Yaps MCP server

Give Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, and other MCP clients controlled access to your private local Yaps Markdown vault.

Download Yaps · Yaps website

Why Yaps MCP

• Local memory, useful everywhere: search, read, organise, and connect ordinary Markdown notes from an AI client.

• Read-only by default: connecting a supported client grants reads only. Writes require a separate, explicit switch inside Yaps.

• Safer writes: stale timestamps reject overwrites; confirmed deletes and traversal guards protect the vault; Vault Versioning can checkpoint write batches before they land.

• Broad client reach: Yaps already configures Codex, Claude Desktop, and Cursor without replacing unrelated servers. The MCP Bundle adds one-click installation and official-registry discovery for clients that implement MCPB.

• A direct product path: the bundle uses the server already shipped and updated with Yaps, so users get the desktop app, local vault, system-wide dictation, account, and subscription experience—not a disconnected fork.

The bundle is intentionally small. It locates the signed yaps_mcp binary inside the installed Yaps desktop app and forwards stdio directly, without a shell or network proxy.

Related MCP server: Obsidian Knowledge Management MCP Server

Install

Fastest: from Yaps

1. Download and open Yaps.

2. In Yaps, open Settings → General → Local AI integrations.

3. Choose Connect Codex, Connect Claude Desktop, or Connect Cursor.

4. Restart that client.

Yaps preserves every other configured MCP server and grants the selected client read-only access.

MCP Bundle

Download the .mcpb asset from a release and open it in an MCPB-compatible desktop client. Install Yaps first, then use Local AI integrations inside Yaps to connect/authorise the client. This explicit Yaps step is required because the server fails closed and a bundle is not allowed to grant itself access to a private vault.

Manual configuration

Use the production binary shipped with the app and give each custom host a distinct client identity:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "yaps": {
      "command": "/Applications/Yaps.app/Contents/MacOS/yaps_mcp",
      "env": {
        "YAPS_MCP_CLIENT_ID": "my-local-client"
      }
    }
  }
}

Custom identities must also be authorised in the Yaps Agent Access policy. Prefer the one-click connectors unless you specifically need a custom host.

Capabilities

The native server exposes 28 tools covering:

• vault status, filtered note lists, reads, create/update/delete, move, rename, pinning, and daily notes;

• exact, semantic, and hybrid local search;

• templates, snapshot history, and restore;

• folders, tags, mentions, wikilink terms, backlinks, and unlinked mentions;

• local Yaps status, activity history, and usage statistics.

Every tool returns structured MCP content and declares read-only/destructive/open-world annotations. openWorldHint is false for every tool.

Permissions model

Agent Access fails closed:

1. A supported one-click connection enables read-only access for that client identity.

2. Yaps rejects any client identity not on the local allowlist.

3. Writes stay off until enabled inside Yaps.

4. Updates can include expected_updated_at from the most recent read; a mismatch rejects the write.

5. Delete requires confirm=true and title confirmation support.

6. When enabled, Vault Versioning checkpoints an agent write batch before applying it.

For the complete public inventory and common safety arguments, see TOOL_REFERENCE.md.

Development

bun install --frozen-lockfile
bun run package

bun run package tests the cross-platform launcher, validates the MCPB manifest with the official toolchain, creates the .mcpb, inspects it, calculates its SHA-256 digest, and generates a matching official-registry server.json under dist/<version>/.

The native Rust server lives in the main Yaps repository and has separate protocol, permission, and full-vault smoke suites. See PUBLISHING.md for the release gate.

Support and security

Use Yaps support for product help. Please follow SECURITY.md for vulnerability reports and never attach private vault contents or raw dictation audio to a public issue.

License

MIT