Connect Your Agent

Requires Parrot Scribe Pro. MCP server access is part of Parrot Scribe Pro. Existing licenses already include Pro.

Connect ChatGPT, Claude, or Cursor from Parrot Scribe. These steps require Parrot Scribe 1.0.2. Parrot Scribe 1.0.1 uses Settings > MCP and a client token. Update before following the desktop steps below.

The Parrot Scribe catalog is for Claude Code and the Codex CLI. It does not install the three desktop rows. Parrot Scribe creates those connections on this Mac.

Shared setup

1. Install Parrot Scribe at /Applications/Parrot Scribe.app and keep it running.
2. Open the desktop AI app you want to connect and leave it running.
3. In Parrot Scribe, open Settings > AI Apps.
4. Turn on Allow AI apps. This requires Pro.
5. Choose Connect on the row for the app you want. A row that is already configured shows Manage… first. Open it, then choose Connect.

Connect approves that desktop app's current running session. After you quit and reopen the AI app, return to its row and choose Manage… > Connect to approve the new session. This reuses its existing credential and profile. Opening the AI app alone does not renew this approval.

Each row keeps its own status:

The app stores the connection credential and launches its signed shim with a profile id. Do not copy a token into the desktop app, a shell profile, or a chat message. A cloud or mobile session cannot reach this Mac by installing a plugin.

ChatGPT Desktop

Choose Connect on the ChatGPT row. Parrot Scribe opens a local plugin that includes the connection and the listening skill. Complete the installation in ChatGPT, then start a new local task and select listening.

A web, mobile, or cloud task does not gain access to this Mac. Use a local task.

Claude Desktop

Choose Connect on the Claude row. Parrot Scribe installs a local Claude extension for the connection. Claude can show a red unreviewed-extension warning. That warning belongs to Claude. Installing the extension does not remove it.

After the extension is installed, choose Add listening skill… on the Claude row. That button opens Claude so you can review and add the skill. On this Mac, opening the skill file by itself can hand it to ChatGPT instead.

The extension and the listening skill stay separate. Do not replace the extension with a combined Claude plugin. That can drop Claude's Chat connection.

Cowork is a separate host. These desktop steps do not configure Cowork.

Cursor

Choose Connect on the Cursor row. Parrot Scribe installs a local plugin at ~/.cursor/plugins/local/parrot and opens Cursor's connection handoff. It does not add the older Cursor commands.

Complete the handoff in Cursor, then start a new chat and ask it to use the listening skill. Connecting alone does not load that skill into an existing chat.

Check the connection

1. Confirm the row says Connected after the desktop app reconnects.
2. Ask it to call get_status without starting a recording.
3. Ask it to call list_sessions with limit: 2. An empty sessions array is valid for an empty library. Check unavailableSessionCount before treating the result as complete coverage.
4. Select a session you intend to share before asking for a recap. See Listen and Recap.

If setup says it could not prepare the connection, first check that the selected desktop AI app is already running, then try Connect again. If the row stays at Set up · Not connected, keep the AI app open and choose Manage… > Connect. If you restart the AI app, repeat that approval afterward. If tools are missing, finish the handoff in that app and start a new task or chat. Keep Parrot Scribe running with Pro and Allow AI apps turned on.

Other local hosts

Claude Code, the Codex CLI, and other local stdio hosts are not rows in AI Apps. Use one token per host from Settings > AI Apps > Advanced. Copy the token when it is shown. It is shown once.

The shim reads PARROTSCRIBE_MCP_TOKEN from its environment. Parrot Scribe rejects --token and --token=.... Keep tokens out of command arguments, project files, shell profiles, and chat messages.

The signed shim is:

/Applications/Parrot Scribe.app/Contents/MacOS/parrotscribe-mcp-shim

If a host already has a Parrot Scribe connection, keep one enabled connection. Do not leave two tool sets active.

Claude Code

Install the catalog and plugin:

/plugin marketplace add 3jct-com/parrotscribe-plugins
/plugin install parrot@parrotscribe-plugins

Plugin 0.4.0 includes the connection for Claude Code. Enter this client's token in the plugin's Parrot Scribe client token prompt. Create that token in Advanced. Claude Code stores it in its credential store and supplies it to the shim. Use a current Claude Code version with userConfig support.

Do not add a second manual connection after installing the plugin. Start a new session and use /parrot:listen or /parrot:recap.

Codex CLI

Add the catalog, install the plugin, and start a new session:

codex plugin marketplace add 3jct-com/parrotscribe-plugins

Supply a separate token in the Codex host's environment. The plugin forwards PARROTSCRIBE_MCP_TOKEN. This is not the ChatGPT row above. A manual connection uses:

[mcp_servers.parrotscribe]
command = "/Applications/Parrot Scribe.app/Contents/MacOS/parrotscribe-mcp-shim"
env_vars = ["PARROTSCRIBE_MCP_TOKEN"]

Keep one enabled connection. Do not reuse this token for another host.

Hosts that need an environment mapping

Use the same shim and a separate token. If the host does not pass PARROTSCRIBE_MCP_TOKEN to the shim, use the Keychain launcher below.

Grok Build, in ~/.grok/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.parrotscribe]
command = "/Applications/Parrot Scribe.app/Contents/MacOS/parrotscribe-mcp-shim"
env = { PARROTSCRIBE_MCP_TOKEN = "${PARROTSCRIBE_MCP_TOKEN}" }

Gemini CLI, in ~/.gemini/settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "parrotscribe": {
      "command": "/Applications/Parrot Scribe.app/Contents/MacOS/parrotscribe-mcp-shim",
      "env": {
        "PARROTSCRIBE_MCP_TOKEN": "$PARROTSCRIBE_MCP_TOKEN"
      }
    }
  }
}

OpenCode, under mcp in ~/.config/opencode/opencode.json:

{
  "mcp": {
    "parrotscribe": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": [
        "/Applications/Parrot Scribe.app/Contents/MacOS/parrotscribe-mcp-shim"
      ],
      "environment": {
        "PARROTSCRIBE_MCP_TOKEN": "{env:PARROTSCRIBE_MCP_TOKEN}"
      }
    }
  }
}

These hosts get MCP tools. They do not get the desktop listening skill or /parrot:listen unless you load the listening contract as instructions.

Keychain launcher for other hosts

Use this when a host cannot inject the token into the shim's environment. Create a generic password item in Keychain Access for that host. Save the token as the password. Do not reuse another host's token.

Save this script at an absolute path such as /Users/you/.local/bin/parrotscribe-mcp-keychain. Replace /Users/you with your account path. The script contains no token:

#!/bin/zsh
set -eu
: "${PARROTSCRIBE_MCP_KEYCHAIN_ITEM:?Set PARROTSCRIBE_MCP_KEYCHAIN_ITEM}"
PARROTSCRIBE_MCP_TOKEN=$(/usr/bin/security find-generic-password -w -s "$PARROTSCRIBE_MCP_KEYCHAIN_ITEM")
export PARROTSCRIBE_MCP_TOKEN
exec "/Applications/Parrot Scribe.app/Contents/MacOS/parrotscribe-mcp-shim" "$@"

Run chmod 700 /Users/you/.local/bin/parrotscribe-mcp-keychain. Point the host's command at that script and pass only the Keychain item name:

{
  "command": "/Users/you/.local/bin/parrotscribe-mcp-keychain",
  "env": {
    "PARROTSCRIBE_MCP_KEYCHAIN_ITEM": "Parrot Scribe MCP Host Name"
  }
}

Do not use this launcher for the ChatGPT, Claude, or Cursor rows. Those rows manage the credential.

Maintenance

• To disconnect ChatGPT, Claude, or Cursor, choose Disconnect on that row. Other apps stay configured.
• To rotate a token for another host, revoke it in Advanced, issue a replacement, update the secret source, and restart the host.
• For an old --token setup, remove the token from the command or config. Use Advanced or the Keychain launcher, then restart the host. Revoke a token that was exposed in a command, log, or copied file.
• Restart the host after a token or configuration change.

Tool arguments and access controls are documented in MCP Server. The workflow is explained in Listen and Recap.