Cortex vs filesystem

Side-by-side comparison to help you pick between these two MCP servers.

	Cortex by cdeust	filesystem by modelcontextprotocol
Stars	★ 34	★ 85,748
30d uses	—	—
Score	47	77
Official	—	✓
Categories	AI / LLM ToolsDeveloper ToolsKnowledge Graph	File SystemDeveloper ToolsProductivity
Language	Python	TypeScript
Last commit	this month	this month

Cortex · Summary

Cortex is a neuroscience-based persistent memory system for Claude Code with 47 MCP tools that remembers context, decisions, and patterns across sessions.

filesystem · Summary

A feature-rich MCP server for filesystem operations with dynamic directory access control.

Cortex · Use cases

Persistent memory for Claude Code that remembers context and decisions across sessions
Retrieval of past debugging sessions and architectural decisions for current problem-solving
Automated documentation generation with scientific writing tools and LaTeX support

filesystem · Use cases

Enable AI models to read and write project files during development
Allow Claude or other MCP clients to browse and analyze codebases
Provide secure sandboxed access to specific directories for content generation

Cortex · Install

claude plugin marketplace add cdeust/Cortex
claude plugin install cortex

Restart your Claude Code session, then run:

/cortex-setup-project

This handles PostgreSQL + pgvector installation, database creation, embedding model download, cognitive profile building, codebase seeding, conversation import, and hook registration.

Verify setup:

python3 -m mcp_server.doctor

filesystem · Install

Installation

Using NPX

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem",
        "/path/to/allowed/directory"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Using Docker

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "-i",
        "--rm",
        "--mount", "type=bind,src=/path/to/allowed/dir,dst=/projects/allowed/dir",
        "mcp/filesystem",
        "/projects"
      ]
    }
  }
}

VS Code Extension

Click the installation buttons in the README to install directly in VS Code.

Comparison generated from public README + GitHub signals. Last updated automatically.