JOTAID Guidesthink in notes

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Connect AI Agents (MCP) ​

Jotaid can let AI agents on your Mac read your notes and your concept network, so you can ask them what your notes add up to. It does this through MCP (Model Context Protocol), the standard many AI agents use to connect to outside tools.

At a glance

  • Mac only. There is no MCP server on iPhone.
  • Pro. It is part of Jotaid Pro.
  • Read-only. Agents can read; they cannot create, edit or delete anything.
  • Off by default. Nothing listens until you turn it on.
  • Runs only while Jotaid is open.

What an Agent Can Do ​

Once connected, an agent can work with your notes the way you do in Jotaid:

  • Browse your projects, notes and tags
  • Search your notes by meaning, or for an exact word
  • Read a note in full, including its [[links]] and where it sits among your projects and themes
  • Look up a concept by name, even an old name you have since renamed, and see which notes mention it and how it relates to other concepts
  • See the whole network — which concepts keep appearing together and how they group
  • See a concept over time — when it first appeared, grew and went quiet
  • Open a topic in one step — the notes that match a question, the concepts they are about, and what those concepts connect to

That is what makes the "explain what my notes add up to" question answerable: the agent reads the same concept network you see in the graph, matrix and Trend views, and puts it into words.

Turn It On ​

  1. Open Settings → Agent and find MCP Connections.
  2. Switch on Let agents read your notes.
  3. The Knowledge base server row shows the server's address once it is running.

Choose What Agents Can Read ​

Readable projects decides which projects an agent can see. Agents can only read what you tick here.

  • All is the default. It includes every project, and any project you create later.
  • Untick a project to take it out. As soon as you do, the selection becomes an explicit list of the projects that remain ticked, and new projects are no longer included automatically.
  • Inbox can be ticked like any project.

A request for a project outside that list is refused.

Connect Your Agent ​

Click Copy setup (the copy icon next to the MCP Connections heading). It copies a complete configuration — the server address and your access token — ready to paste into your agent's MCP settings. It looks like this:

json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "jotaid": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://127.0.0.1:<port>/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <your token>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Always paste the copied version rather than typing this example: the port can differ from Mac to Mac, and Copy setup fills in the one Jotaid is actually using.

Any agent that supports MCP servers over HTTP with a custom header can connect. Where the configuration goes depends on the agent; check its documentation for "MCP servers".

A prompt to start with

In Node mode → Trend, the Copy a prompt for your agent button copies a ready-made request: it asks your agent to read the current project's network and report what is hard to spot at a glance. Paste it into an agent that is already connected.

Keep Your Token Safe ​

The Access token is the only key to the server. Anyone holding it can read the projects you allow, so treat it like a password.

  • It is stored in your Mac's Keychain.
  • Copy token copies the token on its own, for agents that ask for it separately.
  • Regenerate issues a new token. The old one stops working immediately, and anything still connected with it is disconnected — update your agent's configuration afterwards.
  • Last used shows when an agent last read from the server. If that time surprises you, regenerate the token.

Privacy ​

  • The server listens only on your own Mac (127.0.0.1). Nothing on your network or the internet can reach it.
  • Jotaid uploads nothing. What happens to the text your agent reads is up to that agent and its provider — the same as anything else you share with it.
  • Searching by meaning uses the backend you chose for semantic search in Settings → Agent. With the default on-device backend, nothing leaves your Mac and nothing is charged; if you picked a remote backend, the search text is sent to that provider, as it is for searches inside the app.

Server Status ​

The icon beside Knowledge base server tells you where things stand:

StatusMeaning
RunningListening; agents can connect
Not listeningSwitched on, but the server could not start — usually because its port is taken by another app
OffThe switch is off
Requires ProPro is not unlocked on this Mac
Checking subscription...Jotaid is still confirming your Pro status, for example right after launch while offline

Troubleshooting ​

The agent can't connect. Make sure Jotaid is open and the status shows Running. If you regenerated the token, paste the new setup into your agent.

The agent says it sees nothing, or can't find a project. Check Readable projects — the project may not be ticked.

The status shows "Not listening". Another app may be using the port. Quit it, or turn the switch off and on again, then use Copy setup again, since the address may have changed.