Claude + Keepra: The Ultimate AI Productivity Setup Guide (2026)

Prerequisites

Before starting, you need:

• Keepra Desktop: download from keepra.app (Windows installer or run from source with Electron)
• Claude Desktop or Claude Code CLI: download from claude.ai/download
• Node.js: v18+ (required to run the MCP server subprocess)

Step 1: Launch Keepra Desktop

Run launch-electron.bat (Windows) or launch the Electron app directly. The app will start at http://localhost (the embedded server). Verify it loads correctly before proceeding.

If you're starting from scratch, Keepra will seed example data automatically. You can delete it later.

Step 2: Create an MCP Key in Settings

1. Open Keepra and click the settings gear icon (top right) or press Ctrl+,
2. Navigate to the AI Access (MCP) tab
3. Click + Create New Key
4. Give it a name like "Claude Desktop" or "Claude Code"
5. Select the tools you want this key to access (see Step 3)
6. Click Generate: copy the key immediately (it won't be shown again in full)

Step 3: Choose Your Permission Scopes

MCP keys in Keepra have per-tool scopes. Here are recommended configurations:

Use Case	Recommended Scopes	Rationale
Daily assistant	tasks:read+write, notes:read, links:read	Can create tasks, read notes and links. Can't write notes or create links.
Full productivity	All tools except vault	Claude can manage your full workspace except passwords.
Read-only researcher	All tools, read-only	Claude can answer questions from your data but can't modify anything.
Vault access	vault:list_titles + per-item grant	Claude sees titles only; you explicitly grant access to specific items.

Step 4a: Configure Claude Desktop

Claude Desktop reads its MCP server configuration from a JSON file. The location depends on your OS:

• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Open (or create) this file and add the Keepra MCP server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "keepra": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["C:\\Keepra\\keepra-mcp.js"],
      "env": {
        "KEEPRA_MCP_KEY": "your-generated-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace your-generated-key-here with the key from Step 2. On macOS/Linux, use the appropriate path to keepra-mcp.js. Restart Claude Desktop after saving.

Step 4b: Configure Claude Code (CLI)

If you use Claude Code (the CLI tool), add Keepra via the /mcp add command:

# In your terminal with Claude Code active:
/mcp add keepra node /path/to/keepra-mcp.js

# Or add it to your project's .mcp.json:
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "keepra": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/keepra-mcp.js"],
      "env": { "KEEPRA_MCP_KEY": "your-key" }
    }
  }
}

Step 4c: Configure Cursor IDE

Add a .cursor/mcp.json file in your project root or in ~/.cursor/mcp.json globally:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "keepra": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["C:\\Keepra\\keepra-mcp.js"],
      "env": {
        "KEEPRA_MCP_KEY": "your-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Step 5: Test with Your First Command

With Keepra Desktop running and Claude configured, try these commands to verify the integration:

# Create a task:
"Add a task called 'Review the PR' due tomorrow with high priority"

# Read your notes:
"What are my most recent notes in Keepra?"

# Find a contact:
"Find John Smith in my Keepra contacts and tell me his email address"

# Save a link:
"Save this URL to my Keepra Links under the 'Work' category: https://docs.example.com"

Claude will call the appropriate MCP tools, Keepra will execute them locally, and you'll see the results both in Claude's response and in your Keepra app (after a refresh if needed).

Real-World Use Cases

Morning Standup Prep

"Claude, list all my tasks due today and this week, grouped by priority. Also check if I have any notes from recent meetings."

Meeting Notes → Action Items

"I just had a meeting. Here are my rough notes: [paste notes]. Create a Keepra note called 'Sprint Planning 2026-06-14' with these notes, and create tasks for each action item you identify."

Client Research

"I'm about to call Acme Corp. Look up their contact in Keepra and tell me everything I have on them, phones, emails, notes."

Link Collection

"Save all these research links to Keepra under the category 'AI Research' with tag 'MCP': [list of URLs]"

Security Best Practices

• Never grant Vault write access: Claude cannot add new credentials; you should always do this manually
• Use separate keys for different clients, one for Claude Desktop, one for Cursor, so you can revoke independently
• Review the MCP key list regularly in Settings → AI Access, delete keys you no longer use
• Don't share your MCP key: it's equivalent to granting read/write access to your Keepra data

For a deeper technical explanation of MCP architecture, see What is MCP?. For the full developer AI workflow, read The Developer's AI Workflow.