# The MCP server

Let Claude and other agents search what you exported.

Exporter runs an MCP server inside the app. It serves your export folders to Claude, Cursor, VS Code and any other MCP client, read-only and on your Mac only. For the skills and the command line an agent can use too, see [For agents](https://exporter.dev/agents).

## Start it

1. Export at least one app as Markdown ([get started](https://exporter.dev/docs/getting-started)). The server reads Markdown files only.
2. On the MCP Server card, press "start". The card then shows `localhost:8744` and a "connect" row.

The endpoint is `http://localhost:8744/mcp` (Streamable HTTP), on a fixed port. The server lives in the app: it answers while Exporter runs, window open or closed, and stops when you quit. If it was running when you quit, it starts again with the app. `curl -s http://127.0.0.1:8744/health` answers `OK` while it is up.

## Connect Claude Code

```sh
claude mcp add --transport http exporter http://localhost:8744/mcp
```

Add `--scope user` to have it in every project. The card's "claude code" button copies this command.

## Claude Desktop, Cursor and VS Code

- Claude Desktop: press "claude desktop" on the card. It copies an entry that runs `npx -y mcp-remote http://localhost:8744/mcp` (`npx` comes with Node.js). Paste it inside `mcpServers` under Settings > Developer > Edit Config, save, then quit Claude and open it again
- Cursor or VS Code: press "cursor" or "vs code" on the card. The editor opens with the server ready to install; confirm there

## Which folders it serves

The export folders that sit in the same parent folder as the Apple Notes export folder (without one, the first export folder it finds). An export folder anywhere else is invisible to agents, and the MCP Server card says which ones they can see.

| export folders | served |
| --- | --- |
| `~/Documents/notes`, `~/Documents/messages` | both |
| `~/Documents/notes`, `~/Dropbox/messages` | notes only |

To bring a folder in, press "change..." on that app's `export to` row, pick a folder in the same parent, then "full resync" on that card. The server reads its folder list when it starts, so press "stop" and "start" after any change. Each source is named after its folder, like `notes` or `messages`.

## The six tools

| tool | what it does | parameters |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `get_stats` | per source: file count, newest and oldest dates, size. Call it first to learn the source names | `source` (optional) |
| `search` | ranked full-text search | `query`, `source` (optional), `limit` (20) |
| `read` | one item: its Markdown, front matter, modified date and size | `source`, `id` (the file name without `.md`) |
| `list` | the items of one source | `source`, `limit` (50), `offset` (0) |
| `get_recent` | the most recently changed items | `sources` (comma-separated, optional), `limit` (20) |
| `get_metadata` | counts and last sync times | `source` (optional) |

`search` ranks Apple Notes, Contacts and Messages over the app's index: a name finds the conversation, and a note hit carries a link that opens it in Apple Notes. Bear, Logseq, Screen Time and Documents are served too, but `search` does not rank them while the index answers; reach them with `list`, `get_recent` and `read`. While the index is still empty, `search` scans the Markdown of every source.

Answers are only as complete as the export: on the free allowance that is your first 100 notes, 100 contacts and 10 most recent conversations, 10 days and 10 documents.

## Privacy

The server listens on 127.0.0.1, so nothing outside your Mac can reach it, and it only reads. What a tool returns becomes part of your conversation with the AI and goes to its model, like anything you paste.

## When it does not work

- `No export folders configured. Set an export folder first.`: choose an export folder on any card
- `No exported notes found. Run an export first.`: press "sync now" on a card, then "start"
- a system error on "start": another program uses port 8744. Quit it and start again
- a source is missing: it sits outside the parent folder, was exported as HTML only, appeared after the server started, or is past the free allowance

## Related

- [For agents](https://exporter.dev/agents): Skills, command line and MCP for agents
- [Apple Notes in Claude](https://exporter.dev/guides/notes/apple-notes-in-claude): Claude searches your notes, on your Mac
- [CLI](https://exporter.dev/docs/cli): Every command, flag and exit code

---

human version: https://exporter.dev/docs/mcp
every page: https://exporter.dev/llms.txt