Connect Your AI Assistant to Vist with MCP

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that lets AI assistants like Claude read and write to external tools in real time. Connect Vist to your AI client and it gains permanent memory across sessions, can search your notes and knowledge base, create and complete tasks, and understand the full context of your work — not just the current conversation.

Vist's MCP server is available at https://app.usevist.dev/mcp and works with Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, and any client that supports Streamable HTTP MCP.

What you can do

Search your notes and wiki pages by keyword or meaning
Create, read, and update notes directly from a chat session
Add, complete, and review tasks
Record memories that persist across all future AI sessions
Add articles, PDFs, and transcripts to your knowledge base
Load your daily context: today's tasks, events, and briefing

Prerequisites

A Vist account (free plan works)
An MCP-compatible AI client: Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, or any client that supports Streamable HTTP MCP
Node.js installed (required for the mcp-remote bridge used in the Claude Desktop config below)

Connect via OAuth

OAuth lets the AI client authenticate without any manual token management. When the client first connects, a browser window opens and you approve access — no copying tokens.

Claude Desktop

Locate or create ~/.claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Add the following (merge into an existing mcpServers block if one already exists):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vist": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://app.usevist.dev/mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Save the file and restart Claude Desktop
On first use, a browser window opens — sign in to Vist and approve access

Cursor

Open Cursor Settings → MCP, add a new server, and enter:

Name: Vist
URL: https://app.usevist.dev/mcp
Type: Streamable HTTP

Cursor will prompt you to authorise via browser on first use.

Windsurf and other clients

Add https://app.usevist.dev/mcp as an MCP server URL. The server follows the MCP OAuth 2.1 discovery standard (/.well-known/oauth-authorization-server), so any compliant client can complete the flow automatically.

Connect via API key

Use an API key if your client does not support OAuth, or if you prefer explicit token management.

In Vist, open Settings → API Keys
Enter a name (e.g. "Cursor") and click Generate Key
Copy the key — it is shown only once
Configure your AI client to send the key as a bearer token

For Claude Desktop, pass the key via the --header argument:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vist": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y", "mcp-remote",
        "https://app.usevist.dev/mcp",
        "--header", "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Replace YOUR_API_KEY with the key you copied.

Set up the system prompt

The system prompt tells the AI how to use Vist's tools correctly — when to call load_context, how to route tasks versus notes, and when to persist memory after meaningful work.

Open Settings → API Keys and scroll to MCP Setup Instructions
Click Copy
Paste the text into your AI client's custom instructions or system prompt field

This step is not required for the connection to work, but without it the AI will not follow Vist's memory and routing conventions.

Available tools

Once connected, the following tools are available to your AI client:

Category	Tools
Notes	`list_notes`, `get_note`, `create_note`, `update_note`, `search_knowledge_base`
Tasks	`list_tasks`, `get_task`, `create_task`, `update_task`, `complete_task`, `show_task_list`
Memory	`record_memory`, `query_memory`, `sync_agent_memory`, `update_project_state`, `load_context`
Knowledge base	`add_source`, `get_source`, `list_sources`, `update_source`, `cite_source`, `get_wiki_stats`
Utility	`list_folders`, `get_activity_log`

Frequently asked questions

What is MCP? MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard developed by Anthropic that defines how AI assistants connect to external data sources and tools. It replaces one-off integrations with a single, consistent protocol — once a client supports MCP, it can connect to any compliant server, including Vist.

Which AI clients support MCP? Claude Desktop, Cursor, and Windsurf have native MCP support. The mcp-remote configuration shown above also works with clients that only support stdio MCP transport, by acting as a bridge to the HTTP endpoint.

Is my data safe? Yes. Vist's MCP server uses OAuth 2.1 and bearer token authentication. All requests are scoped to your signed-in account — no other user's data is accessible. Vist does not share your notes or memories with third parties.

Do I need a paid plan? No. MCP access is available on all Vist plans, including free.

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