Set up your AI agent

Start from the agent you already use. Every route on this page gives that agent read-only access to your notes and shows you where to remove it when you are done. You do not need to know what MCP is to finish; the words are explained further down.

Pick your agent

Claude Desktop

One-click extension install

ChatGPT desktop app

One command, shared with Codex

Cursor

A link Cursor confirms

VS Code

One command for every folder

Zed

A block for your settings file

Windsurf

Text setup for its own file

Claude Code

One command per project

Codex

One command for the whole Mac

Gemini CLI

One command for the whole Mac

OpenCode

A block for your project file

Another tool

Text setup for any MCP tool

Another agent with a shell tool

One command, with no MCP setup

A shell script

One line, from a script or any agent

Terminal agents have two routes. Their cards lead to the MCP setup, which gives the agent Cleft’s tools by name. The command line is the other: one line in an instructions file or prompt, with no MCP setup. Pick whichever you find easier to remove later. The ChatGPT route here is for the desktop app on this Mac. ChatGPT web does not read this Mac’s Codex configuration and needs a separate hosted setup.

Compare the routes

Agent	How Cleft connects	Applies to	Cleft can see it on this Mac	Where to remove it
Claude Desktop	An extension you confirm in Claude Desktop, or the setup as text	The whole Mac	Yes	Extensions and/or `claude_desktop_config.json`
Claude Code	One command in Terminal	The project folder you run it in	No	Both Cleft MCP entries in each project
Codex	One command in Terminal	The whole Mac	No	Cleft entries in user and any project `config.toml`
ChatGPT desktop app	The same command as Codex	The whole Mac	No	The same Codex configuration
Cursor	A link Cursor opens and confirms, or the setup as text	The whole Mac	Yes	Cleft entries in `~/.cursor/mcp.json`
VS Code	One command in Terminal	Every folder you open	Yes	Cleft servers under MCP: List Servers
Gemini CLI	One command in Terminal	The whole Mac	No	User-scoped `cleft` and `cleft-cloud` entries
Zed	A block for `~/.config/zed/settings.json`	The whole Mac	Yes	Cleft entries in `context_servers`
OpenCode	A block for the project’s `opencode.json`	That project	No	Cleft entries in each project’s `mcp`
Windsurf	The setup as text for `~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json`	The whole Mac	No	Cleft entries in Windsurf’s MCP settings
Another tool	The setup as text for that tool’s MCP settings	Depends on the tool	No	Cleft entries in that tool’s MCP settings
Another agent with a shell tool	One command ending in `--help`	The instructions file or chat where you put it	No	Remove the line and stop the agent
A shell script	One line ending in `--help`	The script you put it in	Not needed	Remove the line and stop the script

For the exact MCP entries and commands, follow Disconnect an app. For a shell agent or script, follow Stop an agent reading your notes. Turning Agent Access off alone does not stop an agent you already set up. “Cleft can see it” means Cleft says Found on this Mac or Not found on this Mac under that app. It can only look for apps with a desktop application, so it says nothing either way about a command line tool. Every route reads the same notes and none of them can change one. See what a connected app can and cannot do.

The words the setup uses

MCP stands for Model Context Protocol. It is the way an AI app asks another program for tools. Cleft’s helper offers six read-only tools over it: list, count, open, search, and export notes, and list your tags.
The Cleft helper is a small program inside the Cleft app on your Mac. Your agent starts it when it needs your notes and stops it when it is done. It reads the source you chose and nothing else.
A source is where the helper reads from: your Local Export folder on this Mac, or your Cleft account library with Plus. You choose one in Agent Access before you set up an app.
The command line is the same helper, run directly. Any agent that runs commands, and any script, can use it with one line and no configuration.
An instructions file is the file a terminal agent reads at the start of every session: CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, or GEMINI.md. Putting the command line there is how you give that agent standing access.
Confirmed by you is the furthest Cleft can honestly report. Cleft cannot see inside your agent, so it never says an app is connected. You run the step, then tell Cleft you did.

Let your agent read these docs

This site is also an MCP server, so your agent can search these pages and answer setup questions itself. In Claude Code, run:

claude mcp add --transport http cleft-docs https://learn.cleftnotes.com/mcp

For Cursor, add this to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{ "mcpServers": { "cleft-docs": { "url": "https://learn.cleftnotes.com/mcp" } } }

For any other tool, give it the URL https://learn.cleftnotes.com/mcp. The menu at the top of every page also offers Copy MCP server URL and one-step installs for Cursor and VS Code. An agent that reads plain text instead can start from https://learn.cleftnotes.com/llms.txt, which lists every page. The docs server reads this site only. It cannot reach your notes; only the Cleft helper on your Mac does that, and only after you set it up.

Try these once connected

“Catch me up on what I said this week.”
“Find where I said we should delay the launch, and name the note.”
“Give me a brief on everything I have said about the budget.”
“Search my notes for the tag client-call and list the titles.”

Cleft tells your agent that your notes are your words, not instructions. The agent should quote them and name the note each quote came from.

Not on the list

Xcode is an MCP server for other agents, not a client of Cleft, so there is nothing for Cleft to hand it. Android Studio accepts only HTTP servers, and the Cleft helper runs on your Mac over standard input, so it cannot be added there. For another MCP tool, pick Another tool in Agent Access to get setup as text. For an agent that can run commands, use the command-line route.

​Pick your agent