Sugar Community

Frequently asked questions

What does the Sugar MCP server do?

Sugar Persistent memory for AI coding agents. Your AI agent starts every session with amnesia. The architecture decisions, conventions, and gotchas you explained last week are gone. Sugar is the local-first memory layer that remembers them for you - per project, across projects, on your machine. Your memory. Your machine. Your data. What Sugar Does Sugar is a memory layer your AI coding agent can read and write directly: Project memory - Decisions, preferences, error patterns, and research stored per-project Global memory - Standards and guidelines shared across every project you work on Semantic search - Retrieve relevant context by meaning, not just keywords MCP integration - Your AI agent reads and writes memory directly during sessions Local-first - SQLite on your disk, no API keys, fully offline-capable Task queue - Optional autonomous execution, powered by the same memory layer Quick Start Your AI agent can also read and write memory directly - no copy-pasting required. MCP Integration Connect Sugar's memory to your AI agent so it can access project context automatically. Claude Code - Memory server (primary): Claude Code - Task server (optional): Once connected, Claude can call store learning to save context mid-session and search memories to pull relevant knowledge before starting work. The memory server works from any directory - global memory is always available even outside a Sugar project. Other MCP clients (Goose, Claude Desktop): Skills Sugar ships Agent Skills - folders of instructions that teach coding agents to apply Sugar's methodology. Skills live under skills/ and follow the Agent Skills specification (a SKILL.md with name/description frontmatter plus instructions). Skill What it does ------- -------------- sugar-memory Store and surface project context via Sugar's memory MCP server: recall context at task start, search before deciding, store learnings after completing work sugar-task-planner Turn a high-level task into a detailed execution plan: subtasks, dependencies, time estimates, risks, and measurable success criteria sugar-quality-guardian Review code across quality, testing, security, and performance, ending with a structured verdict sugar-orchestrator Coordinate multi-step workflows: analyze complexity, decompose tasks, assign roles, monitor execution Each skill includes an evaluation dataset ( evals/evals.json ) and is measured with NVIDIA SkillEvaluator against the OpenCode harness. See Skill Benchmarks for the Skill Lift results - sugar-memory and sugar-task-planner both show measured positive lift. Global Memory Some knowledge belongs to you, not just one project. Coding standards, preferred patterns, security practices - these should follow you everywhere. Global memory lives at /.sugar/memory.db . Project memory lives at .sugar/memory.db . When you search, project context wins - but guideline type memories from global always appear in results so your standards stay visible. Via MCP , pass scope: "global" to store learning to save cross-project knowledge directly from your AI session. Memory types: decision , preference , file context , error pattern , research , outcome , guideline Full docs: Memory System Guide How Memory Works Sugar uses two SQLite databases and a tiered search strategy. Two stores: Project store ( .sugar/memory.db ) - context specific to one project Global store ( /.sugar/memory.db ) - knowledge that applies everywhere Seven memory types , each with different retrieval behavior: Type Purpose TTL ------ --------- ----- decision Architecture and implementation choices Never preference How you like things done Never file context What files and modules do Never error pattern Bugs and their fixes 90 days research API docs, library findings 60 days outcome What worked, what didn't 30 days guideline Cross-project standards and best practices Never Search strategy - project-first with reserved guideline slots: Search the project store first (local context always wins) Reserve slots for global guidelines (cross-project standards always surface) Fill remaining slots with other global results Deduplicate across both stores This means a mature project's local context dominates results. A new project with no local memory gets global knowledge automatically. And your guidelines are always visible regardless. Search engine: Semantic search via sentence-transformers (all-MiniLM-L6-v2, 384-dim vectors) with sqlite-vec. Falls back to SQLite FTS5 keyword search, then LIKE queries. No external API calls - everything runs locally. MCP tools available to your AI agent: Tool What it does ------ ------------- search memory Search both stores, returns results with scope labels store learning Save a memory (pass scope: "global" for cross-project) recall Get formatted markdown context for a topic get project context Full project summary including global guidelines list recent memories Browse recent memories by type MCP resources: sugar://project/context - project summary sugar://preferences - coding preferences sugar://global/guidelines - cross-project standards Task Queue The task queue lets you hand off work and let it run autonomously. It reads from the same memory store, so Sugar already knows your preferences and patterns before it starts. Sugar picks up tasks, executes them with your configured AI agent, runs tests, commits working code, and moves to the next task. It runs until the queue is empty or you stop it. Delegate from Claude Code mid-session: Advanced task options: New in 3.10: Task Orchestration decomposes large features into a 4-stage workflow (research, plan, implement, review) with specialist agent routing and dependency-ordered sub-tasks. Full docs: Task Orchestration Autonomous Issue Resolution (optional) Because Sugar remembers your codebase and conventions, it can also resolve routine issues autonomously. Point it at a GitHub repo, configure which labels to act on ( security , bug , dependabot ), and Sugar will read each issue, implement the fix, run your tests, and open a PR. This is one application of the memory layer, not the headline. Use Sugar purely as memory, or enable resolution - your choice. See workflow examples for security auto-fix, bug triage, test coverage, and more. Supported AI Tools Works with any CLI-based AI coding agent: Agent Memory MCP Task MCP Notes ------- ----------- --------- ------- Claude Code Yes Yes Full support OpenCode Yes Yes sugar opencode setup Goose Yes Yes Via MCP Aider Via CLI Via CLI Manual recall Installation Recommended: pipx - installs once, available everywhere, no venv conflicts: Upgrade / Uninstall: > >Other installation methods > pip (requires venv activation each session) uv With semantic search (recommended for memory): With GitHub integration: All features: > Sugar is project-local by default. Each project gets its own .sugar/ folder with its own database and config. Global memory lives at /.sugar/ . Like git - one installation, per-project state. Project Structure Recommended .gitignore: Commit .sugar/config.yaml and .sugar/prompts/ to share settings with your team. Configuration .sugar/config.yaml is created on sugar init : Documentation Quick Start Memory System Skill Benchmarks CLI Reference Task Orchestration Goose Integration OpenCode Integration GitHub Integration Configuration Guide Troubleshooting Requirements Python 3.11+ A CLI-based AI agent: Claude Code, OpenCode, Aider, or similar Contributing Contributions welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md. License Dual License: AGPL-3.0 + Commercial Open Source (AGPL-3.0) : Free for open source and personal use Commercial License : For proprietary use - sugar.roboticforce.io/licensing --- > Sugar is provided "AS IS" without warranty. Review all AI-generated code before use.

How do I install Sugar?

Run the install command shown above, then paste the config for your client (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code or Windsurf) into its MCP settings and restart the client.

Is Sugar free to use?

The MCP server itself is free to install. The source is public on https://github.com/roboticforce/sugar. Any third-party service it calls may require its own API key and account.

Which clients support Sugar?

Any MCP-compatible client can use it, including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf and custom agents.