Graphiti MCP Demo

We are implementing an MCP server and AI agent integration to leverage Zep's Graphiti for persistent memory and context continuity across Cursor and Claude. This will allow AI agents hosted on Cursor and Claude to connect to the MCP for dynamic tool discovery, select the optimal tool for a given query, and formulate responses informed by past interactions, all while Graphiti ensures consistent context across both client platforms.

We use:

Graphiti by Zep AI as a memory layer for an AI agent
Cursor and Claude (as MCP Hosts)

Set Up

Follow these steps to set up the project before running the MCP server.

Prerequisites

Python 3.10 or higher
uv package manager (recommended) or pip
Neo4j database (use free Neo4j Aura cloud instance or any Neo4j instance)
OpenRouter API key (recommended) or OpenAI API key

Install Dependencies

Using uv (recommended):

uv sync

Or using pip:

pip install -e .

Or install dependencies directly:

pip install mcp neo4j openai python-dotenv

Configuration

Before running the MCP server, you need to configure the environment variables.

Copy the example environment file:
```
cp .env.example .env
```
Edit the .env file with your actual credentials:
- Replace NEO4J_URI with your Neo4j connection string
- Replace NEO4J_PASSWORD with your Neo4j password
- Replace <your_openrouter_api_key> with your OpenRouter API key (or use OPENAI_API_KEY for OpenAI)
- Adjust MODEL_NAME if needed

See .env.example for the complete configuration template.

Important:

Neo4j Setup: Get a free Neo4j Aura instance at https://neo4j.com/cloud/aura/ (recommended) or use any Neo4j instance
For Neo4j Aura, use the URI format neo4j+s://xxxxx.databases.neo4j.io (note the +s for secure connection)
Replace <your_openrouter_api_key> with your actual OpenRouter API key (get one at https://openrouter.ai)
Or use OPENAI_API_KEY if you prefer to use OpenAI directly
Model names for OpenRouter should be in format provider/model-name (e.g., openai/gpt-4o-mini, anthropic/claude-3-haiku)

Use MCP Server

Run MCP Server

Simple Method (Recommended):

Use the provided script:

.\run-server.ps1

Or run directly:

For Cursor (SSE transport):

# Using uv
uv run graphiti_mcp_server.py --transport sse --port 8000

# Or using python directly
python graphiti_mcp_server.py --transport sse --port 8000

For Claude (stdio transport):

uv run graphiti_mcp_server.py --transport stdio

The server will connect to your Neo4j instance (configured in .env) and start listening for connections.

Note: Make sure your .env file has the correct Neo4j connection details before starting the server.

Available Tools

The MCP server provides the following tools:

store_memory: Store a memory or context in the graph database for future retrieval
retrieve_memories: Retrieve relevant memories from the graph database based on a query
create_relationship: Create a relationship between two memories or entities in the graph
get_context: Get contextual information for a given query by retrieving and synthesizing relevant memories
search_graph: Search the graph database using Cypher query

Web UI Demo

A beautiful web interface is available to interact with the Graphiti MCP Server:

Start the Web UI:

.\run-web-ui.ps1

Or directly:

python web_ui_server.py

Then open your browser to: http://localhost:8081 (or the port specified)

The web UI provides:

Store Memory: Add new memories with tags and metadata
Retrieve Memories: Search for relevant memories using semantic search
Get Context: Get synthesized context from multiple memories
Create Relationships: Link memories together in the knowledge graph
Search Graph: Execute custom Cypher queries
Browse All: View all stored memories

Need example values? See WEB_UI_EXAMPLES.md for ready-to-use examples for each form!

Example Usage

For comprehensive examples and use cases, see:

EXAMPLE_USAGE.md: Detailed examples showing how to use each tool with real-world scenarios
example_usage.py: Python script demonstrating programmatic usage of the MCP server tools

To run the example script:

python example_usage.py

Integrate MCP Clients

Cursor Configuration

Create or modify the mcp.json file in your Cursor configuration directory with the following content:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Graphiti": {
      "url": "http://localhost:8000/sse"
    }
  }
}

Note: The exact location of the mcp.json file depends on your Cursor installation. Typically, it's in:

Windows: %APPDATA%\Cursor\User\globalStorage\mcp.json
macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Cursor/User/globalStorage/mcp.json
Linux: ~/.config/Cursor/User/globalStorage/mcp.json

Claude Desktop Configuration

Create or modify the claude_desktop_config.json file (typically located at ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS, or similar paths on other platforms) with the following content:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "graphiti": {
      "transport": "stdio",
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--isolated",
        "--directory",
        "/path/to/graphiti_mcp",
        "--project",
        ".",
        "graphiti_mcp_server.py",
        "--transport",
        "stdio"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Important: Update the --directory path to match your actual project directory path.

Alternatively, if you have uv in your PATH, you can use:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "graphiti": {
      "transport": "stdio",
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--isolated",
        "--directory",
        "/path/to/graphiti_mcp",
        "graphiti_mcp_server.py",
        "--transport",
        "stdio"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Architecture

The Graphiti MCP server uses:

Neo4j: Graph database for storing memories and relationships
OpenRouter/OpenAI: For generating embeddings and synthesizing context (OpenRouter recommended for access to multiple models)
MCP Protocol: For communication with AI agent hosts (Cursor, Claude)

Memories are stored as nodes in Neo4j with:

Content (text)
Embeddings (vector representations)
Metadata (optional key-value pairs)
Tags (for categorization)
Timestamps

Relationships between memories can be created to build a knowledge graph.

Troubleshooting

Connection Issues

Neo4j Connection Error: Ensure Neo4j is running and accessible at the configured URI
OpenRouter/OpenAI API Error: Verify your API key is correct and has sufficient credits
- For OpenRouter: Check your API key at https://openrouter.ai/keys
- For OpenAI: Check your API key at https://platform.openai.com/api-keys
MCP Server Not Starting: Check that all dependencies are installed correctly

Neo4j Connection Issues

Neo4j Connection Error:
- Ensure your Neo4j instance is running and accessible
- For Neo4j Aura: Check that your IP is whitelisted in Aura settings
- Verify the URI format: Use neo4j+s:// for Aura, bolt:// for local instances
- Test connection manually using Neo4j Browser or cypher-shell
Connection Timeout:
- Check your firewall settings
- Verify the Neo4j URI, username, and password in .env
- For Aura, ensure your IP address is whitelisted in the Aura dashboard

Performance

For better vector search performance, consider setting up Neo4j's vector index
The current implementation uses a simplified similarity search; for production, use Neo4j's Graph Data Science library

Development

Running Tests

pytest

Code Formatting

black graphiti_mcp_server.py
ruff check graphiti_mcp_server.py

License

This project is open source and available under the MIT License.

Contribution

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to fork this repository and submit pull requests with your improvements.