Zep

You can run a lightweight MCP server that connects Claude Code to Zep’s thread-based memory system, enabling you to store, search, and retrieve memories via the Zep Cloud API v3. This server acts as a bridge so your Claude Code sessions can persist context across conversations and projects.

How to use

Use the MCP server by configuring Claude Code to load the Zep bridge, then call the three available memory tools to store, search, and fetch memories within sessions. The server uses Zep’s threads (memory contexts) and keeps authentication secure via an API key. You can organize memories by global, project, or user contexts and retrieve them with optional pagination and filtering.

How to install

Prerequisites: Node.js and npm must be available on your system.

1. Clone the MCP server repository and install dependencies.

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/zep-mcp-server.git
cd zep-mcp-server
npm install
npm run build

Configuration

Create a MCP configuration in your Claude Code setup to point to the local MCP server and provide your Zep API key. You must replace the placeholder path with the actual path to the built server index file and set your API key from Zep.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zep": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/zep-mcp-server/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "ZEP_API_KEY": "z_your_zep_api_key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Notes on usage and session structure

Thread naming follows this convention for organization: global, project-{name}, user-{username}. You can continue using the same session_id label as Claude Code expects, since Zep Cloud v3 uses threads under the hood.

Usage examples and memory operations

Three tools are exposed to Claude Code for interacting with memories in Zep:

• zep_store_memory — store information in a Zep session.

• zep_search_memory — search for information in a Zep session.

• zep_get_memory — retrieve recent memories from a session with options for pagination and filtering.

Parameters for zep_get_memory include session_id (required), lastn or limit for results, cursor for pagination, and role_filter to narrow results by user/assistant/system roles. For example, you can fetch the last 50 messages from a session, or retrieve only assistant messages.

Thread/Session Naming Convention details

Global knowledge uses the session_id global, project-specific uses project-{name}, and user-specific uses user-{username}. This MCP server bridges memory storage with Zep Cloud v3, so you can manage and retrieve memories efficiently across your Claude Code workflows.

Example

Store in session 'global': Title: Building Multi-Agent Systems Content: [article content]

Security and credentials

Protect your Zep API key. Treat the key as a secret and only load it through the environment variable ZEP_API_KEY in the MCP runtime configuration. Rotate keys as needed and limit access to systems that run the MCP server.

License

MIT

Available tools

zep_store_memory

Stores information into a Zep session, enabling memory persistence across Claude Code interactions.

zep_search_memory

Searches within a Zep session to retrieve relevant memories based on query terms and context.

zep_get_memory

Fetches recent memories from a Zep session with optional pagination and role-based filtering.