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Setup

Claude Desktop MCP Memory Setup with Wenlan

Connect Claude Desktop to Wenlan's local memory daemon through MCP and verify the first memory loop.

Qi-Xuan LuUpdated 5 min read

Article packet

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Workflows

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Claude Desktop users adding local MCP memory

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5 min read

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Use the MCP-only setup path for Claude Desktop on supported local setups.

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Wenlan's daemon remains local on your machine.

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Verify with doctor, then capture and recall a harmless durable fact.

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Quick answer

On macOS, install Wenlan and run ~/.wenlan/bin/wenlan mcp add claude-desktop to write the Claude Desktop MCP config. Restart Claude Desktop, then use Wenlan's doctor and capture/recall tools to verify the local daemon connection.

Wenlan gives Claude Desktop a local memory server while preserving the same daemon and artifacts used by coding clients. That makes desktop research or planning available to later coding sessions.

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When this problem appears

Claude Desktop MCP users often add tools one by one, but memory only becomes useful when captures, retrieval, and maintenance all point at the same local store.

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Connect Claude Desktop

Use the CLI-generated configuration first; use manual config only when a client needs raw JSON.

  • Install the local runtime with the current setup path for your operating system.
  • Run ~/.wenlan/bin/wenlan mcp add claude-desktop.
  • Use ~/.wenlan/bin/wenlan mcp add claude-desktop --dry-run if you want to inspect the JSON before writing it.
  • Restart Claude Desktop after MCP config changes.
  • Use the Wenlan MCP doctor tool or the wenlan doctor CLI if tools fail to call the daemon.
  • Recall a known capture before trusting the setup for real work.

Claude Desktop MCP setup

npx -y wenlan setup
~/.wenlan/bin/wenlan mcp add claude-desktop
~/.wenlan/bin/wenlan mcp add claude-desktop --dry-run

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What to check next

Do not expose the local daemon beyond loopback unless you are intentionally doing development or self-hosted networking work. Normal desktop setup should stay local.

Try the local memory loop

Install Wenlan, connect your AI client, and verify that capture, recall, and handoff work on your machine.

Get startedView on GitHub

FAQ

Is Claude Desktop the same setup as the Claude Code plugin?+
No. Claude Desktop uses MCP-only setup. The Claude Code plugin adds slash commands and /init on top of MCP.
Can Claude Desktop create distilled pages?+
It can call Wenlan MCP tools for page distillation when configured. Richer background extraction and page synthesis require a local model or explicit API-key path; readable pages are still written by the local Wenlan daemon.