Engramx v3.4: MCP Server + SQLite Knowledge Graph Cuts Claude Code Token Usage by 89%

Engramx v3.4 is an MCP server combined with a SQLite-based knowledge graph that intercepts file reads at the agent boundary. When Claude Code attempts to read a file that engram has indexed, the hook returns a structural summary instead of the raw content. The result: the same edit, same diff, but far fewer tokens consumed per round trip.

Key details

• Benchmark: Real 87-file codebase; aggregate token reduction 89.1%. Best-case file dropped from 18,820 tokens to 306. The benchmark script is bench/real-world.ts — you can run it on any project you own.
• IDE support: Works across 8 IDEs natively: Claude Code (hooks + official plugin in review), Cursor (MDC + MCP + VS Code extension on OpenVSX), Cline, Continue.dev, Aider, Windsurf, Zed, and OpenAI Codex CLI. One install, one graph, all tools benefit.
• Local-first: SQLite database lives at .engram/graph.db in your repo. Nothing leaves your machine. Apache 2.0 licensed. No account, no telemetry.
• Install: npm install -g engramx then cd ~/your-project and engram setup. For Cursor, run code --install-extension nickcirv.engram-vscode.
• Tracking: The engram cost command shows token savings per project per week. After 24 hours of normal use, the digest displays real numbers.
• Upcoming v4.0 “Mesh + Spine”: Releases May 25. Opt-in federation layer for sharing mistakes and ADRs across machines without sharing source. Phase 1 already merged: ed25519 identity, 14-category PII gate, 1007 tests.

The tool directly addresses hitting Claude Code Max 5x limits in under 2 hours on real work — a single complex prompt jumping the session counter from 21% to 100%.