This project provides a lightweight Model Context Protocol (MCP) server designed for Claude, enabling private journaling and semantic search capabilities. It allows users and Claude to process thoughts, feelings, and insights locally, enhancing Claude's memory and decision-making without external data exposure.

How It Works

The server functions as an MCP endpoint, processing natural language queries and journal entries locally. It employs @xenova/transformers for generating AI embeddings, facilitating semantic search and similarity matching across journal entries. Data is stored in a dual-storage system, separating project-specific notes from global user context, with entries automatically timestamped and indexed for efficient retrieval. This local-first approach ensures complete data privacy and fast operation.

Quick Start & Requirements

• Primary install / run command: Run directly from GitHub using npx.

  claude mcp add-json private-journal '{"type":"stdio","command":"npx","args":["github:obra/private-journal-mcp"]}' -s user
  

  Alternatively, manual configuration can be added to MCP settings (e.g., Claude Desktop).
• Prerequisites: Node.js (for npx). No other non-default prerequisites are explicitly mentioned.
• Links: Motivation and design details are available in a blog post.

Highlighted Details

• Multi-section journaling supports distinct categories: feelings, project_notes, user_context, technical_insights, and world_knowledge.
• Semantic search leverages local AI embeddings for natural language queries, finding conceptually related entries.
• All processing occurs locally, ensuring complete data privacy with no external API calls.
• Entries are timestamped with microsecond precision and include YAML frontmatter for metadata.

Maintenance & Community

The project is authored by Jesse Vincent. Further details on motivation and design can be found in a linked blog post. No specific community channels (like Discord or Slack) or roadmap links are provided in the README.

Licensing & Compatibility

The project is released under the MIT license, which generally permits commercial use and modification with attribution.

Limitations & Caveats

This project is an MCP server specifically designed to integrate with Claude, implying its primary utility is within that ecosystem. While development and testing commands are present, the README does not explicitly state the project's stability status (e.g., alpha, beta).