Crosswalk 🧭

A job-search assistant that runs on your computer. It finds jobs that fit you, writes a tailored résumé + cover letter for each, fills in the application form, and — if you let it — submits it for you. Hands-off.

Local-first · your data never leaves your machine · bring your own AI.

Contents

• What is this?

• Two ways to use it

• Quick setup (3 steps)

• Add your AI key

• How to use the app

• Use it inside Claude or other AI tools

• Run it automatically (hands-off)

• Try it safely first

• Troubleshooting

• Updating to a newer version

• Your privacy

• For developers

• Contributing

• License

What is this?

You tell it "I'm looking for Product Manager jobs" and it:

1. 🔎 Finds matching jobs across thousands of companies.

2. ✍️ Rewrites your résumé to fit each job — using only true facts from your real résumé.

3. 📝 Writes a cover letter and answers the application questions (text, dropdowns, checkboxes, and all).

4. ✅ Fills in the form and, if you allow it, clicks Submit.

5. 👀 Keeps watching, so the moment a new matching job is posted, it grabs it.

Everything runs on your own laptop. Your résumé, jobs, and history live in one folder on your computer (~/.crosswalk). Nothing is uploaded to anyone.

Two ways to use it

You can use either, or both — they share the same data.

Quick setup (3 steps)

You only do this once. It takes about 5 minutes. No coding needed.

Step 1 — Install Node.js (the engine that runs the app)

1. Go to nodejs.org.

2. Click the big green "LTS" button (this needs to be version 24 or newer — the LTS button is the right one). It downloads a file.

3. Open the file and click Next → Next → Install, like installing any app.

Step 2 — Download Crosswalk

1. Open the Crosswalk page on GitHub.

2. Click the green <> Code button → Download ZIP.

3. Find the ZIP (usually in Downloads) and double-click it to unzip.

4. You'll get a folder named crosswalk-mcp-main. Move it somewhere easy, like your Desktop.

Step 3 — Start it (just double-click)

Open the crosswalk-mcp-main folder, then:

• Mac: right-click start.command → Open → Open. (Right-click only the first time. After that, a normal double-click works.)

• Windows: double-click start.cmd. (If you see "Windows protected your PC", click More info → Run anyway.)

A window opens. The first time, it spends about a minute getting ready, then your browser opens to the app automatically. 🎉

If the page shows an error at first, wait a few seconds and refresh — it's just warming up. To stop it, close that window. To start again, double-click the same file.

Add your AI key

The app uses an AI ("the brain") to write your résumés and answers. Here's how to get a key:

1. Make a free account at console.anthropic.com.

2. Go to API Keys → Create Key and copy the code (it starts with sk-ant-).

3. In the app, click Settings, paste it in the API key box, and click Save.

💡 You pay Anthropic directly — usually a few cents per résumé. Finding and tracking jobs works without a key; you only need it for writing résumés and answers.

How to use the app

Use the left-hand menu, roughly in this order:

1. Profile — write a few sentences about yourself (e.g. "PM, 3 years at Acme, want NYC or remote, need visa sponsorship"). Save.

2. Résumés — paste your résumé, name it, click Add.

3. Settings → Answer bank — click "Load common defaults" (safe answers for standard questions like work authorization and the optional EEO/diversity ones), then add your own, e.g. salary → $130,000.

4. Jobs — type a role (like product manager) and click Search jobs. You get real jobs from many companies.

5. Apply — click draft → on a job to review it first, or Auto-apply at the top of the results to handle them all.

6. Pipeline / Alerts / Inbox — track every application, see new-match alerts, and route recruiter emails to the right application.

Use it inside Claude or other AI tools

Crosswalk is also an MCP server, so it can plug straight into your AI assistant. Then you just chat with it, and it uses the AI you already pay for — no separate API key needed. It shares the same data as the app, so your profile, résumés, and answer bank carry over.

First, build it once

In the crosswalk-mcp-main folder (in a terminal):

npm install
npm run build:core

Then you'll need the full path to packages/core/dist/cli.js. Tip: on Mac, right-click the dist folder → "Copy … as Pathname"; or drag the file into the terminal to print its path. In the examples below, replace CLI_PATH with something like: /Users/you/Desktop/crosswalk-mcp-main/packages/core/dist/cli.js

Then connect your AI tool (pick yours)

Claude Desktop — edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (Mac) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):

{ "mcpServers": { "crosswalk-mcp": { "command": "node", "args": ["CLI_PATH"] } } }

Claude Code (CLI):

claude mcp add crosswalk-mcp -- node CLI_PATH

Cursor — edit ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{ "mcpServers": { "crosswalk-mcp": { "command": "node", "args": ["CLI_PATH"] } } }

OpenAI Codex CLI — edit ~/.codex/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.crosswalk-mcp]
command = "node"
args = ["CLI_PATH"]

Gemini CLI — edit ~/.gemini/settings.json:

{ "mcpServers": { "crosswalk-mcp": { "command": "node", "args": ["CLI_PATH"] } } }

opencode — edit ~/.config/opencode/config.json:

{ "mcp": { "crosswalk-mcp": { "type": "local", "enabled": true, "command": ["node", "CLI_PATH"] } } }

Any other MCP client: point it at the command node with the argument CLI_PATH (it's a stdio MCP server).

Then restart the app. (These tools occasionally tweak their MCP config format — if it doesn't connect, check your tool's own "MCP servers" docs.)

Prefer the published version? Replace node CLI_PATH with npx -y crosswalk-mcp@latest, or for Claude Desktop / Cursor / Windsurf just run npx crosswalk-mcp install to auto-configure it. ⚠️ The published npm version can be behind the newest features in this repo — the local build above is recommended.

Then just talk to it

"Set up my profile: PM, 3 years at Acme, want NYC or remote, need visa sponsorship." "Add my résumé from ~/Documents/cv.pdf." "Find PM roles at H‑1B sponsors. Why am I a fit for the Stripe one?" "Tailor my résumé for it and draft an application." · "Apply to it." · "Show my pipeline."

What's available where

• In chat (MCP): the core loop — find jobs (your watched companies), score/explain fit, tailor résumés, draft + apply (with the smart form-filling: multi-page wizards, dropdowns, checkboxes, answer bank), track your pipeline, schedule refreshes.

• App + the watcher only (for now): open-web role search across thousands of companies, batch auto-apply, the continuous watcher, and editing the answer bank.

Run it automatically (hands-off)

Set this up in the app first (it stores your key, watches, and settings):

1. Settings → set Submit policy = auto and Weekly cap = 0 (0 means unlimited).

2. Jobs → search a role → Save as watch → tick auto-apply new matches.

Then it applies automatically while the app (or the chat session) is open. To keep it going even with the app closed, run the watcher daemon from the folder (in a terminal):

npm run watch       # checks for new matching jobs every 15 minutes and applies to them

Login-walled sites (Workday, etc.): see the note inside Settings → Autonomous apply — it explains how to run with a browser that stays logged into your accounts.

Try it safely first

Before letting it submit for real:

1. Settings → Submit policy = review (it fills the form but does not click Submit).

2. Find one job → draft → → check the tailored résumé and answers look right.

Once you trust it, switch to auto.

⚠️ A friendly heads-up: blasting out thousands of auto-written applications can hurt your chances and may break some sites' rules. Start with a few, check the quality, and turn up the volume only when you're happy. The more you fill in your answer bank, the better the answers.

Troubleshooting

Updating to a newer version

Re-download the ZIP from GitHub (or, if you used git, run git pull), then start it again. Your data is safe — it lives in ~/.crosswalk, separate from the app folder. If a new version changes the engine, rebuild once with npm run build:core.

Your privacy

• Everything lives in one folder on your computer: ~/.crosswalk (data in state.db, your API key in config.json).

• No telemetry, no phone-home, no accounts. There is no "us."

• The only network it uses: the job sites (to find/apply) and Anthropic (to write résumés, with your key).

• To erase everything: delete the ~/.crosswalk folder.

For developers

An npm-workspaces monorepo:

• packages/core — the engine, published as the crosswalk-mcp MCP server (store, services, 10 ATS adapters, role aggregator, auto-apply, watcher).

• apps/web — the Next.js GUI (@crosswalk/web).

• scripts/watch.mjs — the always-on watcher daemon.

npm install          # install everything
npm test             # run the test suite (260 tests)
npm run lint         # type-check core + web (strict TypeScript)
npm run build:core   # build the engine (what start.command runs as part of `gui`)
npm run gui          # build core + start the GUI at localhost:3000
npm run watch        # run the always-on watcher daemon

Connecting it to an AI client (MCP) is covered in Use it inside Claude or other AI tools. Architecture deep-dive: docs/ARCHITECTURE.md.

Contributing

Contributions are very welcome — the easiest is adding a company to the registry (a one-line change). See CONTRIBUTING.md for setup, conventions, and step-by-step recipes (add a company, add an ATS adapter, add a tool, add a migration).

License

MIT © Mohak Garg.