memory
You need to fill in: X-Agent-Id, X-Api-Key

Install

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

Before you install

Basic checks: 1 of 1 passed
Runs on the maker’s server: what you ask it goes through their server.
You fill in yourself: X-Agent-Id, X-Api-Key

Values marked secret are keys to your account. Never share them or paste them into a chat.

You need

Runs in the cloudNothing to install; it connects over the internet

Which app do you use?

ClaudeClaude CodeCursorVS CodeChatGPT

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

This address needs a key in a request header, which the add-connector menu cannot set. Use Claude Code, Cursor or VS Code instead.

Run this in your terminal

claude mcp add --transport http artel 'https://{artel_host}/mcp' --header 'X-Agent-Id: your-value' --header 'X-Api-Key: your-value'

Fill in the empty values before running it.

The address contains {…} parts that only you know (such as your account), so copy it and fill them in.

Or copy the settings yourself

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

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "artel": {
      "url": "https://{artel_host}/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "X-Agent-Id": "your-value",
        "X-Api-Key": "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.

The address contains {…} parts that only you know (such as your account), so copy it and fill them in.

Or copy the settings yourself

Paste into .vscode/mcp.json in your project

{
  "servers": {
    "artel": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://{artel_host}/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "X-Agent-Id": "your-value",
        "X-Api-Key": "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 address needs a key in a request header, which the add-connector menu cannot set. Use Claude Code, Cursor or VS Code instead.

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

Values you fill in

X-Agent-Id required HTTP header
Your agent_id on the Artel instance
X-Api-Key secret required HTTP header
Your agent API key on the Artel instance

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

What it can do

We have not read this server’s tool list yet; we check endpoints in rotation.

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 8, 2026

✓ Pass
Maker matches the repo
The registry name was verified with the GitHub account NicolasPrimeau, 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
The address needs your own account values, so we cannot check it for you
– Not applicable
Sign-in with OAuth
The address needs your own account values, so we cannot check it for you
… Not checked yet
No hidden instructions in tool descriptions
Not checked yet; we read the tool list when we check the endpoint

Compared with others in Search & AI memoryi

More stars than 0% of the other 5689 servers in this category
Published to the registry more recently than 15% of the other 5689 servers in this category
Basic checks equal to or better than 100% of the other 5689 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 Artel 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?

You need to fill in: X-Agent-Id, X-Api-Key

Does it run on my computer or in the cloud?

It runs in the maker’s cloud. Connect over the internet with nothing to install, but what you send passes through the maker’s servers.

Is it still maintained?

The GitHub repo last changed –, and the latest version (0.17.1) reached the registry 5 months ago.

Which apps can use it?

Apps that support MCP, such as Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor and VS Code. It connects by URL, so apps that accept remote MCP servers work too, such as ChatGPT in developer mode.

What can I use instead?

In the same category: Context7, Codebase Memory, Exa

Alternatives

Servers in the same category from other makers, sorted by stars.

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

Context7

Feeds AI the latest docs for libraries and frameworks before it answers, so code it writes does not use outdated, removed functions.

by upstashWidely used↓ 972.7K/wk★ 64.2KUpdated 2 days ago

Computer or cloud

Install

Codebase Memory

Codebase knowledge graph for AI agents — 162 languages, sub-ms queries, 99% fewer tokens.

by DeusDataWidely used↓ 18K/wk★ 48.1KUpdated 22 days ago

Runs on your computer

Install

Exa

Connect AI agents to Exa for web search, content fetching, and multi-step research.

by exa-labsGrowing★ 5.2KUpdated 2 months ago

Runs in the cloud✓ exa.ai

Install

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.

Artel

Your fleet's smart notepad. One that learns.

One pad that you and every agent you run write into. Whatever any of you figures out is written down once and handed back the moment it matters: the gotcha about *this* file right before you edit it, where you stopped on Friday, the thing another agent already learned the hard way. Nothing to file, nothing to tag, nothing to look up. A normal notepad waits to be opened; this one speaks up, in one line, and stays quiet when it has nothing worth saying, which is most of the time.

It also doesn't just accumulate. A background archivist works the pile while you're gone, so the pad gets sharper the more the fleet uses it. What one session learns at 3am, the rest know by morning; nobody solves the same thing twice.

You run it on your own machine. None of it goes to anyone's cloud.

What that looks like

An agent is about to…	Artel says	who wrote it
edit `auth.py`	"the token refresh silently no-ops when the clock skews"	a different agent, last month
start work Monday	"Friday you stopped mid-migration; here's where"	you, before the weekend
debug a flaky test	"seen in March: it was the shared fixture, not the test"	an agent on another machine
ask a question	the one note that answers it, or nothing at all	whoever hit it first

Nobody opened a file to find any of that, and nobody had to know who to ask.

Quick start

There is no public instance to point at. This is your notepad, so you run it. One container, one port:

curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NicolasPrimeau/artel/master/docker-compose.yml

curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NicolasPrimeau/artel/master/.env.example cp .env.example .env

edit .env: set UI_PASSWORD, and a key for the archivist if you want one

(ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, or OPENROUTER_API_KEY with ARCHIVIST_PROVIDER=openrouter)

docker compose up -d

API + UI at http:// :8000, MCP at http:// :8000/mcp. Images at ghcr.io/nicolasprimeau/artel:edge.

Once running, register an agent:

curl -fsSL http://<host>:8000/onboard | sh

mDNS note: the mdns service uses network_mode: host and only works on Linux. Remove it on Mac/Windows Docker Desktop.

Under the hood

A server, a database, and a librarian. Notes go in over HTTP or MCP, embeddings make them findable by meaning rather than keyword, and everything below the queue happens without an agent asking for it.

  you · Claude Code · opencode · Claude API · AutoGen

│ push: notes/skills/gotchas in ┄ capture: sessions out ▼ REST / MCP ──► Artel Server ──► SQLite (WAL) + embeddings ├── notes: semantic search · confidence decay · knowledge graph ├── captures queue ──► archivist compaction ──► notes ├── procedures · decisions · session handoffs └── archivist: capture · synthesis · merge · decay · promote │ mesh (CRDT feeds + mDNS) ◄──► your other machines

What's inside

Each of these has a page in the docs; this is the map.


[The plugin](https://artel.run/docs/plugin/)	The half that speaks up. One line when a note is close to what the agent is doing, silence otherwise. Agents never have to call anything.
[Capture](https://artel.run/docs/capture/)	Sessions become notes on their own, spooled in ~10 ms so writing never slows an agent down.
[Archivist](https://artel.run/docs/archivist/)	The part that learns: merges duplicates, resolves contradictions, decays what stopped being true, promotes what held up.
[Compile mode](https://artel.run/docs/compile-mode/)	Notes about code pinned to the code, so they re-derive instead of rotting.
[Procedures](https://artel.run/docs/blueprints/)	A written skill compiled into steps. The server checks each against the repository and the agent is handed the next one when the last is really done.
[Decisions](https://artel.run/docs/decisions/)	Append-only record of what you chose and why. Never merged, never decayed.
[Mesh and feeds](https://artel.run/docs/mesh/)	Several machines converging as CRDTs, plus RSS/Atom subscriptions from the outside world.
[Dashboard](https://artel.run/docs/dashboard/)	Browse, search, and watch the fleet from a browser.

Five kinds of note, with different lifespans: memory (fades if it stops being true), doc (settled reference), directive (standing instruction, never fades), skill (how to do a thing), compiled (pinned to source).

Any agent that speaks HTTP or MCP joins: Claude Code, OpenCode, Zed, a raw httpx script. See connecting clients.

REST API

All requests require X-Agent-ID and X-API-Key headers (except /agents/self-register and /onboard).

[Full REST reference →](https://artel.run/docs/reference/rest/) covers every endpoint, generated from the OpenAPI schema. [MCP tool reference →](https://artel.run/docs/reference/mcp-tools/) lists all 47 tools an agent can call.

A running server also serves interactive docs at /docs and the raw schema at openapi.json.

Configuration

Configured entirely through environment variables (or a .env file). The essentials:

Variable	Description
`AGENT_KEYS`	`agent-id:api-key` pairs, comma-separated. Optional `:proj1;proj2` suffix scopes an agent to projects.
`UI_PASSWORD`	Password for the dashboard.
`ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`	Enables the archivist. Without it, Artel runs in passive mode.
`REGISTRATION_KEY`	Required by `/agents/self-register`. Unset disables open registration.
`PUBLIC_URL`	Externally reachable base URL, used in OAuth metadata and onboarding.

[Full configuration reference →](https://artel.run/docs/reference/configuration/) covers all 56 settings across the server, MCP adapter, and archivist, generated from the settings classes.

Development

uv sync --dev

uv run pytest tests/ -v

License

MIT. See LICENSE.md.

Artel

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 Search & AI memoryi

Common questions

Alternatives

Context7

Codebase Memory

Exa

README from the maker

Artel

What that looks like

Quick start

edit .env: set UI_PASSWORD, and a key for the archivist if you want one

(ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, or OPENROUTER_API_KEY with ARCHIVIST_PROVIDER=openrouter)

Under the hood

What's inside

REST API

Configuration

Development

License