Local agent access

Connect a tool

1. Open Settings → Connections → Agent Access / MCP.
2. Turn on Allow agent access. Read Only is the default and is included in Free.
3. Use a connection option or copy the configuration into your compatible tool. The generated configuration includes the server, vault, app-data and settings paths for this installation.
4. Select Test connection to check startup, tool discovery and current access without retrieving meeting content or changing access permissions. A healthy connection may record activity or initialize local metadata.
5. Try a query such as “Find the decisions from my last meeting.” Check Activity to see recent tool requests.

Access covers the whole configured vault. Review your tool’s privacy settings: it may send what it reads to its own AI provider even though its connection to Markdrip is local. Markdrip’s local connection does not enable cloud processing inside Markdrip.

Connect Hermes

Use the Hermes configuration card in Agent Access / MCP. Hermes reads YAML from ~/.hermes/config.yaml under mcp_servers:

mcp_servers:
  markdrip:
    command: "/path/to/Markdrip.app/Contents/MacOS/markdrip-mcp-server"
    args:
      - "--vault"
      - "/path/to/Vault"
      - "--data-dir"
      - "/path/to/app-data"
      - "--settings-path"
      - "/path/to/app-data/settings.json"

Replace these example paths with the configuration copied from Markdrip. Keep --data-dir: it identifies the app data used to check the current plan. Run /reload-mcp in Hermes after changing configuration or permissions to refresh its discovered tools. A full Hermes restart is not required for this reload. See the Hermes MCP guide.

Markdrip checks access again on each request, but does not push tool-list change notifications. Refresh discovery in your client after changing access level, plan or private Insights permission. A cached tool name cannot bypass a revoked permission.

Read meetings and tasks

Free includes keyword meeting search, meeting notes, decisions, contacts, transcript text and task reads. Useful tools include search_meetings, get_meeting, list_decisions, list_people, get_person, get_transcript_segments, list_action_items, get_action_item, and list_topics. Results include stable identifiers and relevant source citations.

search_meetings uses keyword search with optional date and participant filters. It does not expose the semantic search used by Ask inside Markdrip. Ask is also included in Free. Plus adds cross-meeting relation tools: list_claims, topic_timeline, person_timeline, and org_mentions.

Recordings, recording-file paths, voiceprints, acoustic measurements and voice-derived interpretations are not exposed. The former include_audio_path argument to get_meeting is rejected.

Allow immediate changes with Plus

Select Read / Write under Access level to let connected tools make supported changes immediately, without approving each one:

Tool	Supported changes
update_person	Contact email, company, role and phone
update_meeting_metadata	Meeting title and tags
create_task	Add a task to a meeting
update_task	Change task text, owner, due date or status
delete_task	Remove a task from a meeting

Task status values are todo, in_progress, done, cancelled, and deferred. Due dates use YYYY-MM-DD; null clears the due date or owner. Task changes also appear in the meeting and Tasks view.

Tools must read the current values before changing them. Each write uses a fresh ULID request_id. Updates include expected values for exactly the fields being changed; deletion includes the current text, owner, due and status. Creation uses its request ID as the new task ID. If values changed in the meantime, Markdrip refuses the write so the tool can read again.

For example, after reading a task whose current status is todo, call update_task with these arguments. Replace the example meeting and task IDs with the returned IDs and generate a fresh request ULID for this operation:

{
  "request_id": "01K6XC2XQKR5YX9T8GDZTXZM7B",
  "meeting_id": "01K6XC1MQEVJGTMBXJD0NGN6C3",
  "task_id": "01K6XC1VZWP5SSCCSSAYVMYB7E",
  "patch": { "status": "done" },
  "expected": { "status": "todo" }
}

An interrupted write can have an uncertain outcome. Inspect the task, contact or meeting before making another change; do not blindly retry the operation. Markdrip records intent and outcome locally and prevents request replay. Client-supplied names describe provenance, not verified identities.

There is no tool for arbitrary decision annotations or appending freeform notes. Write access cannot edit recordings, transcripts or summaries.

Earlier proposals

Older saved read_write settings remain proposal-only. They do not become immediate write permission after an update. Choose Read / Write explicitly if you want to grant immediate changes; its saved value is direct_write.

Legacy propose_person_update and propose_meeting_metadata_update calls still stage proposals, including when received under the new access level. They never apply automatically. Use Earlier proposals to inspect or dismiss old records. An unsupported action-item proposal cannot be applied.

If an interrupted proposal shows Check outcome, inspect its target: the change may already have applied. Markdrip will not apply it a second time. Dismissing the record does not undo any change.

Private Insights in Plus

get_meeting_insights, get_contact_insights, and get_coach_overview return bounded evidence with source citations and coverage from meetings selected in Insights. They do not trigger cloud analysis or modify goals, context or meetings.

These tools require Plus, enabled Insights, and the separate Allow my connected agent to read these insights and included context choice, in addition to normal agent access. Exclusions and current permissions are checked again before results are released. Personal reflections, recordings and voice data are excluded. Cloud text analysis has its own permission; it does not grant these agent reads.

Check availability and repair the audit

Test connection reports whether the configured server can start, negotiate the connection and discover its tools. get_markdrip_capabilities reports the current access level and tool groups. The current capability schema is 5; older app installations can expose fewer tools, so discover the tools on the computer you are using rather than assuming installations match.

If the local activity audit is missing or inconsistent, ordinary content reads and writes stop. Connection setup, ping, capability-only discovery and the capability probe remain available to explain the problem without returning meeting, manifest, transcript or Insights content. Testing does not repair the audit automatically.

Stop the Markdrip connection in every connected tool, then explicitly select Repair audit in Agent Access / MCP. Repair refuses while a cooperating bridge holds the audit open, keeps a copy of the inconsistent export and rebuilds it from the separate local audit state. Test the connection again, then reconnect your tools. If repair cannot complete, preserve the files and use the reported recovery guidance. The audit is a local operational record, not proof against changes made by another process with access to your files.

Change your mind

Select Read Only to stop future immediate writes, or turn off Allow agent access to stop future content requests. Previously returned data cannot be recalled. You can still inspect and dismiss earlier proposals. Without an active Plus entitlement, ordinary read access remains available and writes are unavailable. An organization can enforce read-only access independently of your saved preference.