# WorkFlow Companion

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> **This repository** is WorkFlow Companion's home: the source (`src/index.js`,
> MIT licensed), downloads (`WorkFlow.mcpb` for Claude Desktop) on the
> [Releases](https://github.com/TeamDzX/workflow-companion/releases) page,
> and bugs and requests in [Issues](https://github.com/TeamDzX/workflow-companion/issues).
> The package itself installs from npm. On a Mac, use the open-source
> [workflow-agent-bridge](https://github.com/TeamDzX/workflow-agent-bridge) instead.
> All of Opticell's free tools for Claude: [opticell-mcp](https://github.com/TeamDzX/opticell-mcp).

Lets **Claude on Windows or Linux** work in your WorkFlow tasks, notes and
projects: reading the queue, replying in threads, ticking checklists, filing
notes, updating documents. It works in Claude Code, Claude Desktop, or any MCP
client.

Free. It needs **WorkFlow 5.2 or later on an iPhone, iPad or Mac**, which does
the actual work. No Mac needed:

```
Claude ──MCP──▶ companion ──▶ your private iCloud ──▶ WorkFlow on your iPhone, iPad or Mac
                                                  ◀── receipt + fresh snapshot
```

The companion never edits your WorkFlow data itself. It leaves commands in a
zone of your own private iCloud database. WorkFlow applies them with the same
checks as the app (read-only trial gate, email permission, the agent's
signature) and lists every one in **Command History**. Nothing passes through
Opticell's servers.

**Which device answers.** A Mac with WorkFlow open answers within seconds. An
iPhone or iPad answers when iOS lets WorkFlow run: usually within minutes,
sometimes only when you next open it, and not while WorkFlow has been swiped
away in the app switcher. With both switched on, the Mac answers while it's
awake and the iPhone stands by. Every command is applied exactly once, however
many devices are on.

## Install

One line installs Node.js if needed, signs this computer in, adds the
companion to Claude Code and offers to let it start work on its own:

**Windows** (PowerShell):

```powershell
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/TeamDzX/workflow-companion/main/install.ps1 | iex
```

**Mac or Linux** (Terminal):

```sh
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/TeamDzX/workflow-companion/main/install.sh | sh
```

Switch the companion on in WorkFlow first (step 1 below). The steps that
follow are what the installer does, if you'd rather do them by hand.

## Set up

1. In WorkFlow on an iPhone or iPad: **Settings → Windows Companion → Answer
   the Companion**. On a Mac: **Settings → Agent Bridge**, then the Agent
   Bridge and **Cloud Bridge** switches.
2. Install **Node.js 18 or later** (LTS) if `node -v` doesn't show it:
   Windows `winget install OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS -e`, Mac `brew install node`,
   Linux your package manager, or the installer from <https://nodejs.org>.
   Then close and reopen the terminal (and restart Claude Code) so `node` and
   `npx` are found; otherwise you'll see "node is not recognized".
3. In a normal terminal window:

   ```sh
   npx -y @opticell/workflow-companion@latest setup
   ```

   It opens <https://companion.opticell-limited.com> to sign in with the
   Apple Account WorkFlow uses on your iPhone or Mac, then asks you to paste the token that
   page shows. It asks questions, so it can't run from Claude Code's `!`
   prompt or another non-interactive shell; there, pass `--web-token <token>`
   and `--name <name>`.
4. Add it to Claude:

   ```sh
   claude mcp add --scope user workflow -- npx -y @opticell/workflow-companion@latest
   ```

   On **Windows**, `npx` is a script, so Claude Code needs `cmd /c` in front:

   ```sh
   claude mcp add --scope user workflow -- cmd /c npx -y @opticell/workflow-companion@latest
   ```

   `--scope user` makes it available in every project on this computer.

   **Claude Desktop** needs no terminal. Download `WorkFlow.mcpb` from the
   product page and double-click it. Then sign in at
   <https://companion.opticell-limited.com> and paste the token into
   **Settings → Extensions → WorkFlow Companion → Sign-in token**.

Check it any time with `npx -y @opticell/workflow-companion status`.

## Its name

Setup asks what Claude on this computer should be called in WorkFlow
("Companion" unless you choose, e.g. `--name Server`). That name is how work
reaches it rather than the Mac's own Claude:

- **Assign a task** to it. WorkFlow offers the name once it has heard from
  the companion, and the Ask sheet lets you pick it.
- **Write `@Server`** in a comment or a note. A mention in a *shared*
  project's thread doesn't count, because other people can write there.
- What it writes is **signed with its name**, so a thread shows which Claude
  did what.
- **One name, one computer.** Setup refuses a name another computer already
  answers to, and asks for another. Every command is checked the same way,
  which covers Claude Desktop, where the name is a setting. Use
  `setup --takeover` when this computer replaces the other one. A name frees
  up by itself once its computer has been silent for two weeks.
- `@Claude` always means Claude on the Mac. A companion can't take that name,
  and mentions match whole words only, so `@Claude2` never wakes the Mac.

Claude Desktop users set the name in the extension's settings.

## Working on its own

With waking on, `@Server` from the app is enough: nobody has to be at this
computer. Turn it on once Claude Code is installed and signed in here:

```sh
npx -y @opticell/workflow-companion wake-on
```

- **Every 2 minutes** a hidden scheduled job (Task Scheduler on Windows, cron
  elsewhere) checks this name's queue in iCloud. That's one small call; the
  task list is downloaded only when it changed.
- **New work starts one Claude Code session** (`claude -p`, no window). It
  reads the task, comments that it's picked it up (your phone shows
  "Server is on it"), does the work and replies in the thread.
- **What counts as new:** a task newly assigned to the name, a new `@Server`
  comment from a person, a person's follow-up on an assigned task, or an
  edited note that mentions it. Its own replies never wake it.
- **Handled once.** One session at a time; work already handled never starts
  another. A session that couldn't start at all (not signed in to Claude, a
  usage limit) is retried twice more, then says so in the thread.
- **A time limit**, 45 minutes by default (`--max-minutes`). A session stopped
  by it says so in the thread.
- **What it may do.** By default only the WorkFlow tools (`mcp__workflow`):
  reading tasks and replying. To let it run commands on this computer, pass
  `--allow-tools "mcp__workflow Bash Read"` (any Claude Code permission rules).
  Anyone who can write `@Server` in your WorkFlow could then run commands
  here, so decide that deliberately. Shared projects never reach it.
- **Windows:** a scheduled task normally runs only while the user is logged
  in. To run while logged off, change the task "WorkFlow Companion wake" to
  "Run whether user is logged on or not" in Task Scheduler.
- `--workdir` sets the folder sessions start in (your home folder otherwise),
  `--model` the Claude model, `--claude` the path to Claude Code if it isn't
  found. `--skip-existing` treats what's already queued as handled.
- The log is `~/.workflow-companion/wake.log`. `wake-off` stops it all.

## Staying up to date

- **Claude Code** runs whatever its registration names. Register it with
  `@latest` (setup prints the exact line) and every new session uses the
  newest release.
- **The scheduled jobs** (keep-alive, waking) run a saved copy that npm never
  touches, so they update themselves. At most every 6 hours they read npm's
  entry for the package (`registry.npmjs.org/@opticell/workflow-companion/latest`).
  When it's newer, they download the release, check it against npm's sha512
  checksum and that Node can parse it, then swap it in. Turn this off with
  `auto-update off`, and update by hand with `update`.
- **Its version is reported.** Every ten minutes or so while it runs, each
  companion writes its version, computer and check-in time to your iCloud.
  WorkFlow 5.3.2 shows them in Settings → Agent Bridge → Who's Bridged, and
  `status` lists every companion's version.

## Commands

| | |
|---|---|
| `workflow-companion` | Runs the MCP server. This is what Claude starts. |
| `workflow-companion setup` | Signs this computer in. Takes `--web-token` to skip the prompt. |
| `workflow-companion status` | Which device answers, how fresh the snapshot is, any receipts that arrived late. |
| `workflow-companion doctor` | Checks everything on this computer and says how to fix what's wrong. Start here when something isn't working. |
| `workflow-companion canary` | Runs the daily self-test now. `canary on\|off`, `canary at HH:MM`. |
| `workflow-companion keepalive` | Renews the sign-in. The scheduled job runs this. |
| `workflow-companion update` | Updates the scheduled jobs' copy to the latest release now, and shows how to keep Claude Code on `@latest`. |
| `workflow-companion auto-update on\|off` | Whether the scheduled jobs update themselves (on by default). |
| `workflow-companion wake-on` | Starts a Claude Code session on its own when work for its name arrives. See above. |
| `workflow-companion wake-off` | Stops that. Work waits until you ask Claude here. |
| `workflow-companion wake` | One check of the queue. The scheduled job runs this. |
| `workflow-companion monitor add\|list\|check\|remove` | Checks this computer runs without using Claude. See below. |
| `workflow-companion approvals on\|off` | Lets an assistant run one exact command after you reply "approve CODE" (off by default). |
| `workflow-companion inbox-on\|inbox-off` | Files dropped in a folder become tasks. |
| `workflow-companion notifications on\|off` | Notices on this computer (on by default). `notify-test` shows one. |
| `workflow-companion reports on\|off` | A short report attached to the task after each session (on by default). |
| `workflow-companion signout` | Deletes the sign-in, cached data and both scheduled jobs. |

## On this computer, by itself (1.8)

These run in the same 2-minute scheduled job as waking, and cost no Claude
usage.

**Monitors.** Checks that wake Claude only when something changes:

```sh
workflow-companion monitor add --name site --http https://example.com --task "Server status" --wake
workflow-companion monitor add --name disk --disk C:\ --min-gb 20 --task "Server status"
workflow-companion monitor add --name api --port 10.0.0.5:443 --every 2
workflow-companion monitor add --name backup --file D:\backups\latest.zip --task "Backups"
workflow-companion monitor add --name nightly --command "check-backups.cmd" --task "Backups" --wake
```

A change (down, back up, the file changed) is posted on the task, shows a
notification here, and with `--wake` starts a session about it. An assistant
can set up website, port, disk, process and file monitors itself
(`workflow_monitor`), but **only you can add a command monitor**, because it
runs a command every few minutes.

**Approvals.** An assistant can ask to run one exact command on this computer
(restart a service, install an update). It posts the command on the task with
a code; reply `approve K7Q2` (or `decline K7Q2`) from your phone. Only a
person's reply counts, never another assistant's; tasks in shared projects
can't ask; the command runs once, exactly as shown, within 24 hours. **Off
until you run `workflow-companion approvals on` on this computer.**

**Inbox folder.** `workflow-companion inbox-on` makes `~/WorkFlow Inbox`
(or `--folder`): drop a file in and it becomes a task with the file attached.
A subfolder named after a project files it into that project. Filed files
move to `Filed/<date>`. `--assign` puts them in this assistant's queue.

**Notifications.** A notice on this computer when work arrives, a monitor
changes, an approval is answered, a session needs attention, or the iCloud
sign-in has ended (with the command that fixes it).

**Daily self-test (1.9).** With waking on, once a day (07:30, or
`canary at HH:MM`) the companion proves the whole chain still works: WorkFlow
applies its commands, Claude Code runs and can write, and the change comes
back. A pass quietly updates its "⚙︎ <name> daily self-test" task; a failure
comments there, which reaches your phone, naming the step and the fix.
`workflow-companion canary` runs it now; `canary off` stops it.

**Session reports.** After each session that changed something, a short
report is attached to its task: what it was asked, what it changed, any
approved commands it ran, and its last words.

## Worth knowing

- **Something has to be answering.** A command sent while nothing is waits in
  iCloud and runs when WorkFlow next looks. The tool says so, and its receipt
  shows later in `workflow_state`.
- **Reads come from a snapshot.** WorkFlow publishes it a few seconds after each
  change, so a read straight after a write can lag slightly.
- **Files go through your iCloud (1.6).** Attaching a file, filing a document
  into a project or adding a new version uploads the file to your own iCloud;
  WorkFlow 5.3 or later on the answering Mac or iPhone attaches it and then
  deletes the uploaded copy. Up to 50 MB a file. An older WorkFlow ignores the
  upload and reports the file as missing.
- **And back again (2.2).** `workflow_download` saves a document's file to
  this computer (default: `Downloads/WorkFlow` in your home folder), checks its
  SHA-256 and never overwrites a file already there. It needs WorkFlow 5.6.1 or
  later on the Mac or iPhone that answers; the file waits in your iCloud only
  until it's collected, and an hour at most.
- **Daily assistant (2.2).** Pick this companion in WorkFlow → Settings →
  Agent Bridge → Briefs, Check-ins & Approvals and the `wake` job writes a
  morning brief and checks in every few hours outside quiet hours, starting a
  session only when something new needs you. Needs WorkFlow 5.6.
- **The token is a password.** `~/.workflow-companion/token.txt` opens your
  WorkFlow data in iCloud. Apple replaces it on every request, and the
  companion saves each replacement at once. Several Claude sessions on one
  computer can share it: they take turns. Don't copy it to another machine.
  Each computer should run its own `setup`.
- **Keep-alive.** Apple ends a sign-in left unused for somewhere between 9 and
  14 hours. The companion renews it every two hours while Claude has it
  running. Setup also schedules `workflow-companion keepalive` every three
  hours: in Task Scheduler on Windows (it runs without a console window) or
  in cron elsewhere. `signout` removes that schedule; `--no-schedule` skips it.
- **"Sign in again"** means Apple ended the session (HTTP 401/421), for
  example after the computer was off for a long time. Run `setup` again.

## Tools

18 tools (2.0 merged the earlier 37; the old names still work when called):

| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
| `workflow_queue` | Your inbox, led by the user's house rules |
| `workflow_list` | Tasks, notes, projects, documents or recent comments, with search |
| `workflow_get` | One task, note or document in full |
| `workflow_create_task` | Including tags, subtasks and an opening comment |
| `workflow_update_task` | Fields, the pinned status line, and the checklist in one call |
| `workflow_comment` | Reply on a task, or hand it to another assistant or person |
| `workflow_note` | Create, reply to or convert a Notepad note |
| `workflow_create_project` | Create or update a project |
| `workflow_attach` | A file onto a task, into a project, or as a new document version |
| `workflow_update_document` | A document's profile or folder |
| `workflow_draft_email` | A draft the user reviews and sends |
| `workflow_watch` | Be woken about a task later |
| `workflow_monitor` | Website, port, disk, process or file checks that wake you on a change |
| `workflow_approval` | Ask for, check and run an approved command |
| `workflow_state` | Is the bridge working; `check: ping` or `doctor` |
| `workflow_propose` | Suggest a change for the user to Apply or Decline (WorkFlow 5.6) |
| `workflow_brief` | The morning brief, for the daily assistant (WorkFlow 5.6) |
| `workflow_download` | Save a document's file to this computer (WorkFlow 5.6.1) |

© Opticell Limited · <https://www.opticell-limited.com/companion>

## Source and licence

`src/index.js` is the whole server: one file, Node 18 or later, no
dependencies. It is MIT licensed (see `LICENSE`). The published npm package
is the same file with WorkFlow's CloudKit API token filled in at build time
(the token is not a secret: it only lets a signed-in user reach their own
data). Run from source, `setup` asks for it with `--api-token`.

The `Dockerfile` runs the server over stdio. MCP directories use it to check
that the server starts and lists its tools, which it does without signing in.