Transient Recall — Claude Desktop Setup

Connect Claude Desktop to local TR MCP with a safe fallback path.

1) Confirm TR is running

Terminal

curl http://localhost:8090/healthz

2) Claude config path (macOS)

Edit this file:

Path

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

Backup first:

Terminal

cp "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json" \
  "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json.backup.$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)" 2>/dev/null || true

3) Mode A: Direct HTTP MCP

Try this first if your Claude build supports direct URL MCP config.

claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "transient-recall-local": {
      "url": "http://localhost:8090/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "x-tr-subject": "local-dev-user",
        "x-tr-tenant": "public",
        "x-tr-project": "my-project"
      }
    }
  }
}

4) Mode B: Bridge mode (crash-safe fallback)

If Claude fails to launch in Mode A, use bridge mode with mcp-remote.

claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "transient-recall-local": {
      "command": "npm",
      "args": [
        "exec",
        "--yes",
        "--",
        "mcp-remote",
        "http://localhost:8090/mcp",
        "--header",
        "x-tr-subject:local-dev-user",
        "--header",
        "x-tr-tenant:public",
        "--header",
        "x-tr-project:my-project"
      ]
    }
  }
}

First run of npm exec downloads mcp-remote, so setup needs internet access.

5) Relaunch and verify in Claude

Prompt

Call tr_status for project: my-project
Call tr_resume for project: my-project

6) Keep history stream stable

Keep x-tr-tenant, x-tr-subject, and x-tr-project stable.
my-project and my_project are different keys and create separate histories.
Use one active TR endpoint per workspace (single MCP URL/port) to avoid split writes.

7) Recovery if Claude will not open

Safe baseline config

{
  "mcpServers": {},
  "preferences": {
    "coworkScheduledTasksEnabled": false,
    "sidebarMode": "chat"
  }
}