# Exporter for agents Five skills teach an agent to export, back up and search with Exporter. ## The five skills The command above installs all five with the [skills CLI](https://github.com/vercel-labs/skills) from this site's [skills index](https://exporter.dev/.well-known/skills/index.json). Or save any SKILL.md below into your agent's skills folder. - [export-apple-notes](https://exporter.dev/.well-known/skills/export-apple-notes/SKILL.md): Export Apple Notes to Markdown or HTML files with `exporter`, and read the JSON summary. (`.well-known/skills/export-apple-notes/SKILL.md`) - [apple-notes-to-obsidian](https://exporter.dev/.well-known/skills/apple-notes-to-obsidian/SKILL.md): Put Apple Notes into a folder of an Obsidian vault and keep it in sync, safely. (`.well-known/skills/apple-notes-to-obsidian/SKILL.md`) - [backup-apple-notes](https://exporter.dev/.well-known/skills/backup-apple-notes/SKILL.md): A nightly mirror, dated snapshots or a backup tool pre-flight step, and a check that the last one ran. (`.well-known/skills/backup-apple-notes/SKILL.md`) - [notes-as-claude-context](https://exporter.dev/.well-known/skills/notes-as-claude-context/SKILL.md): Search and read notes, contacts and conversations through the local MCP server. (`.well-known/skills/notes-as-claude-context/SKILL.md`) - [export-messages](https://exporter.dev/.well-known/skills/export-messages/SKILL.md): iMessage conversations to Markdown, one file per conversation, with attachments. (`.well-known/skills/export-messages/SKILL.md`) ## What an agent can do - Export: `exporter sync --source apple --json --quiet` into the app's export folder, or `exporter export --dest ` into any folder the person granted on the Command Line card. - Back up on a schedule: `exporter help cron` prints the crontab lines with the real path: a mirror that follows edits, or dated snapshots that never change. - Read the result: `--json` on sync, export, list, status and log. Exit codes: 0 ok, 1 export failures, 2 needs setup, 64 usage. - Search as context: Over MCP: `search`, `read`, `list`, `get_recent`, `get_stats` and `get_metadata` over the exports. [The six tools](https://exporter.dev/docs/mcp). - Know the state: `exporter status --json` shows each source, its last export and its free tier and used count. `exporter list sources --json` counts what is there. - Know the allowance: A run past the free allowance still exits 0 and prints a `note:` line naming what was skipped. The person unlocks that app once, in Exporter. ## Setup A person does the first two steps, because the app is sandboxed. The agent does the rest. 1. A person installs the app: Exporter from the Mac App Store, opened once. Connecting an app and choosing its export folder happen only in the app. 2. A person pastes one line: On the app's Command Line card, "copy install command", pasted once in Terminal. The sandboxed app cannot write to your PATH itself. `exporter help install` prints the line for that Mac. 3. The agent learns the skills: `npx skills add https://exporter.dev` installs the five skills above from this site's skills index. 4. The agent checks and runs: `exporter doctor` says what is missing, with a `fix:` line under each failure. Then `exporter sync --json --quiet` exports and prints one JSON summary. 5. The agent reads as context: With the MCP server started on the app's card, `claude mcp add --transport http exporter http://localhost:8744/mcp` connects Claude Code to the exports. ## Questions ### What can an agent not do? Connect an app, choose an export folder, grant a folder, start the MCP server or buy an unlock. Those happen in the app, by a person. The command line never prompts: a missing step stops the run with exit code 2 and one line saying what to do. ### Can an agent pay for an unlock? No. Each app unlocks with a one-time in-app purchase a person makes inside Exporter. There is no web checkout, no license key and no agent payment. Tell the person; the next run picks the unlock up. ### Which agents can use it? Anything that runs shell commands can drive `exporter`. Anything that speaks MCP over HTTP can connect to the server: Claude Code with one command, Cursor and VS Code from buttons on the app's MCP Server card, Claude Desktop through a copied `mcp-remote` entry. ### How private is it? The command line and the server run on the person's Mac and read their exports there; the server listens on 127.0.0.1 only. The skills tell the agent to report counts and paths, and to quote notes or messages only when the person asks. [Privacy](https://exporter.dev/privacy). ## Related - [CLI](https://exporter.dev/docs/cli): Every command, flag and exit code - [MCP server](https://exporter.dev/docs/mcp): Connect Claude and other agents - [Apple Notes in Claude](https://exporter.dev/guides/notes/apple-notes-in-claude): Claude searches your notes, on your Mac --- human version: https://exporter.dev/agents every page: https://exporter.dev/llms.txt