How to Add Persistent Memory to Claude Code CLI & Cursor in 60 Seconds

When developers build complex software with terminal tools like Claude Code CLI or IDE assistants like Cursor and Windsurf, one recurring frustration stalls momentum: context resets.

Every time you launch a new terminal session or open a new chat tab, the coding agent forgets past architectural decisions, repository conventions, and PR review comments. You find yourself re-explaining the codebase over and over.

1. The Context Loss Problem in Terminal & IDE Agents

Standard LLM sessions are ephemeral. While vector indexes can retrieve snippets of source files, they lack cross-session cognitive continuity. They don't remember why a specific refactoring pattern was chosen or which API endpoints are deprecated.

2. How Axonio Hosted MCP Gateway Solves Context Drift

Axonio provides native support for Anthropic's Model Context Protocol (MCP). By running a tiny local stdio adapter or connecting directly to Axonio's Hosted MCP Gateway (https://api.axonio.xyz/api/v1/mcp), your agent gets sub-millisecond retrieval of all past decisions across terminal runs.

3. Step-by-Step: Claude Code CLI Configuration

Open your global Claude configuration file at ~/.claude.json (or ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json) and add the @clawdb/mcp-adapter package:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "clawdb-code-memory": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@clawdb/mcp-adapter@latest"],
      "env": {
        "CLAWDB_API_KEY": "claw_live_YOUR_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

4. Step-by-Step: Cursor IDE Configuration

For Cursor IDE, open ~/.cursor/mcp.json and paste the configuration block:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "clawdb": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@clawdb/mcp-adapter@latest"],
      "env": {
        "CLAWDB_API_KEY": "claw_live_YOUR_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

5. Verifying Cross-Session Memory Persistence

Start a coding session and instruct your agent to remember a repository decision:

claude "Remember that all database queries in this workspace must use parameterized queries via Kysely DB builder."

Close your terminal. Re-open Claude Code CLI in a completely different directory or session 3 days later, and ask:

claude "How do we execute database queries in this codebase?"

Claude Code will query Axonio over MCP in under 0.38ms, recalling the exact parameterized Kysely rule automatically!