---
title: Connect AI apps with MCP
description: Let Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and other AI apps use your Goldfish memory over MCP.
---

Goldfish runs a local MCP server, so AI apps like Claude, ChatGPT and
Cursor can search your memory. MCP is the Model Context Protocol, the
standard most AI apps use to connect to outside tools. Ask Claude "what was
I working on last Tuesday" and it can answer from your Goldfish memory, the
same memory the Goldfish chat uses.

## Automatic setup

Goldfish connects itself to the AI apps it finds on your computer. Sign in
to Goldfish, restart the AI app, and the Goldfish tools show up on their
own.

![The MCP page in the Goldfish Dashboard, with the Connect AI apps automatically switch, the AI tools Goldfish is connected to, and the command to copy for manual setup](/blume-assets/content/docs-site/guides/mcp-dashboard.png)

Everything lives on the MCP page of the Dashboard. The **Tutorial** button
at the top plays a short video walkthrough.

Goldfish connects itself to these apps:

- Claude Desktop
- Claude Code
- ChatGPT desktop app
- Codex
- Cursor
- Windsurf
- Devin
- VS Code
- Cline
- Roo Code
- Gemini CLI
- LM Studio

Any other app that supports local MCP servers works through manual setup.

## Turn it on or off

Open the Dashboard and choose **MCP**. **Connect AI apps automatically** is
on by default.

- When it's on, Goldfish adds itself to every supported AI app on your
  computer. You need to be signed in. Restart the AI app afterwards so it
  loads Goldfish.
- When it's off, Goldfish removes itself from all of them.

The row under the switch shows each AI app Goldfish found. Hover an icon
for its status: "in use now", "ready" or "not set up".

## Reconnect an app

Goldfish adds itself to each app once and then leaves that app alone, so
your own changes stick. If Goldfish goes missing from an app, because you
removed it or the app reset its settings, Goldfish won't add itself back,
even after a restart.

To reconnect, turn **Connect AI apps automatically** off and on again.
Goldfish then adds itself to every supported app again. Restart the AI app
afterwards.

An AI app you install after Goldfish gets connected the next time Goldfish
starts. To connect it right away, turn the switch off and on.

## Manual setup

Use manual setup for an app Goldfish doesn't support, or one that shows
"not set up". On the MCP page, click **Copy** next to the command. Add it
to the app as a local stdio MCP server with no arguments.

The command depends on your computer, so copy it instead of typing it. On
a Mac it usually looks like this:

```
/Applications/Goldfish.app/Contents/MacOS/goldfish-mcp
```

On Windows it is usually `%LOCALAPPDATA%\goldfish\bin\goldfish-mcp.exe`.

Most apps take a JSON entry like this one:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "goldfish": {
      "command": "/Applications/Goldfish.app/Contents/MacOS/goldfish-mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

In JSON, write each backslash in a Windows path twice, like
`C:\\Users\\you\\AppData\\Local\\goldfish\\bin\\goldfish-mcp.exe`.

In Claude Code, one command does it:

```bash
claude mcp add --scope user goldfish /Applications/Goldfish.app/Contents/MacOS/goldfish-mcp
```

Codex and the ChatGPT desktop app share their MCP settings, so one command
covers both:

```bash
codex mcp add goldfish -- /Applications/Goldfish.app/Contents/MacOS/goldfish-mcp
```

Once an app connects, its icon shows up in the row on the MCP page.

Managed enterprise Claude installs block automatic registration, so they
need the manual route. Paste the command into the app's MCP settings.

## Try it

After you restart the AI app, ask it something only your memory knows:

- "What was I working on yesterday afternoon?"
- "Summarize my week."
- "Who is Anna, and what did we last talk about?"
- "How much time did I spend in Figma this week?"
- "What did I promise to send people this week?"

The AI app decides when to use Goldfish. If it answers without it, start
your question with "Check Goldfish".

## Troubleshooting

- **The Goldfish tools don't show up.** Check that you're signed in to
  Goldfish, then restart the AI app. If that doesn't help, turn **Connect
  AI apps automatically** off and on and restart the AI app again.
- **An app shows "not set up".** Goldfish couldn't edit that app's
  settings, usually because they contain comments or a format it can't
  safely change. Add Goldfish to the app with manual setup.
- **VS Code asks whether to trust the server.** It asks once, the first
  time Goldfish starts in VS Code. Allow it.
- **Goldfish isn't running.** You don't need to open Goldfish first. The AI
  app starts it the first time it uses a Goldfish tool. If Goldfish can't
  start, the tool reports an error. Open Goldfish yourself and ask again.

## What the AI app can do

Connected apps can search everything Goldfish has captured and read the
summaries of your activity. The MCP server lives on your device and accepts
connections only from your own machine. What an app reads from Goldfish
becomes part of your conversation with that app, so it is handled under
that app's own privacy terms.