How do Windsurf memories work?

Cascade can auto-capture facts from chats into local Memories. They are workspace-specific, stored on that machine, and not committed to git. Useful for one developer on one box. Not a team store.

Are Windsurf memories shared with the team?

No. Promote important memories into git-tracked Rules or AGENTS.md if they are stable conventions. For living decisions and open tasks that Cursor or Claude also need, use a shared MCP brain like ReadmeDB.

Windsurf memories vs rules vs AGENTS.md?

Memories = auto, local, non-deterministic. Rules (.windsurf/rules) = you wrote them, version-controlled, Windsurf-specific. AGENTS.md = cross-tool static briefing. ReadmeDB = agents read and write the same markdown from any MCP client.

How do I persist Cascade context across machines?

Local Memories do not follow you. Commit AGENTS.md/rules for stable instructions. Connect Windsurf and your other editors to the same ReadmeDB namespace via MCP for the living files.

readmedbmcp

Solution · Windsurf

Windsurf memories stay on one box. The project brain should not.

Cascade can remember a fact from Tuesday's chat. Your teammate on Cursor cannot see it. Neither can Claude Code on the laptop you used yesterday. ReadmeDB is the shared markdown Windsurf writes and every other MCP client reads.

The three Windsurf layers (and the fourth you still need)

Memories — auto-captured, local, not in git. Convenient. Not shared. Not something you can audit in a PR.
Rules — .windsurf/rules/ (legacy .windsurfrules is done). You wrote them. Version-controlled. Windsurf-only extras belong here.
AGENTS.md — cross-tool static briefing. Keep it short.
Project brain — living decisions.md / open-tasks.md that Cascade, Cursor, and Claude all update. That is ReadmeDB.

Using Memories as the team source of truth is how Cascade starts surprising people. Promote stable facts into Rules. Put changing work in files agents own.

Connect Cascade in 30 seconds

File: ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json (not ~/.windsurf/). Remote MCP wants serverUrl— copying Cursor's url key is the usual silent miss. Then Refresh in Cascade MCP settings.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "readmedb": {
      "serverUrl": "https://app.readmedb.com/api/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer rdb_your_key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Ask Cascade: “Create decisions.md and open-tasks.md in ReadmeDB from what we know about this repo.” Same API key in Cursor or Claude Code.

What to keep local vs shared

Keep in Windsurf	Put in ReadmeDB
Auto Memories you have not reviewed	Decisions you would tell a teammate
Glob-scoped Cascade rules	Open tasks the next session (any tool) must see
AGENTS.md build/test commands	Preferences that are still moving

Not Cascade's memory with extra steps

We do not scrape your Memories folder. You (and Cascade) write markdown on purpose. Human-readable, versioned, same namespace on every editor.

Start free — Windsurf + Cursor on one brain →

Cursor Claude Codex AGENTS.md Project brain MCP