claude-desktop-bridge

Claude-Desktop-Bridge

Local MCP server that gives Claude Desktop's Chat and Code tabs a shared, persistent note vault. Claude pulls only what it needs via five tools — save_note, get_notes, search_notes, update_note, delete_note — instead of re-deriving context after every tab switch.

Install

1. Download claude-desktop-bridge.mcpb from Releases.
2. Drag it onto the Claude Desktop window — or Settings → Extensions → Advanced settings → Install Extension…
3. No configuration. The vault lives at ~/.claude-bridge/vault.db.

Tools

Tool	Description
save_note	Save a new note (title, content, optional tags, optional project)
get_notes	Retrieve notes by id, tags, or project, most recent first
search_notes	Full-text search over note titles and content
update_note	Update an existing note's title, content, tags, or project
delete_note	Permanently delete a note by id

Notes carry an optional project field, so work across multiple codebases stays separated — each project's notes filter independently.

Use it

Talk normally in either tab — Claude calls the tools on its own when useful. You never invoke anything manually.

• Proactive, not automatic-automatic. Claude decides what's worth saving or searching — it's not logging every message. Say "remember this for later" when you want something kept.
• Tag by project when working across codebases, so a search in one repo's context doesn't surface another's notes.
• Chat tab "Projects" don't auto-link to a Code tab folder. Put it in that Project's Custom Instructions: "This project corresponds to the my-repo codebase; use Claude-Desktop-Bridge with project: 'my-repo'."

Where this works

Surface	Works out of the box?
Claude Desktop — Chat tab	✅ Yes
Claude Desktop — Code tab (local sessions)	✅ Yes
Standalone claude CLI (terminal, Desktop not required)	⚠️ Needs one extra step
Claude Code on the Web / cloud sessions	❌ Not available (local-only server)

The standalone CLI doesn't read Desktop's extension config. Register it explicitly:

# macOS or WSL — imports every MCP server Desktop has configured
claude mcp add-from-claude-desktop

# Any platform, including Linux — register this repo's built server:
claude mcp add --scope user claude-desktop-bridge -- node /path/to/claude-desktop-bridge/server/index.js

--scope user makes it available in every terminal project. It reads the same ~/.claude-bridge/vault.db as the Desktop extension, so notes are shared.

Want notes to cost fewer tokens? cdb-companion compresses content before it hits save_note/update_note.

Building from source

npm install
npm run build   # bundles src/index.ts -> server/index.js
npm run pack     # produces claude-desktop-bridge.mcpb

Requires Node.js 22+ (built-in node:sqlite). Claude Desktop's own Node runtime runs the extension — end users need no Node install. Gates: npm ci + npm test (see .github/workflows/npm-project.yml).

Configuration

• Vault → ~/.claude-bridge/vault.db (local SQLite). Uninstalling the extension keeps the file; notes persist until deleted via delete_note or by removing the file.
• Network → none. No server component, no outbound requests, no analytics or telemetry.

Contribute

Open an issue to discuss before a PR. Edit src/index.ts — server/index.js is generated. PRs must pass npm ci + npm test.

License

MIT