CICADA vs codebase-memory-mcp

A side-by-side comparison of two Developer Tools servers — tools, transport, auth, maintenance, and copy-paste config for each.

	CICADA Context compaction for AI coders: token-efficient, AST-level code intelligence across 17+ languages. Unverified stdio (local) No auth Python	codebase-memory-mcp Code intelligence engine that indexes repos into a persistent knowledge graph for AI coding agents. Unverified stdio (local) No auth C
Category	Developer Tools	Developer Tools
Language	Python	C
Transport	stdio (local)	stdio (local)
Auth	None	None
GitHub stars	37	16k
Last commit	3 months ago	12 hours ago
Verified
Actively maintained
Install	`uv tool install cicada-mcp`	`curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/DeusData/codebase-memory-mcp/main/install.sh \| bash`
Repo	Open	Open

Verdict

Pick CICADA if you prefer its approach (context compaction for ai coders: token-efficient, ast-level code intelligence across 17+ languages).

Pick codebase-memory-mcp if you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option, and you need the broadest set of tools.

Add CICADA

Install / run

uv tool install cicada-mcp

Paste into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cicada": {
      "command": "cicada-mcp",
      "args": [
        "--watch"
      ],
      "env": {
        "CICADA_CONFIG_DIR": "/home/user/.cicada/projects/<hash>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Add codebase-memory-mcp

Install / run

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/DeusData/codebase-memory-mcp/main/install.sh | bash

Paste into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "codebase-memory-mcp": {
      "command": "/path/to/codebase-memory-mcp",
      "args": []
    }
  }
}

FAQ

CICADA or codebase-memory-mcp — which is better?

Pick CICADA if you prefer its approach (context compaction for ai coders: token-efficient, ast-level code intelligence across 17+ languages). Pick codebase-memory-mcp if you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option, and you need the broadest set of tools.

Can I use both CICADA and codebase-memory-mcp?

Yes — MCP clients let you enable multiple servers at once. Add both configs to your client's mcpServers and use whichever tool fits the task.

Do CICADA and codebase-memory-mcp work with Claude, Cursor and Windsurf?

Both do. Copy the per-client config below into Claude Desktop, Cursor, or Windsurf.

View CICADA →View codebase-memory-mcp →More comparisons →