Docs · Connect your AI
Connect your agent
One click registers Noru's capture server with the coding agents on your Mac, so they can pull your captures into the conversation over MCP.
How it works
Noru speaks MCP, the Model Context Protocol, the same standard your coding agent uses for its other tools. The Noru MCP server is a small native binary bundled inside the app. There is no Python, no Node, and no separate package to install. It reads the same captures folder the app writes, so the moment you capture something, it's available to pull.
Connecting means registering that server with each agent so the tools show up. You do it once.
Connect, two ways
From the app. Open Settings, find Connect to your AI, and click Connect. Noru registers with every supported agent it finds on this Mac and shows you the status of each. Only apps you already have are touched.
From the terminal. The bundled CLI does the same thing:
noru-mcp install
It registers the server's own path, so it's always correct in any install
location. The command is idempotent and merge-safe: it never clobbers other
MCP servers you've added, and re-running it just refreshes Noru's entry. To
preview the changes without writing anything, add --dry-run.
What gets registered
Each agent stores its MCP config differently, so Noru uses each one's own safe writer and only touches the agents you actually have installed.
| Agent | How Noru connects it |
|---|---|
| Claude Code | The official claude CLI, at user scope. Pulls captures from the tool description, no extra step. |
| Cursor | A merge-safe edit of ~/.cursor/mcp.json. Needs the one-time rule below. |
| VS Code Copilot | A merge-safe edit of its MCP config. Needs the one-time rule below. |
| Claude Desktop, Cline, Windsurf | Registered automatically when they're installed. |
| Continue, Zed | Noru prints the exact one-line step to add it. |
One step Cursor and VS Code need
Claude Code reads the tool description and pulls captures on its own. Cursor and VS Code Copilot do not, so they need a short standing rule pasted once into their global User Rules. It takes a minute and you only do it once. See the Cursor and VS Code rule.
Restart your agent
Agents read their MCP config at startup. After connecting, restart any open Claude Code or Cursor session so it picks up the Noru server. New sessions have it already.
If the CLI reports that the claude command isn't
on your PATH, it prints the exact command to run by hand. Everything else
registers without you doing anything.
Verify it worked
Capture anything, switch to your agent, and ask about it: "what's in this
screenshot?" The agent should call get_latest_capture
and answer from the image. If it searches your repo for image files instead,
it's missing the rule, paste it and try again. The full set of tools your
agent now has is in the tool reference.
Stays on your Mac
The MCP server is local. Your agent pulls captures on demand from your machine. There is no Noru cloud, no account, and no telemetry.