Claude Desktop & any MCP client

One-line config

Sigil is a standard MCP server. Any client that speaks the protocol can use it, whether or not it appears elsewhere in these docs.

Get the config

sigil register --print

stdio

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sigil": {
      "command": "/Users/you/.sigil/bin/sigil-mcp",
      "args": []
    }
  }
}

One process spawned per client. The command points at a stable shim, not a versioned package path — which is what keeps the integration working across Node version switches, reinstalls, and updates.

HTTP

sigil register --http --print

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sigil": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://127.0.0.1:7777/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer <token>" }
    }
  }
}

One long-lived transport on the daemon. The URL never changes, making this the most durable option for clients that support it. The daemon must be running — it auto-starts on first use.

Drop the inner sigil object into your client’s MCP configuration.

Claude Desktop

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sigil": {
      "command": "/Users/you/.sigil/bin/sigil-mcp",
      "args": []
    }
  }
}

Platform	Path
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows (WSL)	%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Restart Claude Desktop. The tools appear under the connector icon.

Claude Desktop has no hooks and no rules file, so priming is manual — start a conversation with “call prime first”, or add the instruction to a project’s custom instructions if you’re using Projects.

Known config locations

Client	Path
Claude Desktop	~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Continue	~/.continue/config.json
Cline	cline_mcp_settings.json in your VS Code user dir
Windsurf	~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json
Zed	~/.config/zed/settings.json → context_servers
Cursor	~/.cursor/mcp.json (auto-wired)
Kiro	~/.kiro/settings/mcp.json (auto-wired)
Codex CLI	~/.codex/config.toml (auto-wired, TOML)

For anything not listed: find where your client stores MCP servers and add the same object.

The prompt matters more than the config

An MCP client with Sigil connected but no instruction will politely ignore it. Adapt this to wherever your client keeps system-level instructions:

You have access to Sigil, a persistent memory shared across every AI agent
on this machine.

- Call `prime` at the start of every session to load standing context.
- Before answering questions about projects, past decisions, or the user's
  preferences, call `search`.
- When the user shares a preference, decision, or constraint, call `remember`
  with a short self-contained statement.
- When the user says "save this doc", call `ingest`.
- Pass `cwd` on search/remember/ingest so memory attaches to the right project.

prime is the one clients skip

Every MCP client will eventually learn to call search. Almost none will call prime unprompted — and prime is what delivers standing instructions that no query would ever retrieve. Put it first in your instructions.

Verify

sigil doctor --deep     # actually spawns the MCP server and round-trips it

In the client, ask something only memory would know. If it answers correctly, you’re wired.

What the client gets

Thirteen tools. Full reference: MCP tools.

prime · search · search_entity · traverse_graph
get_fact_context · get_entity_context · get_pod
list_pods · list_documents · get_document
status · ingest · remember

Troubleshooting

Server won’t start. Confirm the shim exists and is executable:

ls -l ~/.sigil/bin/sigil-mcp
sigil connect

Worked yesterday, broken today. Almost always a Node version switch. sigil connect re-pins the shims.

HTTP transport returns 401. The token rotated. Re-run sigil register --http --print and update the header.

Tools available but never called. Prompting, not plumbing. See above.