Contextly

Store your AI context once, recall it into any model. Contextly is a small MCP server that gives Claude, Cursor, and other MCP clients five tools to save and recall your context — so your notes, decisions, and working memory are portable across models and sessions.

It runs entirely on your machine and keeps everything in storage you own: local Markdown files by default, or your own Dropbox or Google Drive. There is no Contextly account, server, or cloud — nothing to sign up for, nothing to pay.

License: source-available under PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0. Free for personal and other noncommercial use. Commercial/business use needs a separate license — see License.

Tools

Easiest: Claude Desktop one-click install

Download Contextly.mcpb, double-click it, and click Install in Claude Desktop. No Node, no config file, no Terminal — Claude Desktop runs it for you. To sync via Dropbox/Drive, point the extension's "Where to save your context" setting at a synced folder.

For a friendly step-by-step version (and Cursor / cloud setup), see the setup guide.

Quick start (any client, local files — zero config)

Requires Node ≥ 18.

git clone https://github.com/mehdimerai/contextly.git && cd contextly
npm install
npm test        # smoke test against the local file store

Contexts are stored as Markdown in ~/.contextly/. Now point an MCP client at it.

Claude Desktop / Claude Code — add to your MCP config (claude_desktop_config.json, or claude mcp add):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "contextly": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/contextly/bin/contextly.js"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor — same shape in ~/.cursor/mcp.json under mcpServers.

Restart the client; you'll see the five tools. That's it — you're running on local files.

Bring your own storage

Same tools, same Markdown format — just stored in your cloud. Run the one-time connector, then restart your MCP client.

Dropbox

1. Create a Dropbox app at https://www.dropbox.com/developers/apps → Scoped access → App folder (this limits Contextly to its own Apps/<your-app>/ folder — it can never see the rest of your Dropbox).
2. On the app's Permissions tab, enable files.content.read and files.content.write.
3. On the Settings tab, add http://localhost:53682 as an OAuth 2 redirect URI, and copy the App key.
4. Connect:

   node bin/contextly-auth.js dropbox      # paste the App key when asked
   

   Your browser opens, you approve, and a refresh token is saved to ~/.contextly/config.json.

Google Drive

1. In the Google Cloud Console, create a project and enable the Google Drive API.
2. Configure the OAuth consent screen (External is fine; add yourself as a test user), then create an OAuth client ID of type Desktop app. Copy the Client ID and Client secret.
3. Connect:

   node bin/contextly-auth.js gdrive       # paste client ID + secret when asked
   

   Approve in the browser. Contextly uses the narrow drive.file scope, so it can only ever see files it created — everything lives in one Contextly folder.

The connector writes your choice to ~/.contextly/config.json; from then on the server uses that backend. To switch back to local files, set store to "file" in that file (or delete it).

How it works

                      ┌─ stores/file.js     (~/.contextly Markdown files — default)
bin/contextly.js ──┐  │
   (stdio server)  ├──┼─ stores/dropbox.js  (your Dropbox app folder)
lib.js (5 tools) ──┘  │
   store interface ───┴─ stores/gdrive.js   (your Google Drive "Contextly" folder)
   list · get · save · append · search

config.js            picks the backend (CONTEXTLY_STORE → config.json → file)
bin/contextly-auth.js  one-time OAuth → refresh token in ~/.contextly/config.json

Every backend reads and writes the same Markdown-with-frontmatter format (stores/format.js), so your library is portable: a context saved locally is byte-identical to one saved in Dropbox or Drive. You can even drop your ~/.contextly folder into a synced Dropbox/Drive desktop folder and keep using the plain file store.

Privacy

Your context never touches a Contextly-operated server — there isn't one. Data lives only on your disk or in your own cloud account, under your own OAuth app and API quota. Credentials sit in ~/.contextly/config.json (owner-readable only).

Configuration reference

Storage is normally set by contextly-auth. Everything is overridable by env var — see .env.example (CONTEXTLY_STORE, CONTEXTLY_DIR, and the Dropbox/Google token vars for CI).

Contributing

Contributions are welcome — especially new storage backends. See CONTRIBUTING.md for the layout, the store interface, and how to add one.

License

Contextly is source-available under the PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0 — not an OSI "open source" license.

• Free for personal use, study, hobby projects, research, and nonprofits / schools / governments.
• Commercial or business use requires a separate license. Contact [email protected].