Codex Dev MCP Suite

Four local, file-based MCP servers for solo developers and vibecoders who keep losing context when sessions hit "input too long" / get compacted / restart. Stop re-pasting context across sessions.

All servers are local, dependency-light (only the MCP SDK), and split storage per-project by the working directory. Works with any MCP-capable client (Codex CLI, Claude Code, Cursor, Cline, etc.).

The four servers

Server	What it does	Key tools
project-memory	Searchable Markdown knowledge vault (Obsidian-style notes + on-demand recall). Notes are also exposed as MCP resources.	memory_save, memory_recall, memory_list, memory_get, memory_delete, memory_reindex
devjournal	Per-project session timeline + handoff/resume (anti-compaction).	journal_log, journal_handoff, journal_resume, journal_timeline, journal_search, journal_clear_handoff
checkpoint	Git-independent file snapshots for safe experimentation.	checkpoint_create, checkpoint_list, checkpoint_diff, checkpoint_restore, checkpoint_delete
context-pack	Token-efficient project briefing (stack, tree, symbols, search).	pack_overview, pack_tree, pack_outline, pack_search

Recall quality (project-memory & devjournal)

Recall auto-selects the best available mode:

1. semantic — if an embeddings endpoint is configured (any OpenAI-compatible /v1/embeddings: OpenAI, Ollama, LM Studio, OpenRouter, vLLM, LiteLLM, 9router, ...)
2. rerank — keyword prefilter then an LLM reranker (any OpenAI-compatible chat model)
3. keyword — always-available offline fallback

All network features degrade gracefully: no endpoint = keyword mode, never an error.

Install

Requires Node.js >= 18.

Quickest: run via npx (no clone)

Point your MCP client at the published package — no install step needed:

# Codex CLI ~/.codex/config.toml
[mcp_servers.project-memory]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "-p", "codex-dev-mcp-suite", "project-memory-mcp"]

[mcp_servers.devjournal]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "-p", "codex-dev-mcp-suite", "devjournal-mcp"]

[mcp_servers.checkpoint]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "-p", "codex-dev-mcp-suite", "checkpoint-mcp"]

[mcp_servers.context-pack]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "-p", "codex-dev-mcp-suite", "context-pack-mcp"]

Or install globally: npm i -g codex-dev-mcp-suite → commands project-memory-mcp, devjournal-mcp, checkpoint-mcp, context-pack-mcp.

From source

git clone https://github.com/<you>/codex-dev-mcp-suite.git
cd codex-dev-mcp-suite
# install the MCP SDK in each server
for s in project-memory checkpoint context-pack devjournal; do (cd "$s" && npm install); done

Register with your MCP client

Codex CLI (~/.codex/config.toml):

[mcp_servers.project-memory]
command = "node"
args = ["/abs/path/codex-dev-mcp-suite/project-memory/server.js"]
[mcp_servers.project-memory.env]
MEMORY_VAULT_DIR = "~/.codex/memories/vault"
# optional recall upgrades (see .env.example)
# LLM_BASE_URL = "http://localhost:11434/v1"   # any OpenAI-compatible endpoint
# LLM_API_KEY = "..."
# RERANK_MODEL = "llama3.1:8b"

[mcp_servers.checkpoint]
command = "node"
args = ["/abs/path/codex-dev-mcp-suite/checkpoint/server.js"]

[mcp_servers.context-pack]
command = "node"
args = ["/abs/path/codex-dev-mcp-suite/context-pack/server.js"]

[mcp_servers.devjournal]
command = "node"
args = ["/abs/path/codex-dev-mcp-suite/devjournal/server.js"]
[mcp_servers.devjournal.env]
JOURNAL_DIR = "~/.codex/memories/journal"

Claude Code / Cursor / Cline (mcpServers JSON): same idea — command: "node", args: ["/abs/path/<server>/server.js"], optional env.

Daily workflow

• Session start: pack_overview + journal_resume + memory_recall "<topic>"
• Before a risky change: checkpoint_create
• While working: memory_save (durable facts), journal_log (events/blockers)
• Session end / before compaction: journal_handoff

Optional: import your existing Codex history

backfill-sessions-v2.mjs reads ~/.codex/sessions/*.jsonl and imports each session (prompts, plan, commands, files touched) into project-memory + devjournal, grouped by project, backdated to the original session time.

node backfill-sessions-v2.mjs --dry --min-prompts 2     # preview
node backfill-sessions-v2.mjs --min-prompts 2           # import

Tests

node run-tests.mjs          # all servers (offline, ~27 tests)
cd project-memory && npm test

Privacy

Everything is stored as plain files on your machine. No data leaves your computer unless you explicitly configure an embeddings/rerank endpoint. Your personal vault/journal/checkpoints are gitignored.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.